Caution! Extremely Opinionated Posting!
- Thread starter DeeDeeK
- Start date
- Status
i have read the thread ever since it began, the title roughly translated (i am looking for an argument) Deedee you have mastered the art of putting tone in writing.
just a quick question, be honest were you looking for a good argument....
because you have attacked every other opinionated post after yours.
to be honest i will be glad to see this one die (the thread that is)
confucius say: he who puts drift wood in tank has dead tree in water.
just a quick question, be honest were you looking for a good argument....
because you have attacked every other opinionated post after yours.
to be honest i will be glad to see this one die (the thread that is)
confucius say: he who puts drift wood in tank has dead tree in water.
Last edited:
You typed this in your first post:
I was curious what people might think about the ideas presented in it - not really looking for a close reading.
I told you what I thought about it. I did not feel like reading thru 20 pages of response. I'm sorry, in responding, I didn't know I was obligated to read thru 20 pages or I wouldn't have responded.
In the future, if you do not want people's honest opinions, you might not want to ask for them.
I was curious what people might think about the ideas presented in it - not really looking for a close reading.
I told you what I thought about it. I did not feel like reading thru 20 pages of response. I'm sorry, in responding, I didn't know I was obligated to read thru 20 pages or I wouldn't have responded.
In the future, if you do not want people's honest opinions, you might not want to ask for them.
Seriously, I was interested in people's take on the ideas I presented in it - not reactions to their own misreadings. I've said I choose poorly in my writing - few people caught on to the non-serious side of it or followed the serious ideas I presented. My bad.
As for 'obligation' to read through a thread; of course there's no 'obligation' but a thread is a conversation. I usually don't listen to the start of a conversation then throw down twenty minutes into it, ignoring everything that's happened in between.
In a conversation, ideas of often traded and there are disputes and resolutions. I've seen that happening in this thread but the large number of responses by folks who haven't read through or payed decent attention while reading through this thread are like white noise. Anyhow, yeah, honest opinions are fine. Sadly, they've been repeated over and over again by people who haven't seen that their objections were actually read and frequently responded to positively ALREADY.
I've encouraged you to express your own, very good ideas re. biotopes. Why not enlarge on that and contrast it with some other ideas?
Here's something I think about tank shape and biotopes: A rectangular tank is good for displaying biotopes in because they are less visually distracting than more complex shapes and give better viewing and do greater justice to a beautifully and thoughtfully arranged biotope aquarium.
What do you think? Agree, disagree? Do you even think it matters? What is special and important about biotopes and how can you best (in your eye) set up an amazon biotope? Or how about an Amazon basin oxbow lake biotope? Or Orinoco? What would be the differences and how could you best accent them?
OK, ok, I started off on the wrong foot. I think we all know that now. It's time to either let this thread die or start making some positive use for it. The signal-to-noise ratio is getting ridiculous.
Well, yeah, I like a GOOD argument. Honestly, the majority of posts I've defended myself against have been BAD arguments, not simple opinions. I have not attacked innocent posts putting forward their own strong opinions. They have been directly critical of me, often on a personal level by using direct insults as well as plenty of innuendo. Cheap shots and I've called 'em for what they are.
I have responded to a decent number of GOOD arguments, which often addressed and corrected the very things other people simply were blasting me for. My responses to these well thought out and constructive postings has been to acknowledge them as such even when my pride was hurt and to revise my stance, retract my former words and stance, and apologize where it was called for.
You would know this if you paid attention to the contents of this thread. If you HAVE read and paid attention and claim that I've simply attacked every opinionated post following mine, you may be oversimplifying things unfairly in order to make a point or possibly you really have trouble understanding everything I've written. I assume you're oversimplifying things. I have not simply attacked every opinionated post following mine and I am not simply attacking your latest one either, right now, in this post.
To me, a good argument does a few things. Here are three:
If it is based on something someone said or wrote it can actually quote that person. In other words, it doesn't put words into anyone else's mouth.
A good argument is logical.
A good argument doesn't depend upon attacking someone personally or trying to lower their standing through innuendo.
Eliminate those postings which do any of those above three things and eliminate my responses to them and you'll have a much shorter, more interesting read.
Thanks for saying I've mastered the art of putting tone in writing! I'm afraid not everyone catches it, though, and it's still taken the wrong way much of the time. I worry that only the snide and haughty tones come through well because I've tried in many posts to put an encouraging or conciliatory tone to my words and it seems to have failed.
OK, I'm signing off this thread. I don't feel I can make useful contributions to it and am spending too much energy trying to clarify, explain, apologize, retract, defend, ad absurdum.
In a nutshell, aquaria often don't live up to their potential due to many reasons and by raising awareness of many factors, aquarists who previously weren't getting the most from their aquaria can get more out of them and possibly appreciate them even more than they already do.
That is my belief and personal practice, to explore and take risks in order to raise my own awareness and to share what I discover with others whether I'm able to please all the people all of the time or some of the people some of the time.
I will defend my opinions and beliefs when I can, change them when I see I've been wrong, and dispute anything I care to dispute. I will not accept personal slurs or attempts to burn me, period.
Please don't overpersonalize what I post - I do not single out individuals for personal attack or condemnation unless it is to rebut their unfair criticism or slurs against myself.
And please try not to put words into my mouth - for example by saying that I condemn other aquarium shapes than rectangular solids or that I say box filters disturb fish.
Constructive criticism and contrary views are welcome. At least I welcome them. Can't speak for others, though.
I wish everyone happiness and enjoyment of their aquaria regardless of my personal taste, opinions, beliefs, views, and so forth. If you like what you've got and know it, my postings shouldn't matter. They don't matter to me, either, if you have what you want in your aquarium already; in that case good for you!
In a nutshell, aquaria often don't live up to their potential due to many reasons and by raising awareness of many factors, aquarists who previously weren't getting the most from their aquaria can get more out of them and possibly appreciate them even more than they already do.
That is my belief and personal practice, to explore and take risks in order to raise my own awareness and to share what I discover with others whether I'm able to please all the people all of the time or some of the people some of the time.
I will defend my opinions and beliefs when I can, change them when I see I've been wrong, and dispute anything I care to dispute. I will not accept personal slurs or attempts to burn me, period.
Please don't overpersonalize what I post - I do not single out individuals for personal attack or condemnation unless it is to rebut their unfair criticism or slurs against myself.
And please try not to put words into my mouth - for example by saying that I condemn other aquarium shapes than rectangular solids or that I say box filters disturb fish.
Constructive criticism and contrary views are welcome. At least I welcome them. Can't speak for others, though.
I wish everyone happiness and enjoyment of their aquaria regardless of my personal taste, opinions, beliefs, views, and so forth. If you like what you've got and know it, my postings shouldn't matter. They don't matter to me, either, if you have what you want in your aquarium already; in that case good for you!
- Status
