Just sticking my nose in... but I think "troll" is harsh in this instance.
I can empathize with the love of a good argument. Somebody may be defending their convictions, attempting to defend a contrary position (a valuable exercise which isn't done nearly enough I think) or in fact just playing devil's advocate. I think that all of these are valuable. At the same time I think a good argument demands respect amongst the participants. Personal attacks outside the arena, name-calling, etc all show a marked lack of respect and taint the quality of the argument. On the other hand a troll's purpose is twofold: to eliminate the possibility of on-topic or intelligent discussion and to continue the off-topic discussion as long as possible - preferably while pissing off as many people as possible. They will immediately attack, change sides, make ridiculous assertions, etc. Most importantly they KNOW their trolling. (Of course... if you want to force the issue you might say that Sam is a very bad troll. But by the same token you can say he's a very bad Podiatrist since to my knowledge he's not trying to be either.) Now, for what it's worth, I've not seen (according to my definition) any trolls on this list (well... at least for a while). I've seen many of us (myself included) be royal assholes when pressed... but no trolls. ;^) Jim Davis > -----Original Message----- > From: loathe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 12:28 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: RE: speaking of > > Can I tell you this is the exact same thing I thought, and the reason I > didn't reply earlier to his apology. > > Tim > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Kevin Graeme [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 7:39 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Re: speaking of > > > > > > Ah. So you don't actually have any convictions. You're simply a troll. > > > > On 7/1/05, Sam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Gruss, > > > I hope you don't take offense to me always challenging you, it's all > > > in fun and difference of opinion. Ike made me realized it might seem > > > offensive but it's not meant to be. Just like to talk things out for > > > the fun of challenging debate. Don't really mean to offend anybody. > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:162703 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
