Hopefully the last D.O.T. post!

Michael J. Coslo (mjc5@email.psu.edu)
Fri, 28 Feb 1997 15:14:24 -0500

>As someone who has been insulted by Terry on more than one occasion and on
>more than one list, I can say that what you write here is difficult for me
>to understand and accept. I can only ask that you check the archives

Well, I checked the archives ( I actually read them when they first
were posted too). I think what we have here is an agressive communication
style which does not translate at all well to the computer keyboard. I am
pretty well used to such communication styles, but I can see where some
people might not like it at all. Tha is also the reason my post was delayed
a couple of days.

>Have you ever disagreed with Terry?

Oh yes, we had a discussion some time ago debating the retina's
perception of light.

> There is in my experience an accumulative effect to all this: namely, that of
>controlling list topics and discussions, and then some.

I think no one should rule the list, but your comment below about
self-censorship plays a part in the problem. If your concern is that one
person is dominating a list, self-censorship is a sure fire way to garuntee
it. BTW if anyone complained one of my posts were too long I suspect they
would get a even longer post back!

>When I look back at this, I realize that self-censorship has slowly and
>subtly crept in for me, and I take responsibility for it.

I routinely am involved in arbritration as a president of a youth
ice hockey organization, and in all but the most extreme cases I find both
parties in a dispute need to give and take to come to an equitable
solution. I hope this will happen here. The solution is probably a
combination of more genteel phrasing of posts coupled with a realization
that there is no insulting intended, but an agressive communication style.

And no jokes about me playing too many games without my helmet!

- Mike -

mjc5@psu.edu