[Vision2020] Divisiveness and blogs

[Donovan Arnold]

OK Joe, I have to agree with you on that posting. : )
  But I still maintain that the Internet makes it harder to be civilized  because you lose the body language, intonation, and attitude of a  person that you get when speaking in person. Internet is good for  content, horrible for understanding people.
  
  Take Care,
  
  _DJA
  
  

joekc at adelphia.net wrote:                                This will be my last post for the day. I've GREATLY exceded the  allowable number! I find all this stuff so dang interesting it is hard  to resist! 
         I disagree with both Donovan and Carl  on this issue. With new technology, we can SEE conflict and  divisiveness more than ever before. But that doesn't mean that there  was less of it prior to the technology. Vision 2020 for instance allows  me to air my disagreements with Donovan, say, directly and offers the  best opportunity I can think of for allowing me a chance to convince  him otherwise. Moreover, part of teh reason that I direct my comments  toward Donovan is that I happen to share many of the beliefs that he  has. If our worldviews were completely different I would not make any  attempt to discourse with him. For instance, I've spent much of the day  arguing with Donovan over the Pledge but the fact is I am just as much  of a corny-ass patriot as Donovan is. If you put us both in a room  where the Pledge was being given, our behavior would be  indistinguishable. We would both stand proudly, hand over heart,  reciting the words we've known all our lives. I !
 know I
 would be filled  with emotion at the thought of being lucky enough to live in a country  as great as ours, and I'm sure Donovan would say the same thing. I  might often sound otherwise but I never loose sight of this fact. 
          I do think that all of us can improve on our postings. We could  certainly try to direct our comments in a nicer, friendlier tone. But  we do need a forum with which to express our disagreements. Vision 2020  is not perfect but it is the only such forum we happen to have.  Personally, I am very greatful for this opportunity.
--
Joe           Campbell

---- Donovan Arnold   wrote:

=============
Carl  is right. Blogs and email forums do create conflict and divisiveness. I  find people on V2020, including myself, less considerate and polite to  others online, versus in person.

 I think it is in part because  we do not see the person, often do not know them, mistranslating their  meaning, and/or get so caught up in the argument/content and lose site  of the human on the other end.

 I know many people on V2020, and  none of you have horns and a tail. However, just reading the content of  some people, I would swear you could trace their IP address directly to  a dark tiny corner room on the bottom floor of Hell.

Carl, or  anyone else, it would be interesting to see a study on the increase of  divisiveness caused by blogs and ways to counter them.

Take Care,

_DJA

Carl Westberg   wrote: I, after extensive research and cogitation that started about 4 minutes           ago
and concluded just now, have determined that blogs are           responsible for much
of the divisiveness that comes with just about           anything that's discussed
anymore, from Wal-Mart to the pledge and           everything in between. With
approximately 4 million blogs being           born every 5 minutes, it's incredibly
easy to find those that           mirror your worldview, and assure you of your
absolute rightness in           your beliefs. I'm as guilty of it as anyone, hanging
out at           Commondreams, etc., while those with a right leaning penchant can
          visit theirs, and everything is pure black and white for us, with no           gray
areas to complicate matters. I know I'm correct in this,           because I just
found a blog that says I am.



Carl           Westberg Jr.


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