Posted by seldom seen slim on August 24, 2001 at 00:42:22:
In Reply to: It has a base, abeit a small one, and one i am sure is false but... posted by mike on August 23, 2001 at 23:22:41:
Mike wrote:
…"lack valid email addy's"
IMO this is irrelevant. It is subject to fraud and is an excuse to excape from discussion. Anybody can post a hotmail address. What validity can that possibly add to a post? That does not make ones point any more or less credible. Also, there are reasonable concerns for privacy that I am sure you can respect.
"so given the rather limited number of lurkers/posters here"
In following your point I do not find how you know this is a given. You might find there are a lot off page views of unique visitors that could be lurkers. Without having that information it is difficult to assess how large the pool is.
"act that they've all appeared within the last 3 months or so"
By a review of the archives they have been here since the beginning…
http://diver.net/bbs/messages1/24.shtml
http://diver.net/bbs/messages1/133.shtml
etc
"Everything starts with a wild guess"
Some things do, not all, but that by itself should not portend making a damaging public declaration.
"Of course, here's one for you: have you ever met Rita? What would you assume about her from her postings?"
No, at this point I could make a million guesses. The post could come from anybody, the name may be real or fictitious. Here lies the substance of all of this. Hastily made conclusions tend to be erroneous and can blind you from the truth. If folks would step back and assess the facts better they might make more informed posts leading to worthy discussion of DIR gear, backpack diving, MLPA's etc.
For example in http://diver.net/bbs/messages/17694.shtml Terry May concluded that I was not factual by my reply to his or her post … "If you wish to distort the information, at least be more accurate... if that's possible", He said.
Terry May started out OK by asking… "Where did you get that?" But then digressed into the ill-conceived remark stated above. In the subsequent post http://diver.net/bbs/messages/17701.shtml I pointed out that my statement was based on the information he provided.
When folks demonstrate this form of irrational thinking they lose credibility. This is not to say mistakes can be made but at least recognize, own up to them and learn from them. If not, then their future posts will depreciate in value to the viewers of the BBS.