Alexa,
[eek. he's followed us over here] I just wanted to say that I probably should have stepped in when Joe started his misogynist rantings, but quite honestly I never read them ... was too busy posting and trying to clear the picture about what is really going on with the filter system. Had I read his posts, instead of moving to messages addressed to me, I would have certainly responded.
My summary of the changes that might be made are at
techstocks.com. I do not presume to know what the Dwyers will do. Its their site, its their decision. But the changes I suggested would be totally transparent to people unless they actively used the filters.
Maybe this is the most appropriate forum to express some side-effects of this whole debate. When I first proposed the system, I asked for an end to name-calling (longs vs shorts, conspiracy theories, etc) and people to concentrate on the facts and only submit posts relevant to the thread. I received support privately through e-mail but I did not expect the storm of anger which from my standpoint was totally unjustified. I was called a fascist, a Nazi, anti-freedom of speech, egotist, arrogant, etc. Human beings can only be strong for so long before retaliating or simply leaving [I did both]. Janice actively brought people from other threads (including this one) which only saw my initial suggestion and not the two solutions we came up with afterwards. The result was more bashing, laughter, complete chaos.
Great books aren't made in the first sitting. It takes revisions upon revisions. The same is true of great sites like SI. The thread I started was supposed to foster rational discussion. And at first it worked. Dwyer came in and proposed a better solution to mine, which I whole-heartedly accepted as better [so much for my inflexibility]. I then added the Kill file idea from old usenet approaches.
But even now there is the iidea that because I am for a system of optional filters, that I must be anti-public expression or an anti-humanist. Nothing could be further than the truth. On a thread like this, I think the full range of discussion is great. The only thing I'd like to see are options so that I (and many people who have privately emailed me) can quickly get to the meat of investment news, skipping the off-topic items entirely or until we have more time.
Looking over messages, I can honestly say that I was disturbed by all the pot shots taken at me. There was the use of "frankenstein", the derision of "doctor" (even though I never use titles in postings) ... I remember one post where I was said to think I knew all the answers, expecting everyone to follow me because I was a doctor and thought I was god. There were the field marshall references (Nazi), the "sanctimonious prig" comment, and on and on.
The Japanese have a saying: "The nail that sticks its head up will get hammered." I've always though of the US as being much more progressive, but what I found out was that even a place with many smart people like SI is essentially very conservative and reactionary. Whenever I offer to bury the hatchet, I see another pot shot at me on another thread. When (if) SI gets the options I am proposing, I hope that people remember the blood that was spilled when they learn the system isn't bad at all. People seem to like the links feature, yet that was a suggestion as well (Marshall said it was due to me, but I can't remember). Anyway, that's how I feel.
-Bill |
