01-24-2014, 05:48 AM
I tend to get sucked into technical discussions/arguments and forget the emotional side. What keeps pulling me back to this thread are the arguments over clues and evidence. When I hear a statement that I disagree with on technical grounds it is difficult not to respond. In that respect I am a little like a dog that keeps chasing a ball thrown into a river till I drown.
On the one hand the Royals and the Johnsons deserve such a degree of our compassion that we might all consider just shutting up. On the other hand this forum is essentially recreational and as such we have the right to keep talking about whatever we want within the limits set by the moderator. The Royals and Johnsons took a chance when they reached out to the general public in forums like this in that they might attract the attention of those with a high drive for gratification and a low sense of decorum and that is unavoidable. I hope that on the whole they found our input worthwhile.
I have admitted above that I am close to falling in that category that is pursuing this topic for my own gratification and without perhaps sufficient attention to the feelings of the loved ones of the victims. I am now reexamining my motives for my input. I find that my posts have degenerated into mere rebuttals of Punatickz's posts. I don't feel that I have been particularly insulting on the whole. I have been sarcastic at times but not insulting. On the other hand I feel that I have been almost directly insulted on a personal level. I might continue to respond, limiting myself to the technical merits of each argument but looking at the big picture, I would be responding to Punatickz almost exclusively. I don't see that being productive on either a personal level or in terms of promoting useful dialog among the Puna community.
Also it was me that mentioned the Roman soldiers. I was attempting to make the point that Bo knowingly allowing his family to suffer while he hid was similar to the whole "decimation" thing, that it was a recognized phenomenon with historical precedent that would explain his initially attempting to continue on with life but eventually deciding to give up. I still feel it was relevant.
On the one hand the Royals and the Johnsons deserve such a degree of our compassion that we might all consider just shutting up. On the other hand this forum is essentially recreational and as such we have the right to keep talking about whatever we want within the limits set by the moderator. The Royals and Johnsons took a chance when they reached out to the general public in forums like this in that they might attract the attention of those with a high drive for gratification and a low sense of decorum and that is unavoidable. I hope that on the whole they found our input worthwhile.
I have admitted above that I am close to falling in that category that is pursuing this topic for my own gratification and without perhaps sufficient attention to the feelings of the loved ones of the victims. I am now reexamining my motives for my input. I find that my posts have degenerated into mere rebuttals of Punatickz's posts. I don't feel that I have been particularly insulting on the whole. I have been sarcastic at times but not insulting. On the other hand I feel that I have been almost directly insulted on a personal level. I might continue to respond, limiting myself to the technical merits of each argument but looking at the big picture, I would be responding to Punatickz almost exclusively. I don't see that being productive on either a personal level or in terms of promoting useful dialog among the Puna community.
Also it was me that mentioned the Roman soldiers. I was attempting to make the point that Bo knowingly allowing his family to suffer while he hid was similar to the whole "decimation" thing, that it was a recognized phenomenon with historical precedent that would explain his initially attempting to continue on with life but eventually deciding to give up. I still feel it was relevant.