Three World Wars

[mbh66]

Apart from the Registration Agreement which governs your participation in this forum, here are my 'layman' guidelines to what I define as acceptable and adult behavior. (With thanks to John Kaminski).

1. Profanity sometimes has it's place, but seldom earns respect. Swearing lets the listener know you can't form complete phrases in your head — and therefore can't think straight — so profanity is likely to terminate any conversation because it lets the listener know you're a loser.

2. The nearly lost art of politeness sends a signal that you respect your correspondent, and is usually reciprocated. This politeness comes in handy when the conversation turns contentious, and tempers flare.

3. When you criticize your opponent for disagreeing with you, or impute motives to his actions that imply he's not being honest, you first and foremost are admitting that your own argument is not sufficient to win the debate on its own merits. Therefore, time is always spent more wisely refining one's own assertions than in criticizing the apparent misstatements of others.

4. Trust your gut. You know instinctively when someone's blowing smoke. It isn't necessarily what is said, but how it's framed and presented. Anything out of whack needs to be investigated, before arbitrarily fighting back. In most cases, smoke-blowing should just be ignored. By rising to the occasion, you are lowering yourself to the level of the smoke-blower.


This forum is an arena, both imaginary and real.

The bifurcation of this statement doubles your mental capacity because it creates an analog brainspace which is shared by everyone who visits. In it, dreams and reality intersect in a tangible way.

By applying these guidelines you create an arena in which future visitors feel comfortable while expanding their brainspace.