The arrogance, the man.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally posted on another thread, which I have deleted.

I hope that the following goes in some way to help in understanding the human condition ... and in particular mine. At the very least, I hope it goes some way to better communicating what I feel and how I come across, so as to try and limit any bad feelings.

I have been within this community for more than 4 years - and feel it is part of my life, particularly my internet life which at the moment is a considerable chunk of it.

----------------------------------------------------------

There is a problem - for some reason people continually miss read what I write.
It's probably down to the fact that we are all human and fallible - I don't always express my ideas in the best way, others don't always read them correctly.

Maybe another of my flaws is to believe that sometimes people are deliberately obtuse and then reacting to it.

It is difficult to work out:

- when it is a genuine mistake because of the way I have worded or miss represented my ideas or thoughts.
- when people are actively seeking to simply have an arguement with me for the sake of it.
- or when some people simply don't get the concepts and ideas.

I will certainly try and future to think about which one it is rather than letting my emotive responses dictate which I assume it is without due consideration.

As I have mentioned before, I am extremely passionate about certain issues - and those passions do run away with me.
It is, in a large part down to the state of my mind. Which at the best of times causes me no end of bother.
I have suffered from depression and many years ago, attempted suicide by overdose... being stomach pumped in hospital is enough to make you want to die even if you are not even suicidal in the first place
I now live in fear of every feeling that way again - I am literally terrified or feeling so dispondant again, that it affects the way I live.
I also suffer from social anxiety disorder and have for over 20 years. It makes my life difficult in the fact that I have to live with an irrational voice screaming at me telling me I am going to die from embarassment.
Having a phobic reaction to even attempting to ask a woman out for a date, or standing in a shop for 10 minutes pretending you were looking for something after going in by mistake and are terrified that people will think you are an idiot.
.... it also leads me to hate to be missunderstood to a compulsive level. Which may go some way to explaining the soap box preaching when it comes to feeling like I have been miss represented.

I rationally know that I can be a pain in the bum - but I have a compulsion and phobia about being seen as a bad person at least when it is based on an incorrect reading of something I meant.
I am extremely self critical - and spend far too long to be healthy examining my own morality

You may or may not have noticed that I only comment on subjects that I have either experience of or researched to some length - my fear of being missrepresented or sounding stupid stops me commenting on topics I don't understand. ( I may be deluded in the level of expertise in a particular subject - but thats a different issue )

I have in my life been proven wrong on mainy things - it is always going to be the case. I accept that I am constantly learning and try to take onboard any new ideas that have been shown to be more correct than my own.

The following comments are to try and clarify posts I have made where their have been bad feelings within the community.

I will try and make this as clear as possible:

I only consider comments that contain no information evidence or anything else other than simple disagreement as ignorance - and only when they seem to contain flippent insults.
Mainly because they often only contain insult and nothing else.

The converstation goes like this:

person A: The new law is terrible, it affects business practices and my income.

person B: the law is fine

person A: why ?

person B: because only greedy people care about it and it doesn't affect me

Person A: *** reasoned arguement *****

person B: you are arrogant and wrong.


^ that is what I am reacting to.

Conversation is fine, posting basic opinion is fine, you can say you don't agree or what ever you want.
I go on the defencive because time after time - posters have responded in an insulting way without bothering.

I got fed up with that and made a statement to say I did not consider that ' valid '

Everyone then wants a pop at me for being a fascist, sounding like a nazi, arrogance etc.
It is funny that they can hold aggressive opinions and spout hatred of this and that quite often .... yet I am the bad man.

Maybe I am arrogant, and I know the way I commincate some of my ideas are not the most readable or best approach.

But a serious number of people need to stand back and consider the blatant hypocrisy evident in their attempts to pilarise me.

.... but it seems that even pointing that no one is perfect, accepting some of my own weaknesses and trying to show certain hypocrisies labels me a bad guy ..... because most people certainly won't accept that they might not be the perfect, honest and admired people they seem to feel they are.

A more accurate example of some of what I have mentioned is as follows:

We were discussing the distatest full subject of paedphiles and the possibility of a new law / making the sex offenders register public.

Myself and a few others pointed out that this would be a bad idea based on a considerable amount of research carried out by various organisations including National childrens societies and respected authorities.
They stated that publishing names and address of sex offenders would lead to greater problems in society and have a negative impact on the protection of innocent children - as well as a other problems within society.

We tried to argue the point with this evidence, but many of us got called ' paedophile supporters ' by other posters .... which of course made people like me quite upset and prone to post more evidence.

That and similar incidents led to me gaining the reputation as ' Mr no it all, thinks he is always right '... and getting the perception of arrogance - because of the way I reacted to it.

There often are issues when most of us have a basic view of how things work - yet it with some esoteric knowledge, others know that it does not actually work that way.
The big problem with esoteric knowledge, is that it requires time and effort to get to grips with ... and is beyond many of us .... I try my hardest to understand quantum physics .. but I fall way short.
Yet I have to accept that it can and is proven that newtonian physics does not work for every situation in the universe ... but the majority of us still think it does and make decisions and opinions based on that. We all need to understand that we have limits.

I passionately care about what happens to humanity ( too much so with regards to fitting in and getting on in society ) - I see suffering around me each day. I find it increasingly hard to live with myself and this world when I see things that could be fixed but due what I see as silly rules or daft ideas causing pain and death around the world.

Feeling that way obviously affects the way I represent myself .... so appolgies to those to whom it causes offence. I am in the end, only human.

[Nimby]

EG

Your signature is probably responsible for many of your perceived online problems.

More seriously(?) I find that it has become increasingly popular for some people to post aggressive or pointless responses to the most innocent of posts.

The reason is obvious. A poster adopts a user name and then assumes virtual anonymity. Tracing anybody is difficult. Risk of censure or actual prosecution is very low indeed. There lies the problem. The weak-willed see it as a perfect chance to be bloodyminded. To become a cyber-bully without personal risk is the perfect gift to some weak or damaged people. They cannot resist the temptation to attack those they perceive as weak, or even too open about themselves online.

But always remember that text is open to many interpretations. I often see humour where others don't. If I respond in kind I may seriously embarrass the OP without ever meaning to.

These forums are very well moderated in general. Over-moderated in some respects but that is just a reflection of the will of the AVForums owner. He wants to draw a line somewhere and that is his business. Aggression is certainly not tolerated on these forums but is the norm on very many others.

If you feel that somebody is deliberately targetting you or your posts then ignore them and they will go away. The bloodyminded thrive on fear and irritation. Your response is their fix. Fixers need ever larger doses of what will eventually kill them. Or hopefully get them banned.

Others are perfectly entitled to their opinions as long as they express them reasonably and they do not breach the law, public morality or forum rules. Some people really are "nutcases" by our own standards. They go against the opinions we hold so dear. Examine what others say and ask yourself if it is your reaction which is wrong. Or have you simply misunderstood their post? Opinions are (or should be) malleable. Do not expect deeply reasoned responses here. Chat forums are often used as relaxation and fun. They are often an escape from reality. The office bore may thrive on clever one liners online. He has time to think and compose before committing the social blunder he expects if he ever opens his mouth in public.

So don't be a victim. Become a clown. Or just ignore "them". If you don't respond they can't come back at you. If they post twice their motives become transparent. Do not expect support from the mods if you stick your neck out and retaliate publicly. Belittling or attacking what you perceive as obvious bullying will often result in your own censure. As I know to my own cost.

[hermanmunster]

I understand exactly what you are trying to convey. I too have been treated in this way.....however I have to confess that occasionally I have returned with comments that upon reflection were less than helpful.

Posting on a forum is akin to sending emails but as nimby said quite eloquently, on here you are virtually anonymous. Most of us will have sent emails that we later regretted or at least thought, perhaps I could have written something more constructive or positive. It's very much the same on here; occassionaly you feel someone is being ridiculous or attacking something or someone that matters to you. It is then very easy to send a missive without too much thought to the consequences.

Given this perhaps an appeal to everyone to wait for a few minutes and re read a post that engenders an emotional response, before carefully constructing a reply.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Nimby

If you feel that somebody is deliberately targetting you or your posts then ignore them and they will go away.

I think that you have the wrong end of the stick as EG is trying to explain why some people may perceive that he is targeting their posts and not the other way round.

To be brutally honest many people do see EG as an arrogant intellectual bully and react in different ways. Some put him on a pedestal giving him nicknames like "Billy Science" whilst others just ignore his posting altogether citing his adoption of the nickname as further proof of his arrogance.

I am afraid that I fall into the second category and will rarely enter into a debate in which EG is participating as I don't react well to anyone trying to pound me into submission just because I disagree with their views.

Apologies for being brutally frank but in a week or two this thread will be long forgotten but the problem will remain

[Nimby]

One should remember that it takes considerable courage and willpower to fight your corner sometimes. If you don't have these or absolute conviction in your beliefs then don't respond to a thread! Posting is still completely voluntary.

As to your example: Many have deeply ingrained hatred of paedophiles. Probably most of us has suffered at least once from these perverts. Defending some aspect of their persecution or prosecution may well raise many hackles. I'd castrate them all with a carpenter's saw and hang the perverts naked from the nearest lamppost to shrivel up and die. But you have to think of the children. This sort of behaviour might well make the kids more vulnerable rather than protect them. As may naming and shaming the perverts publicly. I imagine an ankle bracelet might be more useful in controlling predatory behaviour. One which gives the bracelet owner an injection or painful shock if his heartrate rises above a maximum permissible level. Unfortunately, this sort of technology is only one step on from having millions of street cameras!

But I digress.

[Nimby]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Apologies for being brutally frank but in a week or two this thread will be long forgotten but the problem will remain

Booger!

That'll teach me to defend someone in a forum I rarely visit.

I am hypersensitive to bullying and that makes me very likely to overreact in defence of those claiming persecution.

My sincere apologies to all of those who feel aggrieved by the OP's former behaviour.

Dya want we should send da boys rand to edjicate him, like?

[Manxstar]

Originally Posted by Nimby

I am hypersensitive to bullying and that makes me very likely to overreact in defence of those claiming persecution.

I agree,
Bullying of any manner, is not a comfortable subject and certainly shouldn't be taken lightly imo.

Why does someone with better grasp of the English grammar aka swallowed a dictionary, occasionally cyber-bully the lesser mortals to a degree of insulting the offended poster for his bad grammar because maybe he can't the point of the subject across.

Asides,self-boasting is all fine with a bit of tongue-in-the-cheek thrown in, but putting yourself on a pedestal is what I call the head in the sand mentality and their is plenty of that on the Plasma forums IMO, which is why I've chosen not to venture there lately.

[overkill]

Originally Posted by andysb

I agree,
Bullying of any manner, is not a comfortable subject and certainly shouldn't be taken lightly imo.

Why does someone with better grasp of the English grammar aka swallowed a dictionary, occasionally cyber-bully the lesser mortals to a degree of insulting the offended poster for his bad grammar because maybe he can't the point of the subject across.

Asides,self-boasting is all fine with a bit of tongue-in-the-cheek thrown in, but putting yourself on a pedestal is what I call the head in the sand mentality and their is plenty of that on the Plasma forums IMO, which is why I've chosen not to venture there lately.

Happens in all the forums unfortunately. I fell foul of a few characters in the PC forum, and after being talked to like I was a congenital idiot for giving what wasn't unreasonable advice, I gave it up as bad job. What make me laugh hardest of all, is the hifi forum, an area where sound quality is very much subjective as everyone hears audio in different ways, the 'statistics brigade' march in and are only too willing to talk to you as though you are gibbering cretin for not agreeing with them that everything can be quantified. In hifi, it most definitely can't.

Nimby, EG has rubbed me up the wrong way at times, but I just accept that's the way he is. Doubtless I do the same to other people - and to EG. However, I do apologise if I feel I've stepped out of line, or someone takes umbrage.

Something that some others are not always that willing to do.

[Stephen Wilde]

Originally Posted by Ethics Gradient

Originally posted on another thread, which I have deleted.

I hope that the following goes in some way to help in understanding the human condition ... and in particular mine. At the very least, I hope it goes some way to better communicating what I feel and how I come across, so as to try and limit any bad feelings.

I have been within this community for more than 4 years - and feel it is part of my life, particularly my internet life which at the moment is a considerable chunk of it.

----------------------------------------------------------

There is a problem - for some reason people continually miss read what I write.
It's probably down to the fact that we are all human and fallible - I don't always express my ideas in the best way, others don't always read them correctly.

Maybe another of my flaws is to believe that sometimes people are deliberately obtuse and then reacting to it.

It is difficult to work out:

- when it is a genuine mistake because of the way I have worded or miss represented my ideas or thoughts.
- when people are actively seeking to simply have an arguement with me for the sake of it.
- or when some people simply don't get the concepts and ideas.

I will certainly try and future to think about which one it is rather than letting my emotive responses dictate which I assume it is without due consideration.

As I have mentioned before, I am extremely passionate about certain issues - and those passions do run away with me.
It is, in a large part down to the state of my mind. Which at the best of times causes me no end of bother.
I have suffered from depression and many years ago, attempted suicide by overdose... being stomach pumped in hospital is enough to make you want to die even if you are not even suicidal in the first place
I now live in fear of every feeling that way again - I am literally terrified or feeling so dispondant again, that it affects the way I live.
I also suffer from social anxiety disorder and have for over 20 years. It makes my life difficult in the fact that I have to live with an irrational voice screaming at me telling me I am going to die from embarassment.
Having a phobic reaction to even attempting to ask a woman out for a date, or standing in a shop for 10 minutes pretending you were looking for something after going in by mistake and are terrified that people will think you are an idiot.
.... it also leads me to hate to be missunderstood to a compulsive level. Which may go some way to explaining the soap box preaching when it comes to feeling like I have been miss represented.

I rationally know that I can be a pain in the bum - but I have a compulsion and phobia about being seen as a bad person at least when it is based on an incorrect reading of something I meant.
I am extremely self critical - and spend far too long to be healthy examining my own morality

You may or may not have noticed that I only comment on subjects that I have either experience of or researched to some length - my fear of being missrepresented or sounding stupid stops me commenting on topics I don't understand. ( I may be deluded in the level of expertise in a particular subject - but thats a different issue )

I have in my life been proven wrong on mainy things - it is always going to be the case. I accept that I am constantly learning and try to take onboard any new ideas that have been shown to be more correct than my own.

The following comments are to try and clarify posts I have made where their have been bad feelings within the community.

I will try and make this as clear as possible:

I only consider comments that contain no information evidence or anything else other than simple disagreement as ignorance - and only when they seem to contain flippent insults.
Mainly because they often only contain insult and nothing else.

The converstation goes like this:

person A: The new law is terrible, it affects business practices and my income.

person B: the law is fine

person A: why ?

person B: because only greedy people care about it and it doesn't affect me

Person A: *** reasoned arguement *****

person B: you are arrogant and wrong.


^ that is what I am reacting to.

Conversation is fine, posting basic opinion is fine, you can say you don't agree or what ever you want.
I go on the defencive because time after time - posters have responded in an insulting way without bothering.

I got fed up with that and made a statement to say I did not consider that ' valid '

Everyone then wants a pop at me for being a fascist, sounding like a nazi, arrogance etc.
It is funny that they can hold aggressive opinions and spout hatred of this and that quite often .... yet I am the bad man.

Maybe I am arrogant, and I know the way I commincate some of my ideas are not the most readable or best approach.

But a serious number of people need to stand back and consider the blatant hypocrisy evident in their attempts to pilarise me.

.... but it seems that even pointing that no one is perfect, accepting some of my own weaknesses and trying to show certain hypocrisies labels me a bad guy ..... because most people certainly won't accept that they might not be the perfect, honest and admired people they seem to feel they are.

A more accurate example of some of what I have mentioned is as follows:

We were discussing the distatest full subject of paedphiles and the possibility of a new law / making the sex offenders register public.

Myself and a few others pointed out that this would be a bad idea based on a considerable amount of research carried out by various organisations including National childrens societies and respected authorities.
They stated that publishing names and address of sex offenders would lead to greater problems in society and have a negative impact on the protection of innocent children - as well as a other problems within society.

We tried to argue the point with this evidence, but many of us got called ' paedophile supporters ' by other posters .... which of course made people like me quite upset and prone to post more evidence.

That and similar incidents led to me gaining the reputation as ' Mr no it all, thinks he is always right '... and getting the perception of arrogance - because of the way I reacted to it.

There often are issues when most of us have a basic view of how things work - yet it with some esoteric knowledge, others know that it does not actually work that way.
The big problem with esoteric knowledge, is that it requires time and effort to get to grips with ... and is beyond many of us .... I try my hardest to understand quantum physics .. but I fall way short.
Yet I have to accept that it can and is proven that newtonian physics does not work for every situation in the universe ... but the majority of us still think it does and make decisions and opinions based on that. We all need to understand that we have limits.

I passionately care about what happens to humanity ( too much so with regards to fitting in and getting on in society ) - I see suffering around me each day. I find it increasingly hard to live with myself and this world when I see things that could be fixed but due what I see as silly rules or daft ideas causing pain and death around the world.

Feeling that way obviously affects the way I represent myself .... so appolgies to those to whom it causes offence. I am in the end, only human.

Self restraint is essential to render cold reasoning of any use at all. Once you lose self restraint you give the other party a peg upon which to hang dismissal of all your efforts.

As IronClad has said elsewhere it matters not where you position yourself on the range of possible opinions. What matters most is how you interact with others in expressing your opinion.

Revealing that you consider all disagreement as arising from ignorance, lack of understanding or some other deficiency sets all you say at nought.

Many things you say I agree with. Your analytical skills are sound even if I disagree with many things you say but you so often end with a barbed comment which shows that you are oblivious to the range of legitimate alternative attitudes that can be adopted by others without them being any less knowledgable than you.

We all have different life experiences so that we attach differing weights to differing aspects of everything. Respect for your 'opponents' really is the greatest weapon you can have because if you show respect for them they will respect you and that really does give rise to doubt in their minds.

Even then it is not a 'win' situation because if their views are cogently presented they should also put doubt in your mind. Thus it is that diverse life experiences can be prevented from being a barrier to mutual understanding.

As you admit it is the social aspect with which you are weakest. What you fail to appreciate is the extent to which the social aspect is critical to true knowledge and both developing that in yourself and communicating it to others.

A little humility will work wonders for your ability to sway opinions if your reasoning is as sound as you believe it to be.

If you relax a bit and allow humour from time to time that should help. It is your own self criticism that makes it difficult for you not to apply the same often merciless analysis to others.

We are all human but it is all right to be human. Go easier on yourself and you will go easier on others and they with you.

My fee will be 200 Guineas.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally Posted by Ian J

To be brutally honest many people do see EG as an arrogant intellectual bully and react in different ways. Some put him on a pedestal giving him nicknames like "Billy Science" whilst others just ignore his posting altogether citing his adoption of the nickname as further proof of his arrogance.

I am afraid that I fall into the second category and will rarely enter into a debate in which EG is participating as I don't react well to anyone trying to pound me into submission just because I disagree with their views.

I would just make the point that you should consider how others perceive you on these forums and else where with regards to bullying and having a couple of catagories about how people feel about you.

I have on and off line talked to other users of the forum and your name has cropped up on many occastions with extremely strong views about the way you choose to treat people.

I am well aware that you dislike me - ever since I argued with you.... funily enough it was because I read you as being arrogant and treating others without due respect on a particular subject that I got into that position in the first place.

Because of your work and position in the community, some people look up to you and place you on a pedastel. I know for certain that many think many others don't and consider you a problem they dislike strongly.
They won't generally express themselves openly, simply because of the fear that it potentially is avforum suicide to do so. ( we may or may not be the case for me here ).

Let he without sin cast the first stone.

You choose to post here and express how you feel about me, so it is only fair that I get to reply fairly and openly.

Apologies for being brutally frank.

Originally Posted by Ian J

citing his adoption of the nickname as further proof of his arrogance

My nick name comes from a series of books that I really enjoyed by Iain M Banks.

I randomly select the names of space craft listed in his books, simply because they all sound intersting to me ... and it's a long list.

Sorry if choosing nick names from books that actually mean little else but as a nod to the author and those that like them offends people and makes me look arrogant.

Originally Posted by Ian J

in a week or two this thread will be long forgotten but the problem will remain

My only hope and reason for posting is that even if one person at least understand a little about me and my motivations, then it was worth it.
I don't want to be a bad person or seen as bully - hardly anyone would.

I have to live each and every day with knowing that it is a character trait I have in the way I present myself and come across - one that I loathe.
If that one person who got upset or had the perception that I sit here laughing in an ivory tower knows that at the very least I did not really and truely wish them to be upset ... then at least that is some comfort.

It is very difficult to change what we are - how our minds work and the compulsions that drive and sometimes torture us.

I know mine - and have to look myself in the mirror each day.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally Posted by overkill

.

Nimby, EG has rubbed me up the wrong way at times, but I just accept that's the way he is. Doubtless I do the same to other people - and to EG. However, I do apologise if I feel I've stepped out of line, or someone takes umbrage.

You have on many occastions rubbed me up the wrong way - and I am well aware that I have done the same to you ...... being as that on some subjects we will never agree

I have passionately wanted to throttle you on those occastions, but on many others I have read your posts and seen a good person that cares about things.
Whether it comes across so or not ( and probably not knowing me ) .... I do respect you and enjoy reading what you have to say.

Thinking about myself and the way I do sometimes come across - it is often due to the complete frustration at not being able to communicate to the other person my feelings or ideas.

The arrogance or appearance of it may well be as a byproduct of my own refusal to accept that I could not have put something more plainly as it makes complete sense to me ... and holding the other person responsable for simply not getting it.

I try very hard to use discipline of thought and not jump to conclusions with many things - like when reading the paper etc. I try to stop the emotive first reaction to a head line or story staying as my take on the subject, and try to put myself on all sides and check a few facts before comming to a conclusion ....
.... I feel that I am quite often sucessful with that, but the human mind and the situations we come into shows that we can't always be controlled and show as much discipline as we wish we could - especially when we are frustrated with what is around us regardless of whether it is actually our own shortcommings or not.

[Woodywizz]

Originally Posted by Ethics Gradient

I would just make the point that you should consider how others perceive you on these forums and else where with regards to bullying and having a couple of catagories about how people feel about you.

I have on and off line talked to other users of the forum and your name has cropped up on many occastions with extremely strong views about the way you choose to treat people.

I am well aware that you dislike me - ever since I argued with you.... funily enough it was because I read you as being arrogant and treating others without due respect on a particular subject that I got into that position in the first place.

Because of your work and position in the community, some people look up to you and place you on a pedastel. I know for certain that many think many others don't and consider you a problem they dislike strongly.

Let he without sin cast the first stone.

You choose to post here and express how you feel about me, so it is only fair that I get to reply fairly and openly.

Apologies for being brutally frank.



My nick name comes from a series of books that I really enjoyed by Iain M Banks.

I randomly select the names of space craft listed in his books, simply because they all sound intersting to me ... and it's a long list.

Sorry if choosing nick names from books that actually mean little else but as a nod to the author and those that like them offends people and makes me look arrogant.



My only hope and reason for posting is that even if one person at least understand a little about me and my motivations, then it was worth it.
I don't want to be a bad person or seen as bully - hardly anyone would.

I have to live each and every day with knowing that it is a character trait I have in the way I present myself and come across - one that I loathe.
If that one person who got upset or had the perception that I sit here laughing in an ivory tower knows that at the very least I did not really and truely wish them to be upset ... then at least that is some comfort.

It is very difficult to change what we are - how our minds work and the compulsions that drive and sometimes torture us.

I know mine - and have to look myself in the mirror each day.

Good post EG, I've read many of your threads and thought that you have come across as pompous and condescending, however I recognise that you are intellectually very strong and your use of language is something which I admire greatly. This thread does indeed give us some more insight into the man behind the posts and I, at least, thank you for that.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally Posted by andysb

I agree,
Bullying of any manner, is not a comfortable subject and certainly shouldn't be taken lightly imo.

Why does someone with better grasp of the English grammar aka swallowed a dictionary, occasionally cyber-bully the lesser mortals to a degree of insulting the offended poster for his bad grammar because maybe he can't the point of the subject across.

Asides,self-boasting is all fine with a bit of tongue-in-the-cheek thrown in, but putting yourself on a pedestal is what I call the head in the sand mentality and their is plenty of that on the Plasma forums IMO, which is why I've chosen not to venture there lately.

Just so you are aware - my post refers specifically to incidents where heated debates have taken place on emotive subjects like religion and politics.
They are the ones where a lot of posters tend to become a little over zealous .
I don't pull people up on their grammer - being dyslexic makes me rather strongly against people that do - I consider it pedantry to try to say someone s ideas are wrong simply because they made a spelling mistake.

If you are aware of my posts over the time I have been here and consider me to be a bad man from reading them - fine, but I don't want to posters to get the impression that I come on here to insult and basically flame others for fun.
At the very least I would hope that people that do read my posts have never got that idea.

[Ethics Gradient]

Originally Posted by woodywizz

Good post EG, I've read many of your threads and thought that you have come across as pompous and condescending, however I recognise that you are intellectually very strong and your use of language is something which I admire greatly. This thread does indeed give us some more insight into the man behind the posts and I, at least, thank you for that.

Thank you so very much - I am honestly moved.

[Dave]

EG, I'm a little confused by your post to be honest and don't really understand what you are to trying to achieve with it.

On one hand it says to me, "I am only human and when debating a point I can be wrong" and on the other it says, "If I can't get my point of view accepted then it has obviously been misconstrued by the reader".

Again to be honest, I find it quite hard to even read all of your posts as in general they are rather long and very hard to understand what point you are trying to make in amongst all the intellectual rambling.

That's about it really, just thought I'd throw my 2p in as you made a thread about yourself.