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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (59331)	9/21/2002 12:26:09 AM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

Glad to see you made parole, E. Because, in a real if incomplete way, I "know" these people I wouldn't be so sure. I think some people here took the "alias versus real person" distinction too literally ... leading to disembodied voices and woooooooooooooooooooos. I believe the central point in that discussion is that SI posters are not accountable for what they say. Citing TOU as a standard of accountability doesn't fly, because some people don't mind bannings, suspensions, or even being booted off. There are other threads and other chat line venues. Thus, the opinions, arguments, positions, etc., of an SI poster can be mere game-play. One can be as outrageous or disengenuous as one chooses to be here, with nothing to lose. Nada. You can't do that with people at the office. Or your neighbors. Or at the corner bar. That's 3-d life, and there you can't offend and outrage people you have to see every day, people you have to live next to, or people who might punch you in the mouth. In 3-d life, you are accountable to everyone, with the possibility of sanctions by those you annoy, which can truly affect the quality of your real life. Nothing that happens here can affect your 3-d life in any way. You can turn off your computer and that's the end of it. There is no on-off button in the real world. Those are the reasons why some of us believe that what you see here, what you read here, may tell you things about the person behind the alias ... but may just as well tell you nothing about them. Nothing that is true, that is.

To: E who wrote (59331)	9/21/2002 9:12:22 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Why am I positive that Neocon isn't a bigamist? That X doesn't have a boyfriend on the side? That kholt isn't a schizophrenic? Because, in a real if incomplete way, I "know" these people. I "know" those things, as well, at least to the extent that anyone knows anything. None of us reveals a perfectly clear view of who we are in any venue. And others see us through their own distorting prisms. And even if we were perfectly open and others were perfectly unbiased, there are still all sorts of barriers to communication. A case can be made that no one really knows anyone else, or maybe even himself. To suggest that that applies uniquely to SI is a distortion, IMO.