Discontent and Hate

jhuskey

There is much to be learned in forums such as this but lately I am disturbed at what I am learning. Everyone has an opinion and as of late it seems all have an extreme one.
I am using someone else work below to better express my perspective.
Comment expected.

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind


The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”


The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”


The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”


The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”


The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”


The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”


And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:


So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

Carrera

Your quotation is a borrowing from Greek philosophy - possibly the skeptics who believed knowledge to be impossible so that knowledge and opinion were recognised as being distinct.
How do you know that what you see or hear is what really exists in the way you perceive it? Or do you just pick up an approximation of a shared or assumed reality?
But I get your drift. I think these discussions are interesting but there are points where a thread will deteriorate into insults when people don't hear each other out. I've seen studio debates where folks hurl chairs at one another once dialogue fails.

mjw_byrne

I like it! I've heard the "blind men go to see an elephant" story, of course, but never so eloquently expressed.

I see what you mean about people in these forums shouting out their own views and ignoring others, but I don't think everyone does that; in fact, I think the people who do that are in a minority. To return to the analogy, they do indeed say "it's like a rope"..."it's like a tree"..."it's like a snake" etc., but there's nothing to stop everyone concluding that maybe this object can have more than one property, and reaching a common consensus. After all, we can only call things like we see them. The problem with the blind guys is not that they call things as they see (well, not SEE) them, but that they refuse to acknowledge any other viewpoint. Most members of this forum are intelligent, non-bigoted people who wish to discuss and learn rather than merely assert, IMO.

fixit

Very true Story.
But I believe that the greatest achivement of the Homo Sapiens is the ability to adapt to the Environment.
When you find yourself in a Hostile Environment, you start to defend yourself, preferably using equal or better Weapons.
In my opinion statements like 'if someone slaps you on the right cheek...' and so on, are complete Nonsense.

jhuskey

No not everyone, but a few.

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

jhuskey

Trust me I have been bit as deeply as you could ever imagine and It wasn't here in this forum. Beside I am not whining just using an alternative way of expressing my opinion.
Like pissing in someone drink only different.

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

fixit

So you think you're a big Dog, ey?
I think you're just one of those tiny, always barking ones. And you know what these Dogs never do, don't you?

jhuskey

If you want to get a point across use plagiarizeism. Well, it works for me.
Yes territorialism is a marked animal characteristic. The discussion of late tend to deterioriate in the first couple of responses.Of course they are mostly Geo-Political.

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

Saucy

well jhuskey, I enjoyed that story and I certainly agree that there can be no discussion when everyone here continues to put forth an extreme viewpoint. Now that the election is over maybe some of us can moderate our views a little and be a little more honest.

People here claim to want to have reasonable discussion but whenever a poster writes something intelligent or thoughtful it is completely ignored. Unfortunately a lot of posters seem to be enjoying the endless flaming, which leads me to believe that all of you seriously need to get laid to work out whatever hostility you all have.

Everyone who responds to the insane rantings of these trolls is just as guilty for the degeneration of these threads as the trolls are. You are all responding exactly as they want you to.

Now, speaking of trolls, I have to say that the ones frequenting the soapbox are quite pathetic are they not? I enjoy a good troll as long as they are witty or clever but szbert, iknowtest and some of the others are clearly not. They need to take lessons from babybunny, pokerpete and the RBR trolls who know how to get things done and make people laugh.

Hey, can someone help me with my math? Which of these equations is correct?:

1) Zapper = iknowtest

2) Weisse Luft = szbert = velogal

3) all of the above

Its no coincidence that Zapper and Weisse were not posting frequently when these other losers appeared.

fixit

I agree with you, but I don't feel that guilty, is that bad?

For the math, I'd say 3, but 1 = 2 is also correct.

jhuskey

[QUOTE=Saucy]well jhuskey, I enjoyed that story and I certainly agree that there can be no discussion when everyone here continues to put forth an extreme viewpoint. Now that the election is over maybe some of us can moderate our views a little and be a little more honest.

People here claim to want to have reasonable discussion but whenever a poster writes something intelligent or thoughtful it is completely ignored. Unfortunately a lot of posters seem to be enjoying the endless flaming, which leads me to believe that all of you seriously need to get laid to work out whatever hostility you all have.

Everyone who responds to the insane rantings of these trolls is just as guilty for the degeneration of these threads as the trolls are. You are all responding exactly as they want you to.


I suppose I am as guilty as any but usually only respond when someone take a hard right or left that pushes my button.

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

recneps345

Everyone wants to act like everyone can be right in their own way. Give me a break. If man A says you should believe in God and live as the Bible says to, and man B says there is no God and lives by his own desires. One is going to be right and one is going to be wrong. Everything is not relative and subjective. Everyone just wants to be tolerant and sing Koombaiya(no clue how to spell),but I think it better to stand up and believe in something, but what matters more is if what you believe in is right. I am pretty sure the elephant guy and I dont see eye to eye.