There's a dot in the middle of both the Yin and Yang that contains a grain of its very opposite - there's some Yin in Yang, and some Yang in Yin. Similarly, I contend that there's at least a grain of truth in every commentary a Kossack has to offer here.
So why do we see comments that start with "Wrong" here so much? Trip the omnilepticon fantastic with me . . .
Here is the comment that launched a thousand ships:
I took it as an innocuous point of humor. Is there any other way to take it? Yet, the immediate next poster responded spontaneously with "Wrong", followed by a fairly long commentary which I'll discuss more fully further down.
Everyone was immediately walking on eggshells, and open, free-flowing discussion all but came a halt. Someone in the chat pool just identified himself as someone who is willing to go on the attack to the degree that he is willing to even challenge a humorous post.
Well, that was the net effect, at least, but the post was actually a good one - I thought - which served as a great addendum to the OP's original witticism. Not what I expected after such a challenge, however.
Was the intention of the respondent to "lay down the law"? - ie, let everyone know that if he was to be challenged on what he was about to say, he was fully willing to push back? A theory, and who can say, but that's one possible interpretation. Other than that, interpretations are rather hard to come by - why challenge the OP's original comment at all? It was a funny!
Anyway, I responded as follows:
The OP's commentary was not "Wrong"
I see this a lot here, and it always gets to me. This morning, I simply find myself in a position where I don't think I can pass this opportunity by without comment.
In this case, it was easy to divine the context in which the OP was couching his remark, and in that context, there was nothing "wrong" at all about what he had to say. You, {respondent}, followed up with a lot of valuable information in what I thought was a great commentary which added considerably to the OP's original. Only, why did you have to make him "Wrong" first? Could you not have simply made your worthwhile addition without it?
"Wrong" is an immediate, personal attack and a challenge, and for that reason I don't like to see it downthread from one of my posts, or attached to anyone else's. Besides being callous, it diminishes whatever you might have to say which follows it, because the accusation of "Wrong" is seldom if ever even correct. Re-read your post without "Wrong", and it's immediately a better, smarter, more erudite post.
Full communication on the internet is an obstacle course already. Can we leave out personal slings - even ones regarded as rather slight - against our fellows and allies here?
by thenekkidtruth on Wed Aug 06, 2014 at 11:01:40 AM EDT
I like to think we're better than that here. This blogging thing is fraught with peril enough as it is - can't we all agree to make the way easier rather than harder?
10:04 AM PT: Yeah, right. As if this is some kind of breaking news story, or something lol.
Well, the respondent just very graciously acknowledged that he was in error on this. In my opinion, he did good!