Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
No one is saying we can't argue, discuss, have a constructive exchange of ideas, etc. Heck, that's what a forum is all about. Avoiding conflict isn't the answer. The question is how do we handle conflict when it occurs? I find it useful to apply two simple rules. 1) Am I arguing over opinion or fact? and (2) what kind of language am I using to share that disagreement. As he has in two other postings in this forum, admiralh has left us with the difference between opinion and fact. Taken from Taken from Encarta's on-line dictionaries: an opinion is a personal view, the view somebody takes about a certain issue, especially when it is based solely on personal judgment. A fact, on the other hand, is something known to be true: something that can be shown to be true, to exist, or to have happened; the truth or reality of something: the truth or actual existence of something, as opposed to the supposition of something or a belief about something. "It would appear to me", he goes on, "that an opinion and fact are mutually exclusive. An opinion cannot be a fact, and a fact cannot be an opinion. Facts can be debated, opinions cannot." To which I replied: Failure to recognize the difference is not only dooming the usefulness of this forum, it is also dooming the ability to dialogue on any subject of any nature in any forum. Yes, opinions are like anuses: everybody's got one. But just because you have one (an anus) doesn't mean you go around mooning everyone. Same with opinion: just because you have one doesn't mean it should be shared. There are laws and rules of civility that prohibit mooning. In the same way, there are rules against publishing opinions: these are known collectively as the rules of rhetoric, rules that demand opinions be backed with fact and logic before they can be shared and dressed up in decent, correct grammar when they are. Sadly, most of what I read in these and other forums ignore commonly accepted rules of rhetoric. And, just because a person doesn't know what they are, that doesn't give them the right to violate them. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you want to share your ideas in this forum, observe the rules of rhetoric (or, if you don't know what they are, learn them) or just plain don't participate! There are some, who unfortunately, will see my position as intellectual elitism. I assure you it is not. Just because you are entitled to an opinion doesn't mean that you are entitled to share it. You are entitled to share it when, like I said, you back it with data and logic (in which case it ceases to be an opinion and instead becomes a fact) and dress it in language that demonstrates acceptable usage. I know the editors at the Kalmbach publications that sponsor these forums generally adhere to these principles when selecting materials to publish in print. I would appreciate it very much if they would do the same for these forums. As it stands now, these forums are loosing their credibility as a useful exchange of ideas, and not at all reflecting positively on Kalmbach Publishing. C'mon, guys; it's time to get back in the driver's seat. Just because the medium is different doesn't mean your responsibilities as editors have changed.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag