On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 7:19 AM, ChaoticFluffy <chaoticflu...@gmail.com>wrote:
Pete Forsyth's strategy looks good on paper, but my feeling is that for this > particular *type* of uncivil editor (as opposed to your garden-variety > editor who happens to have lost his temper), an approach of something like > "you know, you're talking to real people, and your words can come across > somewhat hurtful to those people" is usually met with "I'm polite to people > I respect, and I don't respect those people", which is simply no solution at > all. Editors who see the right to not be yelled at or name-called as a > privilege someone has to earn, rather than as a default right, are, in my > opinion, not well-suited to wikipedia. > > -Fluffernutter Yes, maybe there is a mismatch here between the kind of situation Ryan describes and the experience I was reporting. Sorry if this comment was a distraction; I absolutely agree that there are cases where a stronger response is called for. I think one of the big challenges is that strategies for coping with incivility on a day-to-day basis are often at odds with broader strategies to effect systemic change. Sometimes, the only way to get through a specific situation with one's sanity and dignity intact involves a bit of appeasing or lenience; but in the long run, appeasing and lenience make civility issues more difficult to solve. I don't think there's an easy answer to this tension, but I do think that talking about the various relevant experiences we've had will be useful; so I'm glad this discussion is taking place. I agree completely, by the way, that the "I have earned the right to respect or disrespect whomever I please" meme should be stamped out and burned with fire. -Pete
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