Old Guy in a Brave New World.

[The Tourist]

As many of you know, I have disappointed in the decorum and honesty in forums. Not just recently, but going back more than five years.

I was on the phone the other night with a friend who also likes forum debates, and we were discussing out and out lying in hobbyist forums. You know, a so-called "expert" instructs you on how to complete a project, or quotes "facts" from history, and his discourse is simply a sweet story he yanked out of his ass.

I made the comment that I simply use the "ignore feature." And I'd like to debate the pros and cons of that idea. This is, after all, a discussion forum.

Here are my thoughts. I monitor my telephone calls on caller ID. I skip over articles in newspapers and magazines. I do not return to poorly run restaurants. I do not make myself available to certain clients (although in business I might give them more than enough slack, you don't have to 'like' the people for which you work).

I don't do all of the latest classes at my gym. I don't build my bike to look like everyone else's. I read before I vote. I do not consider the Joneses when buying a truck (mine is eleven years old). I burned my suits.

Now, I believe you do the same thing. You might be using technology differently. You might still be in the shank of your career, and you have to eat more shiit sandwiches at your age, but you do figure out ways to take minimum exposure. Your avoid certain relatives. You delete spam, and so on...

In other words, even in this information age, you lower the flood gates to your own unique set of requirements.

I might find internet duplicity as a main thrust, you might delete half of you text messages. It's the same game.

I use 'ignore' like a hammer.

 

[Doc]

I suppose on hobbyiest forums some might try to appears as if they have more credibility than they do. Or, in their own mind they might have it, but other pros consider them not to have paid their dues. So it can easily turn into a pissing match.

Here on off topic forums sure we get some braggers. But out and out lying is soon found out. If you are a regular and post day after day people get to know you. The more we post the more we expose. Lies will come back to haunt you. It is hard to keep up a facade and not screw it up or get bored with it. So for that reason I believe that long time posters will tell you their true beliefs. You don't have to be concerned with lying. All new members posts are evaluated and weighed by everyone who reads them. Over time the new poster comes across as real or as a bs'er / lier.
Didn't it work that way on your hobbyist forums? Over time the truth shines through on forums and in life. Don't ya think?

 

[The Tourist]

Doc, I hope you're right.

My fear is that the guise you see in a hobbyist forum is the same manner they treat folks in reality.

For example, let's suppose you're a carpenter, a good carpenter, cabinet maker quality. You get a call from the little old lady down the street who says her "cupboards are leaking."

You get there only to find that the last repair man simply spackled the ceiling, and quickly nailed up the cheapest pressboard cabinets he could find. Everything leaked like a sieve.

My hope is that you'd be so embarrassed by the con-man that you'd fix everything and tell her it was "no trouble." This is not a new idea.

My Dad told me to look inside a girl's car when we were dating. The inside of her car was the way she kept house--and possibly a checkbook.

I have come to believe my Dad was right. A guy who sits next to you in a bar might tell a joke--I tell some whoppers--but there's a world of difference between jokes and lies. And I believe it carries over into their personal lives.

In a hobby forum the impact of lies might not effect me at all. I don't care, I show up on time. But their braggadocio might mean a lot to the people they really do affect.

I have held knives in my hand, beheld another man's work, and been embarrassed by the craft of tinkers. I've been a member of a self-defense forum and wondered how many people got injured in an alley fight because they belived in "the sensei." There are cutlers who are literally worshipped.

So, yes. Lying on a forum is a pretty good indicator on just who you are.

 

[The Tourist]

Ya' know, maybe you guys are right.

About three weeks ago Dr. Stephan Hawking walked up to my house with a damaged broadsword he uses at The Society For Creative Anachronism.

If it had been anyone else, I would have turned down the work at this time of the season, but we've known each other over 65 years.

Besides, I had some diamond dust and black obsidian shards laying around, and I was curious to see if I could get a metal edge below .2 micron.

As I worked, Stephan and my wife played with her new Wii fitness program, and I finished my polishing. Obviously, the doctor was critical of my findings.

But since truth is crucial on the forums, I got my old electron microscope down from the attic, and we did some preliminary research.

It's a good thing we did! Stephan was so impressed with my edges that they will now be part of the STI program which you know as "star wars."

It was definitely the best 30 minutes I worked.

 

[Tractors4u]

It's a good thing we did! Stephan was so impressed with my edges that they will now be part of the STI program which you know as "star wars."

It is actually SDI or Strategic Defense Initiative.

I know all this started with your friend being lied to on another forum, but you seem to have a fixation on this topic. What gives? It seems that this is deeper than just your friend being lied to. Nobody likes liars, but they are a part of life.

 

[BoneheadNW]

Ya' know, maybe you guys are right.

About three weeks ago Dr. Stephan Hawking walked up to my house with a damaged broadsword he uses at The Society For Creative Anachronism.

If it had been anyone else, I would have turned down the work at this time of the season, but we've known each other over 65 years.

Besides, I had some diamond dust and black obsidian shards laying around, and I was curious to see if I could get a metal edge below .2 micron.

As I worked, Stephan and my wife played with her new Wii fitness program, and I finished my polishing. Obviously, the doctor was critical of my findings.

But since truth is crucial on the forums, I got my old electron microscope down from the attic, and we did some preliminary research.

It's a good thing we did! Stephan was so impressed with my edges that they will now be part of the STI program which you know as "star wars."

It was definitely the best 30 minutes I worked.

Great story Tourist (I gave you rep points).

To quote my Dad (I miss you Dad), "I told you a million times, don't exaggerate!"

Bonehead

 

[OhioTC18]

You know, a so-called "expert" instructs you on how to complete a project, or quotes "facts" from history, and his discourse is simply a sweet story he yanked out of his ass.

We see some things the same, but we also see other things differently. Yes, I've seen self-proclaimed "experts" give bad advice. Maybe it's something they've done a dozen times and nothing went wrong for them, so now, that must be the way to do it.

And then people read and "learn" a lot on forums and on the 'net. Maybe all you read on the 'net is not the truth, but you've read it a dozen times, so now, it must be "fact".

So maybe it's a little harsh to just label someone a "liar". It may be what they have lived or learned, but no it doesn't make it true.

I belong to a lot of forums just as you do or have in the past. I take my work very seriously just as you do. My line of work could kill people if not done correctly. I just cringe every time I read someone telling someone else how to do something incorrectly. I just state my opinion openly and let it go at that. But privately I will try to get the correct information to them for their safety.

 

[The Tourist]

We see some things the same...maybe it's a little harsh to just label someone a "liar".

I understand your position, but I don't know what else to call it. If you're using the "www" then your discourse is read by tens of millions of people. Every keystroke is alive in some server.

I would never send a young soldier to Iraq with a Pakistani steel knife and a sheet of sandpaper. And yet there are some mechanics that willfully do substandard brake jobs on mini-vans they know carry kids.

Providing misinformation on web is no different just because there is no face-to-face contact. Being one step removed does not make it okay and let some idiot assauge his guilt.

And you know in your heart that there are now several hundred people that really believe I know Stephan Hawking...

 

[OhioTC18]

Ya' know, maybe you guys are right.

About three weeks ago Dr. Stephan Hawking walked up to my house with a damaged broadsword he uses at The Society For Creative Anachronism.

If it had been anyone else, I would have turned down the work at this time of the season, but we've known each other over 65 years.

Besides, I had some diamond dust and black obsidian shards laying around, and I was curious to see if I could get a metal edge below .2 micron.

As I worked, Stephan and my wife played with her new Wii fitness program, and I finished my polishing. Obviously, the doctor was critical of my findings.

But since truth is crucial on the forums, I got my old electron microscope down from the attic, and we did some preliminary research.

It's a good thing we did! Stephan was so impressed with my edges that they will now be part of the STI program which you know as "star wars."

It was definitely the best 30 minutes I worked.

I see..............good test there Tourist.

Dr. Stephan (Stephen) Hawking probably hasn't walked to anyone's doorstep in numerous years. He is afflicted with ALS and can't walk. I think the Wii would have a bit too much for him too. Besides, he lives in the UK, not Wisconsin.
A tracheotomy operation removed his ability to speak altogether

Hard to have known someone for 65 years when last month you were only 58.

Yes, I'm 58 years old. Yes, "Black Betty" is a Harley. Yes, I'm a tinker.

I doubt if the electron microscope could be carried down from the attic.

I could keep going poking holes, but I'll stop now.

The "truth" in forums is not always true.

 

[benspawpaw]

I WILL TRUST A PERSON TILL HE LIES ONE TIME THEN NEVER AGAIN. even if he ownes up to it and admits he lied and says he is sorry i can never fully trust that person again. i think most people are like that. right?

 

[BoneheadNW]

I never understood how someone could forgive/trust their spouse after their spouse had cheated on them. Once that happens, how could you ever trust them? Wouldn't there always be that doubt in your mind?
Bonehead

 

[pirate_girl]

I never understood how someone could forgive/trust their spouse after their spouse had cheated on them. Once that happens, how could you ever trust them? Wouldn't there always be that doubt in your mind?
Bonehead

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
been there, done that..

 

[The Tourist]

I see..............good test there Tourist.

Well, at least you got the joke.

But my point was this. What's the difference between saying you "carried an electron microscope down from the attic" or knowingly misrepresent facts in threads on a hobbyist forum?

Obviously, I have a very real personal stake in such a belief. If you take away "my word" or taint what I believe by saying "all internet members," then I have nothing for a craft or support.

And that's the true damage of lies. You ultimately destroy the man.

 

[Erik]

I just wanna know how you sharpened the duct tape covering his rattan broadsword!

 

[The Tourist]

I just wanna know how you sharpened the duct tape covering his rattan broadsword!

...carefully...