05-04-2004, 04:23 PM
Hi,
Thanks Pete for the kick in the pants to properly spell check my posts.
NP. Bend over and I'll help you some more :)
I do still stand behind my assertion that such quotes shouldn't have been posted for the reasons I've posted above.
While I completely see your point, there are a couple of other things to consider. First, while I know that freedom of speech doesn't apply to a privately owned forum, I am still a firm believer in it. As long as whatever is said does not break the forum rules, I have no problem with it being said -- I might and often do disagree and when I do I argue against the ideas expressed to the best of my ability. But I do not argue against the right to express then (again, with the forum rules in mind).
Second, I think that knowing what others think of us is an important part in knowing ourselves. If how others see us reflects how we see ourselves, then a bit of complacency is permissible. But if others see us differently, especially much differently, than we see ourselves, then there is a problem. And interpersonal (or inter-cultural) problems are seldom one sided. So, it is good to know these things, good to examine them and learn from them. It might help to get people on our side. And if not, then it is still important to know our enemy.
Magellan's crew circumnavigated the world in about two years. Yuri Gagarin did it in ninety minutes. A few hundred years ago, what the rest of the world though of the USA didn't really matter much, they were far. Now we're all neighbors, and unhappy neighbors can make life hell.
--Pete
Thanks Pete for the kick in the pants to properly spell check my posts.
NP. Bend over and I'll help you some more :)
I do still stand behind my assertion that such quotes shouldn't have been posted for the reasons I've posted above.
While I completely see your point, there are a couple of other things to consider. First, while I know that freedom of speech doesn't apply to a privately owned forum, I am still a firm believer in it. As long as whatever is said does not break the forum rules, I have no problem with it being said -- I might and often do disagree and when I do I argue against the ideas expressed to the best of my ability. But I do not argue against the right to express then (again, with the forum rules in mind).
Second, I think that knowing what others think of us is an important part in knowing ourselves. If how others see us reflects how we see ourselves, then a bit of complacency is permissible. But if others see us differently, especially much differently, than we see ourselves, then there is a problem. And interpersonal (or inter-cultural) problems are seldom one sided. So, it is good to know these things, good to examine them and learn from them. It might help to get people on our side. And if not, then it is still important to know our enemy.
Magellan's crew circumnavigated the world in about two years. Yuri Gagarin did it in ninety minutes. A few hundred years ago, what the rest of the world though of the USA didn't really matter much, they were far. Now we're all neighbors, and unhappy neighbors can make life hell.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?