using Ignore Lists - in real life

A device I employ liberally, in real life, is roughly analogous to the Ignore List feature. This is how it works: you speak your mind, without mincing words, without sugar-coating things, without dumbing things down - and those that either don't understand or don't agree with what you are saying will not want to talk to you anymore. They put you on their metaphorical Ignore List - mission accomplished. You save the time you would have spent dealing with them. It's a natural culling process. Everyone benefits.

Darwin would have liked this.

Those who are brutally honest usually like the brutality more than the honesty.

smoothmoniker wrote:

Those who are brutally honest usually like the brutality more than the honesty.

Did you coin this phrase?

bullshit

Sorta sounds like a rationalization for being a jerk...

Flint wrote:

They put you on their metaphorical Ignore List - mission accomplished. You save the time you would have spent dealing with them. It's a natural culling process. Everyone benefits.

wouldn't it be just as easy to walk up to them and say -
"Hey! You suck - don't talk to me anymore" :eyebrow:

SteveBsjb wrote:

Did you coin this phrase?

I don't think so, but I have no idea where I might have heard it.

smoothmoniker wrote:

Those who are brutally honest usually like the brutality more than the honesty.

lumberjim wrote:

bullshit

Happy Monkey wrote:

Sorta sounds like a rationalization for being a jerk...

FallenFairy wrote:

wouldn't it be just as easy to walk up to them and say -
"Hey! You suck - don't talk to me anymore"

I don't think y'all are catching the intended spirit of this idea.

Let me give you an example: If someone wants to talk to me about how Toby Keith is a true patriot or that the liberal media conspiracy is undermining the moral fiber of America, I can simply say something about Quantum Physics or whether they prefer Vietnamese cuisine to Thai cuisine. They will probably be either confused or vaguely offended (scenario #1), or maybe they will have some meaningful contribution on the subject (scenario #2). Results:

(scenario #1) Their eyes glaze over and they slowly back away. They go find another neandethal with which they can drink beer and shout profanities.

(scenario #2) We find a middle ground and have a pleasant conversation.

. . . Either way, everyone benefits by being themselves.

Hey Flint...do you prefer Thai cuisine or Vietnamese cuisine? :p

PS - do you think you're on a lot of people's "ignore list"?

@Spexxvet: I prefer Thai Curry, but Vietneamese Spring Rolls. Have you ever had a Japanese Curry?

Spexxvet wrote:

do you think you're on a lot of people's "ignore list"?

Maybe so, maybe not. Either way - it's beyond my power to influence the perceptions experienced inside the heads of other people, and I make it a policy not to worry about things I have no control over.

i said 'bullshit' because i don't think you really do this in real life as you stated.

Flint wrote:

speak your mind, without mincing words, without sugar-coating things, without dumbing things down

@lumberjim: I absolutely do communicate that way. I suggest everybody try it. And, why would I lie about it? Which part of it do you find hard to believe? This is just common sense to me.

I think you have misinterpreted people's reaction. People slowly back away because they assume you are nuts. This is an understandable reaction to a huge non-sequitur.

"So how about that cubs game, Bob?"
Bob replies, "The human head weighs eight pounds, Fred."

I'm sure people are backing slowly away.

@dar512: I'm glad they think I'm nuts. I am nuts. If they are nuts too then we will get along famously. If not, well, maybe both of us could find somebody better to talk to.

Flint wrote:

I'm glad they think I'm nuts. I am nuts.

Ok. Now I've got to go along with LJ. This is a pose.

Why would it be? What have I got to lose? All I can be is myself.

or you could be someone really cool. like a hard ass that shoots from the hip, and gets all the chicks. please. your whole vibe smacks of effort.

Oh, there's lots of possible reasons for taking a pose. I don't know you well enough to speculate.

But I find it hard to believe that anyone prefers for people to think they are crazy.

Flint wrote:

All I can be is myself.

BTW this chant is getting old. It's a cop-out. You are who you choose to be.

dar512 wrote:

You are who you choose to be.

I agree 100% with that. Another example of what I consider to be common sense.


I don't see conflicts or contradictions that y'all are perceiving. That is, because I am me, I know who I am, and I am comfortable with myself. Because I am me, I know how I act, for what reasons, etc. - and logic dictates that I am the final judge on subjective interpretations of my internal motivations, etc. (notwithstanding the fact that you are welcome to make observations of my behavior based on the limited bits of text you have as an indicator of what makes me tick - which I am basically inviting by making threads like this)

The unanswered question is what specifically do you find hard to believe about this? What specifically about this appears to be posturing, IE what could I hope to gain by making false statements about myself to strangers on the internet?

Flint wrote:

IE what could I hope to gain by making false statements about myself to strangers on the internet?

Did you really just ask that?

Dude, you quoted it, you tell me.

Either you're lying here, or you're lying in "Every Person Has Value!" where you say

"every person has value"? that's my schtick. you beat me to it!

and

What if you step outside your own perspective, and see the world through someone else's eyes, and you realize that they're a complete f**king idiot?

Then you haven't stepped outside your own persepctive. Try again.

Your approach two days ago was that subjectivism requires us to appreciate others' point of view by actually trying to understand their perspective.

Your approach today suggests that you rudely write off entire people you disagree with by violating social convention. It's OK to be a dick to people who don't share your values or sense of style.

That's a very argumentative interpretation. I could do the post-by-post rebuttal thing, but, nah.

Flint wrote:

The unanswered question is what specifically do you find hard to believe about this? What specifically about this appears to be posturing, IE what could I hope to gain by making false statements about myself to strangers on the internet?

You appear to be fairly rational, at least as much as you can tell on a board. Yet you profess to intentionally use behavior which is counter-productive. Making sure that co-workers think you are crazy will not enhance your career, whatever it may be. Making sure that all your friends are nuts will not result in a useful support network in times of need.

So either you are a poser who wants us to think he's a loose cannon, or you really are the kind of nut who does stuff that sabotages their own life.

@dar512: Or you haven't understood what I meant.

No rebuttal needed, it is my answer to your question of what specifically about this appears to be posturing.

Flint wrote:

@dar512: Or you haven't understood what I meant.

Nah. Your meaning is pretty clear.

Flint wrote:

I'm glad they think I'm nuts. I am nuts. If they are nuts too then we will get along famously. If not, well, maybe both of us could find somebody better to talk to.

Not too many ways to read that.

Most folks here say what's on their mind and leave it at that. You may not agree with them or like them, but at least you know where you stand. Since you ask, my best guess at this point is that you like to play mind games.

Surely someone who claims never to be posturing is striking the "I never posture, dig how authentic I am" pose. :-)

Maggie...Flint could be *pretending* to posture that he never postures, you know, in order to be cooler than cool. He could be so cool that he shits dry ice, baby.

dar512 wrote:

Not too many ways to read that.

Come on, ways to read things are like snowflakes, man.

excuse me.
explanation: threads that are blantantly contradictory= lots of people who diagree or call bullshit= lots of argumentative posts= larger post count on the thread= BUMP.
another Brown Thrasher?

Undertoad wrote:

No rebuttal needed, it is my answer to your question of what specifically about this appears to be posturing.

Good answer, I didn't catch that. You followed my "appears to be" qualifier with your "suggests that" qualifier. That puts us both in the clear.

[COLOR="DarkGreen"] Bonus points awarded.[/COLOR]

Flint wrote:

Come on, ways to read things are like snowflakes, man.

Some convoluted stuff, sure. But that was clear and straightforward writing.

capnhowdy wrote:

...threads that are blantantly contradictory...

Is there a blatant contradiction here? Where? I don't think there is.

(btw: I thought I was on your Ignore List)

Flint wrote:

I don't see conflicts or contradictions that y'all are perceiving.

How about this conflict:

Flint wrote:

This is how it works: you speak your mind, without mincing words, without sugar-coating things, without dumbing things down - and those that either don't understand or don't agree with what you are saying will not want to talk to you anymore.

Flint wrote:

If someone wants to talk to me about how Toby Keith is a true patriot or that the liberal media conspiracy is undermining the moral fiber of America, I can simply say something about Quantum Physics or whether they prefer Vietnamese cuisine to Thai cuisine. They will probably be either confused or vaguely offended (scenario #1), or maybe they will have some meaningful contribution on the subject (scenario #2). [/QUOTE

Above, you admit that acted in a way that was meant to cause a response. So when you say:

[QUOTE=Flint]it's beyond my power to influence the perceptions experienced inside the heads of other people, and I make it a policy not to worry about things I have no control over.

You are talking out your ass. Or just posing in one instance or the other. :p

[COLOR="Silver"][SIZE="1"]
@Spexxvet: Could you please come back and close that quote? It's really bugging me! (I won't knock you for the late edit, see I made one here, too!)[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Flint wrote:

Come on, ways to read things are like snowflakes, man.

No...one snowflake is seldom qualitiatively different from the others.

Fortunately in most cases "ways to read something" are like 50 quintillion snowflakes and one 200 lb block of ice. One of them kind of stands out in the crowd.

After all, if there were always a myriad of equiprobable "ways to read something", trying to communicate would be futile and pointless. You wouldn't be trying to make that happen, of course. That would make you powerless to influence people's perceptions. Kind of like shooting yourself in the foot so you could use a handicapped parking space.

Flint wrote:

(btw: I thought I was on your Ignore List)

Perhaps you don't know how the ignore list works.

But of course you don't care whose list you're on.

Sure you don't.

That's why you keep asking. :-)

MaggieL wrote:

That's why you keep asking. :-)

It's only when someone makes a huge deal out of letting me know that they are putting me on ignore that I have to wonder why they keep responding to me. That is curious, hmmm?

Flint wrote:

Come on, ways to read things are like snowflakes, man.

Right. And no single snowflake considers itself responsible for the avalanche (- from the Demotivator's site).*

BTW, you can have someone on ignore and still select the option of reading any one of their individual posts. I'm not sure why people do this, since it ignores the entire concept of "ignore," but I guess some folks just can't resist peeking. I don't have anyone on ignore at the moment except that rabble rouser Kitsune.**



*OK, so I changed the wording slightly, so sue me! ;)










**:lol: JOKE, Kitsune!

I think it's bullshit that no two snowflakes are alike.

SteveBsjb wrote:

I think it's bullshit that no two snowflakes are alike.

Nope, its quite true.

:tux:

marichiko wrote:

I'm not sure why people do this, since it ignores the entire concept of "ignore," ...

Because the default becomes to not read posts from the target, which then take up only minimal screen real estate.

But if they should appear to actually be engaging in real dialog (instead of simply manifesting logorrhea or Spasmodic Posting Syndrome), you can still see what's going on. The target's blather doesn't gain eyeballs by default, but can still have bullshit called on them on occasion.

Or just possibly earn their way out of Siberia by making their posts worth reading. You never know...the horse might sing.

Flint wrote:

[COLOR="Silver"][SIZE="1"]
@Spexxvet: Could you please come back and close that quote? It's really bugging me! (I won't knock you for the late edit, see I made one here, too!)[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Something's wrong - I don't have an edit button. :sniff: In the meantime, care to address the substance of my post?

dar512 wrote:

Oh, there's lots of possible reasons for taking a pose. I don't know you well enough to speculate.

But I find it hard to believe that anyone prefers for people to think they are crazy.

I definitely prefer for people to think I'm crazy...especially all my shrinks who've kept telling me I'm sane ;)

I find it a simple task to ignore the knuckle draggers at my work. I simply lock my door and they are not welcome to enter unless they knock. I have two windows that look out into the equipment area, on the window, which looks out onto common equipment; i blocked the view with a poster of Jerry Garcia. Otherwise if no poster...it is like i am on display when they enter the front door.

Ahhhh, solitude...i love it :)