Posted by MHK on December 29, 2000 at 11:55:41:
In Reply to: Attitude posted by Wayne on December 29, 2000 at 11:08:08:
Wayne,
I've come to respect your opinions, even though we don't always agree. You have distinguished yourself through your actions and I believe you to be a gentleman..
However, in terms of controlling the DIR message, such as it is, my comments probably won't surprise you, and believe me JJ and I have discussed this issue ad nausem, but the fact of the matter is that in an open market place, on public forums it is very difficult, if not impossible, to control what people say and/or how they say it.. For those that don't know Jarrod Jablonski he is probably one of the most non-controversial or adversarial guys you'd ever want to meet in your life.. And in his case he has made a career out of diving and thus has significant financial incentive to control the message. I know personally that JJ would prefer open honest discorse to the flame wars, but user net forums have lent themselves to heated discussions. My personal sense is that many people will say *nasty* thing on the lists that they would otherwise not be inclined to say IRL..
For sure I have had my fair share of *flame wars*, but I have yet to have a bad encounter during a face to face.. I have given DIR demo's around the country and have spoken at many of the local shops and clubs, and while for certain not everyone agrees with me at these events we have open honest dialogue.. Perhaps it's simply easier to explain face to face, perhaps it's easier to understand once you see it and perhaps in general people are less likley to be confrontational IRL...
I agree that we should take measured steps to tone down the rhetoric, but I have said often that it should'nt involve a unilateral surrender by the DIR guys, it need's to be bilateral and the anti-DIR crowd needs to bear some responsibility..
Thanks for your comments and thoughts...
Later