The Open Thread

[Opsa]

Thank you, Bluenose. That was very concisely put.

Please be careful of insisting that you are right and the other person is wrong here, over and over again. That can be seen as fatally unhumble and may be cause for an excommunication from the monastery. This is a warning.

[Sibling Kephra (Tansy)]

And I see you edited your message there Bluenose. A man whom takes his own advice! 
Nicely put if I may say so.

[Bluenose]

Well, now I'm blushing.

I have been involved in the escalating argument thing myself, elsewhere.  I found that I ended up saying things that I really did not mean and ended up in a position that was not even close to how I really thought about the subject.

In case you were wondering this was on an Australian fishing related site where I usually promote the native fish line and I found myself arguing with those ostensibly pushing the trout line, but in retrospect I think some of them were only trying to make an argument.  In the end I found myself alienating a lot of people with whom I might well have had a lot in common.  I have made a concerted effort over the last year or so to build a few bridges and have been involved in a number of initiatives to try and get the two factions working together.  Yes we still have our differences, but we are trying to work them through by showing mutual respect to each other.

Hmmm...  sounds familiar, doesn't it? 

In this thread I hope that I may help to sow a seed.  It can take a long time to re-build trust once it has been destroyed (I can assure you, I know from personal experience) but it is worth the effort.  The first thing you have to do is admit that you do not know everything and that other people are entitled to have a different view to yourself.  Then assume good will and always try to look at things in a positive light.  The other guy just might NOT be out to get you!

Finally when you just know you're right and the other guy is wrong, stop and ask yourself are you really right?  How can you tell?  Generally I reckon it's a good idea to assume that if you just know you're right, you're not.

Sibling Bluenose

[ivor]

You think you have it bad Duke?  Look at my karma.  I think a karma ran over my dogma.    MB

Edit:

Oh wait!  Somebody healed my karma.  I guess I am not as big a jerk as I thought.  Well I suppose not. I don't know.  My karma was like negative one thousand or something.  I rarely make a substanial post.  Maybe that was it?  I'm not much of a talker really.  I just want to make a cool place for people to communicate.  I don't really post much.  I do read quite a bit.  I'll shut up now...