Posted by kelphead on November 02, 2000 at 12:32:03:
In Reply to: MHKane's lies, distortions, and defamation posted by Frank, AADIVER, Farmer on November 01, 2000 at 22:21:16:
well, is it any surprise that when such talk
emanates from a particular crowd, it illicits strong
responses from others. on the one hand, a small
group of people worry about their credibility and
desire for the rest of us to respect the facts
they offer us, but then the same group turns
around and doesn't quite understand why we call them
for what we see them to be: ie, rude, arrogant,
pricks, disrespectful.
on the one hand, they want us to respect them,
but on the other hand they don't see the irony
in their own personal behaviour and they claim
to not understand why the rest of us have trouble
w/the delivery of their so-called message.
i think this is an unfortunate post that was made
on a different dive board which, i think is safe to say,
most of us here don't visit. for the record,
much of what was written in this post on a different
board was not common knowledge to me and to then
claim that the poster made the same or similar
claims here is just downright incorrect (even,
shall i dare say, a lie).
it smells a lot like backbiting: show one face here,
show a different face there--and publicize some
very personal info to boot (remind me not to
confide in the author of the post since trust
now will be more difficult to come by).
i think that the original author of this particular
post owes frank, and the rest of us, a public
apology. this is NOT the behaviour i would've
expected from someone i considered to be a gentleman
and a knowledgeable person. those who claim
to use facts to argue their point do not need to
resort to such malicious, low, disrespectful
personal attacks to get their points across--assuming
their factual points can stand on their own.
those who resort to such lowly tactics do so when
their so-called facts don't exist or are not strong
enough to convince others--hence, the use of
personal insults, slander, and character assasination.
again, the point is and always shall be that if
one wants to get a message across effectively
(whether it be about diving or foreign policy or
our own economy), facts and not personal insults
get the job done and they get the job done right.
people are not generally stupid and will react
positively when the facts are laid before them,
but to use base tactics is really inexcusable
and diminishes any positive outcomes that could
result from an exchange.
and for the record, i own and have read the book
'solo diving' and nowhere in it does it describe
the type of "independent diving" that frank farmer
claims to use. so, to tie frank's style of
diving--whether it is safe or not--to another style
of diving--whether that one is safe or not--only
underscores the lack of factual knowledge that the
author of the above post has. if one wants to
argue using facts, then one needs to get the correct
info down. if one does not use facts to argue
properly, and then chastizes others for doing the same,
then that is just simple hypocrisy (something i
alluded to a loooong time ago on this board).
frank, whether we agree on issues or not, i sure hope
you can get over this disappointing and ufortunate
incident and i hope you can put this behind you--no
one needs to dwell on this, it doesn't help.
best wishes.
kelphead.