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Tolerance

open4years

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I am not pointing fingers but I have read some member's of this forum call someone stupid or call their ideas that. I experienced the other end by posting on another forum, that I had just joined. I mentioned that I had a .22 in my pocket. My post was about something different - an employee of a drug store saying: "Our lights are out, you don't have a gun on you, do you ". I said she couldn't have seen my gun as I had a .22 in my pocket. Now, I left the house on one errand - to go through the drive-thru at a drug store and then home. I keep a .45 with a 14 round magazine and two extra magazines in my vehicle. But, when I reached for my keys, I saw the .22 and I thought why not. Since the drive-thru was closed, I had to walk inside. At least I had a gun on me, right? Not on that forum. I was an idiot.

Lastly, we have a topic called: "Why Open Carry." Yet, many get angry at new people coming here asking that question! I know about trolls, but we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Or, we should change the name to something else.

Don't get me wrong, I've also tired of answering the same question over and over when I suspect they came here just to rile us up and laugh about it or to see how many responses they can get.

Now, I admit I would need help learning how to do it, but I have an idea that might reduce the frustration and still allow us to answer the question and make our point. Why not write down (or copy a post of yours) and have that text saved. Then we can paste it as a reply. We could easily modify it, if needed, to customize it.

Or, we should keep "Why Open Carry" and have one huge sticky with everyone's reasons why they OC! If people really wanted the answers, well there they are to read or not. Trolls would get no satisfaction what so ever!

One of those is more in jest. I trust you will treat my suggestions with respect. I want to read what you have to say about this. The actual reason for my post is about how we treat guests/new members who are simply asking the question that is here: "Why open carry?"
 

SouthernBoy

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We do see a lot of trolls and other provocateurs on this site and their numbers have appeared to increase over the past year (political reasons, the climate in Washington, I suspect). When posters with differing opinions enter and pose their questions or positions in a respectful and dignified manner, they will most always be treated in the same fashion. However, unfortunately we have seen this more often that not to not be the case with them. They deliberately try to evoke heated argument, emotions, and outright vile discourse. This is their purpose.

There is nothing wrong with holding a different view. It's only when that different view becomes a cause, leading to actions towards curtailing our fundamental rights and basic freedoms that the friction really takes off - as well it should.

So the question, "Why open carry" is a valid one and certainly open for civil discussion. What I find most amazing is when we get new people who profess to be strong supports of owning and bearing arms to also be virulently opposed to open carry. Many of these people are CC'ers and somehow see OC'ers as outcasts or bastard children who are ruining it for everyone. The dissension between CC'ers and OC'ers makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

Granted there are some who OC because of the "charge" it affords them. But most do it for genuinely valid reasons. And granted, there are certainly members on this site who are difficult at best and outright vile in their postings at worst. A measure of civility and respect never hurt anyone.
 

HankT

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open4years wrote:
I am not pointing fingers but I have read some member's of this forum call someone stupid or call their ideas that.
Only certain people do that. They think that name-calling and ganging up on an undesirable poster is fun. Well, it's fun for bubbas, but not for thinking men and women.

But these certain people don't realize that they diminish their credibilty with everyname, with everypersonal attack they make.Unfortunately, these certain people also hold down the credibilityof thepro-gun/pro-2A communities while theycontinue to do their bubba behavior...





SouthernBoy wrote:
Granted there are some who OC because of the "charge" it affords them. But most do it for genuinely valid reasons.
Yes, indeed. I've noticed an increase in this type. Many are young guys, under 21, who have discovered that though they cannot CC they can legally OC...

With the increasing diffusion of OC throughout this country comes more, perhaps many more, OCers who don't really know what they are doing. And that will (and is now) hurt the OC movement. Anty506 is an example, I'd suggest...
 

Dreamer

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There is a a HUGE difference between calling a PERSON stupid, and calling an IDEA stupid. Do dont conflate or confuse these two acts as the same thing...

Stupid ideas are common in the creative process. Lots of VERY intelligent people come up with stupid ideas. A truly creative, rational, and thoughtful person will recognize those stupid ideas as being stupid, and will file it away with his other ideas that would be doomed to failure. Occasionally, for the sake of stimulating debate and critical thought, a creative person will enter an obviously stupid idea into the intellectual forum for debate--not because they think it's a good idea, but BECAUSE they know it's a stupid one, and will cause people to examine their viewpoints, assess the ramifications of their actions, and acknowledge the negative implications of thoughtless, stupid activity.

Stupid ideas are an integral part of the creative process. Ask any successful artist, writer, activist, or inventor. But where the "wheat is separated from the chaff" in the creative process is in this discernment process--where we dismiss the stupid ideas from the effective (but controversial) ones.

A lot of VERY intelligent people have stupid ideas. But it is a very rare thing for stupid people to have intelligent ideas. So don't assume that because someone calls an idea stupid that they are by extension putting that label on the originator of the idea.

Calling out a stupid idea as stupid is part of the creative process, and an integral function of open and free discourse. It is NOT name-calling. It is part of the analytical dialogue, and fundamental to the vetting process of of developing strategies for social, political, and intellectual change.

The Ego has no place in a free and open forum of ideas.

If a person is so attached to his ideas that he considers them part of his personal makeup, and cannot distinguish between personal attacks and intellectual discourse, then I would suggest such a person needs to remove themselves from the (sometimes rough-and-tumble) field of intellectual discourse, so that their tender little "self-esteem" is not bruised...
 

eye95

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Unfortunately, some folks around here, not liking another's ideas, call him stupid.

Some, when the folly of their ideas is pointed out think that they personally have been insulted.

The intersection of these two sets is a group of really annoying posters!
 

elixin77

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As an individual, I like it when people offer me constructive criticism. We, as people, can't grow without constructive criticism, as we don't realize our mistakes unless someone points them out to us (a lie is considered truth until proven otherwise).

Calling people stupid is an insult, pure and simple. Calling an idea stupid opens the road for people to throw their input in so the formerly stupid idea becomes, well, not stupid anymore.
 

open4years

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SouthernBoy wrote:
We do see a lot of trolls and other provocateurs on this site and their numbers have appeared to increase over the past year (political reasons, the climate in Washington, I suspect). When posters with differing opinions enter and pose their questions or positions in a respectful and dignified manner, they will most always be treated in the same fashion. However, unfortunately we have seen this more often that not to not be the case with them. They deliberately try to evoke heated argument, emotions, and outright vile discourse. This is their purpose.

There is nothing wrong with holding a different view. It's only when that different view becomes a cause, leading to actions towards curtailing our fundamental rights and basic freedoms that the friction really takes off - as well it should.

So the question, "Why open carry" is a valid one and certainly open for civil discussion. What I find most amazing is when we get new people who profess to be strong supports of owning and bearing arms to also be virulently opposed to open carry. Many of these people are CC'ers and somehow see OC'ers as outcasts or bastard children who are
ruining it for everyone. The dissension between CC'ers and OC'ers makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

Granted there are some who OC because of the "charge" it affords them. But most do it for genuinely valid reasons. And granted, there are
certainly members on this site who are difficult at best and outright vile in their postings at worst. A measure of civility and respect never hurt anyone.


Good points. I'm glad that you brought up the flipside: Fellow gun owners who trash us for OCing. I, and probably all of us, don't go to their CC forums and attack them for carrying concealed. Maybe a few might be feeling out the possibility of OC themselves but start by spewing out their anti-OC thoughts. In other words, how do we tell possible OC candiates from stead-fast CCers who think we are all idiots for "showing off" by openly carrying our firearm?
 

Dreamer

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eye95 wrote:
Unfortunately, some folks around here, not liking another's ideas, call him stupid.

But can you agree with me that SOME ideas ARE, in fact, stupid, and that there is nothing wrong with "calling a duck a duck"?

Or have our tender sensibilities become so delicate and flower-like that ANY amount of blunt truth--no matter how rightfully deserved--is no longer acceptable?
 

open4years

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Dreamer wrote:
There is a a HUGE difference between calling a PERSON stupid, and calling an IDEA stupid. Do dont conflate or confuse these two acts as the same thing...

Stupid ideas are common in the creative process. Lots of VERY intelligent people come up with stupid ideas. A truly creative, rational, and thoughtful person will recognize those stupid ideas as being stupid, and will file it away with his other ideas that would be doomed to failure. Occasionally, for the sake of stimulating debate and critical thought, a creative person will enter an obviously stupid idea into the intellectual forum for debate--not because they think it's a good idea, but BECAUSE they know it's a stupid one, and will cause people to examine their viewpoints, assess the ramifications of their actions, and acknowledge the negative implications of thoughtless, stupid activity.

Stupid ideas are an integral part of the creative process. Ask any successful artist, writer, activist, or inventor. But where the "wheat is separated from the chaff" in the creative process is in this discernment process--where we dismiss the stupid ideas from the effective (but controversial) ones.

A lot of VERY intelligent people have stupid ideas. But it is a very rare thing for stupid people to have intelligent ideas. So don't assume that because someone calls an idea stupid that they are by extension putting that label on the originator of the idea.

Calling out a stupid idea as stupid is part of the creative process, and an integral function of open and free discourse. It is NOT name-calling. It is part of the analytical dialogue, and fundamental to the vetting process of of developing strategies for social, political, and intellectual change.

The Ego has no place in a free and open forum of idea.
If a person is so attached to his ideas that he considers them part of his personal makeup, and cannot distinguish between personal attacks and intellectual discourse, then I would suggest such a person needs to remove themselves from the (sometimes rough-and-tumble) field of intellectual discourse, so that their tender little "self-esteem" is not bruised...

I know the difference between calling someone stupid and calling the idea stupid. But I respectively disagree that calling an idea stupid is okay. I feel that is a crude way of telling someone that you differ in your opinion or "I disagree."

What if instead of my saying "I respectively disagree with you,". I had said your idea is stupid! Can you honestly say that someone calling YOUR idea stupid doesn't bother you? That is not what I call "constructive criticism." There are ample words in the English language that should allow one to phrase their disagreement in a more civil manner.

I would be hurt by someone calling my idea stupid. After all, I came up with the idea and thought it important and good enough to share on a forum. To call anyone's idea stupid, is just plain bad manners.

And that is an IDEA of mine!
:cool::):)
 

eye95

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Dreamer wrote:
eye95 wrote:
Unfortunately, some folks around here, not liking another's ideas, call him stupid.

But can you agree with me that SOME ideas ARE, in fact, stupid, and that there is nothing wrong with "calling a duck a duck"?

Or have our tender sensibilities become so delicate and flower-like that ANY amount of blunt truth--no matter how rightfully deserved--is no longer acceptable?
My sentence, the only one you chose to quote, does not address stupid ideas. That was not the point I was making.

My post, as a whole, makes the point.
 

Dreamer

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I have tremendous disdain for the term "tolerance" when used to describe social, political, or religious attitudes.

I think what most folks who use this term are REALLY meaning to say is "permissiveness".

I think that the more pernicious users of this term mean is that they want to force people to accept things they find unacceptable.

In engineering parlance, "tolerance" is "the permissible limit or limits of variation in a physical dimension". I believe that since many of the people using this term are in fact "social engineers" we need to examine exactly what it is that is being suggested when folks promote "tolerance" in a social setting.

If we use the engineering definition (which only makes sense, considering the word is being used by a kind of engineers--Social Engineers) then what "tolerance" means is NOT that people should be more open-minded, or should just live and let live. What they REALLY mean is that SOMEONE--some self-appointed "designer" or "social architect" has a set of acceptable specifications for behavior, and that "tolerance" is ONLY the behavior that falls within those prescribed specs.

Any behavior that falls outside those prescribed specifications is described as "intolerant", and therefore unacceptable.

We need to be aware of the REAL meaning of the words we use. The people who insert these words into the popular culture have spent GENERATIONS studying context, syntax, socio-psychological implications, and linguistic programming and response.

If we're ever going to liberate the hearts and minds of the people, we need to approach the use of language with the same science, precision, and intentional choice as those who would use language against freedom.

Words have meaning folks. Use them with care.

Don't buy into the lies.


"How many fingers am I holding up now, Winston?"
 

GLOCK21GB

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Then you have those members here that for some reason believe that they are so superior to others & talk down to them. This generally creates friction as some people dislike the elite mentality. Normally these people are small in stature & physically weak so they compensate by creating paragraphs littered with really big words. But most here can read between the lines & they don't fool anyone. For those Highly educated members here to avoid this friction keep in mind most don't hold Phd's & don't want to spend hours in a dictionary trying to decode your posts.....

We all have our own varying opinions, some of us lean more to the left, some the right, many here are conservative, a few Ultra conservatives & if your like me a Hard line Ultra Constitutional conservative that believes this country has strayed way off course & is now a grossly over taxed liberal Totalitarian Police state that likes Illegal Aliens more than it's own people.

what I am trying to say is no one here is not opinionated & we all have to attempt to get along. of course there are a few that can't & they are TROLLS... I am to blame for my share of stuff here, but then again I am a bitter, intolerant American that clinges to his bible & his armory.:)
 

Dreamer

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open4years wrote:
I know the difference between calling someone stupid and calling the idea stupid. But I respectively disagree that calling an idea stupid is okay. I feel that is a crude way of telling someone that you differ in your opinion or "I disagree."

Calling an idea "stupid" that is not well thought out, contrary to reality, baseless in fact or contrary to truth is NOT the same as "disagreeing" with it.

If someone says that a 1969 VW Bettle is a better car than a Ferrari Testarosssa, that is a comment that someone could very easily disagree with, and it is not stupid. Such a claim can be backed up with facts, rational justifications and proof. Old Beetles are more reliable, easier to maintain, cheaper to purchase, and MUCH more efficient machines in general.

However, if someone says that a 1969 VW Bettle is a FASTER car than a Ferrari Testarosssa, that is just plain stupid. Such a claim is absolutely baseless, untrue, and flies in the face of rational, provable fact.

And calling such a claim stupid is NOT wrong. It may be hurtful, rude, or mean, but it is not wrong. The truth can never be wrong. Truth can hurt--it can damage one's ego if one is emotionally invested in an untruth--but truth is never "wrong".


Can you honestly say that someone calling YOUR idea stupid doesn't bother you? That is not what I call "constructive criticism." There are ample words in the English language that should allow one to phrase their disagreement in a more civil manner.
My response to such claims is tempered by (and weighed against) the intellectual abilities of the person making such a claim.

If someone could make a cogent argument to back up their claim that something I say is stupid, then I'll take that for what it is--a rational assessment of the intelligence, practicality, and utility of my original statement.

If a person making such a claim supports their claim with ad hominem attacks, irrational arguments, provable falsehoods and emotional propaganda, then I will dismiss such a claim as the intellectual tripe that it is.

You see, the prudent response to such a claim, by a rational, intelligent person, is to assess the claim in the context of the person making it--NOT to internalize it as a direct personal statement. Internalizing statements made as part of rational discourse is a symptom of lack of intellectual rigor, and indicative of irrational attachment to concepts that may or may not be true.

And I still maintain that if something walks, looks, and quacks like a duck, there is no sin in calling it a duck, no matter how fervently the duck believes that it is a swan. Sure, the duck's feelings may be hurt when it finds out that it is, in fact NOT a swan, but truth is truth. Feelings are not the issue when discussing the truth. Truth is the issue...

Sometimes, an idea is so egregiously ill-formed, poorly thought out, and potentially dangerous that it is, on it's face, just plain stupid. And calling out a stupid idea for what is it is NOT wrong. Sometimes, it's the only way to wake people up...

Grok?


"How many fingers am I holding up now, Winston?"
 

Dreamer

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Master Doug Huffman wrote:
Glock34 wrote:
some people dislike the elite mentality.
Hmm, petty neat because I dislike the demotic mentality.

Doug, I'll admit that although we often are at odds with regards to our interpretations of history, social norms, and political viewpoints, your command of the English language never ceases to be a source of joy, entertainment, and enlightenment for me.

Yet again, you made me reach for the dictionary... (which I consider a joy, not a chore...)

"Folkish" indeed... ;)

This is an especially astute observation when we recognize that historically, "völkish" thought has without exception preceded the rise of Separatist Nationalism and then, almost without variance, Fascism...
 

open4years

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Dreamer wrote:
I have tremendous disdain for the term "tolerance" when used to describe social, political, or religious attitudes.

I think what most folks who use this term are REALLY meaning to say is "permissiveness".

I think that the more pernicious users of this term mean is that they want to force people to accept things they find unacceptable.

In engineering parlance, "tolerance" is "the permissible limit or limits of variation in a physical dimension". I believe that since many of the people using this term are in fact "social engineers" we need to examine exactly what it is that is being suggested when folks promote "tolerance" in a social setting.

If we use the engineering definition (which only makes sense, considering the word is being used by a kind of engineers--Social Engineers) then what "tolerance" means is NOT that people should be more open-minded, or should just live and let live. What they REALLY
mean is that SOMEONE--some self-appointed "designer" or "social architect" has a set of acceptable specifications for behavior, and that "tolerance" is ONLY the behavior that falls within those prescribed specifications.

Any behavior that falls outside those prescribed specifications is described as "intolerant", and therefore unacceptable.

We need to be aware of the REAL meaning of the words we use. The
people who insert these words into the popular culture have spent GENERATIONS studying context, syntax, socio-psychological implications, and linguistic programming and response.

If we're ever going to liberate the hearts and minds of the people, we need to approach the use of language with the same science, precision, and intentional choice as those who would use language against freedom.

Words have meaning folks. Use them with care.

Don't buy into the lies.


"How many fingers am I holding up now, Winston?"


I DO know the meaning of the word tolerance in engineering terms as I am an engineer with 37 years of experience. But tolerance also means: "willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs and practices of others" That is straight from the dictionary and I feel that it is very appropriate in regards to the subject matter.

You didn't call me stupid but you said people need to know the meanings of the words they use. Thank you very much! You have given a perfect example of what my post is about. You definately implied that not only did I use the wrong word, but I didn't know the meaning of the word "tolerance."

The same word can have different meanings and that is why English is hard to learn for those choosing to learn our language. I think we should also be certain of what we are saying, before flaming someone, such as looking "tolerance" up in the dictionary before saying others don't know the meaning of the word.

 

open4years

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Glock34 wrote:
Then you have those members here that for some reason believe that they are so superior to others & talk down to them. This generally creates friction as some people dislike the elite mentality. Normally these people are small in stature & physically weak so they compensate by creating paragraphs littered with really big words.  But most here can read between the lines & they don't fool anyone. For those Highly educated members here to avoid this friction keep in mind most don't hold Phd's & don't want to spend hours in a dictionary trying to decode your posts.....

We all have our own varying opinions, some of us lean more to the left, some the right, many here are conservative, a few Ultra conservatives & if your like me a Hard line Ultra Constitutional conservative that believes this country has strayed way off course & is now a grossly over taxed
Lliberal Totalitarian Police state that likes Illegal Aliens more than it's own people.

what I am trying to say is no one here is not opinionated & we all have
to attempt to get along. of course there are a few that can't & they are TROLLS... I am to blame for my share of stuff here, but then again I am a bitter, intolerant American that clinges to his bible & his armory.:)


Strange, I've never seen a post here that required me to get a dictionary. So, am I the one that your talking about?!:lol:
 

eye95

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I have no respect for the view that we do not have the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Not one iota of respect.

I guess I am intolerant.

I see the demand for tolerance as a way of forcing legitimacy on repugnant ideas. We need only respect people who show us respect. We need not respect their ideas.
 

open4years

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I do appreciate ALL of the posts here. Some of the posts seem to represent the type of language that I'm proposing that we modify so our replies are not sarcastic and hurtful; Some talk down to others in a sad attempt to prove they are wiser than others. I believe the majority of us can see through all of that or, as one said, we can read between the lines.

If some members are not familiar with the meaning of seldom used words, isn't the right thing to do is to use more common words? I'll admit there was a word, in this thread, that I also checked the dictionary to see if what I thought it meant was right. Anyone can have a dictionary out while they post, but this forum isn't about expanding our vocabulary!

I'm afraid that my post hasn't changed anything.
 
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