[KathyMcMahon]

I think you are right, Ibon. At least that is my experience.

BSL, it sounds like it made you angry, like Ibon was blaming the internet. I didn't hear that.

I heard that PO.com is a great place to learn, vent, and get comfort from each other. But ultimately, it is important to do that tough work of going out to meet the people who live around you and find something you have in common with them. It makes it harder when it is so easy to find people who agree with you in chat rooms, but so hard to do it 'belly to belly.'

Man oh man, people go at each other here.

Tempers are very high where I work. I've had more clients brandishing weapons and more threats to my interns in the last few months than I've had in the last few years. It is really heating up and tensions are really high in the real world. I'm not sure if it has always been like this here at PO.com or there's been a change.

What do you think?

[SeaGypsy]

Obviously you are new as an in depth reader here Kath, things have actually toned down a lot around here the last few years. The moderators here make every effort to support freedom of speech and diversity of views; naturally this leaves a fair bit of room for conflict. When things get out of hand, butt is kicked, but most posters are mature enough to not let things decend into a slanging match anyhow

[Ibon]

Man oh man, people go at each other here.

What do you think?

On line forums remind me of road rage at times when stuck in traffic.

In your car the animal in you is pumped with adrenalin and you cant metabolize it because you are sitting on your ass.

Thanks for your comments by the way

[Pops]

Man oh man, people go at each other here.

Yeah, we have a whole bunch of ex-moderators


You might be interested in this thread talking about an article published in the Journal of Public Health. It compares political views with outlook on peak oil - or at least oil price.

Here's the chart I found most interesting, it explained to me something I'd long wondered; why do there seem to be so few moderates at PeakOil.com?




We look like RubyRidge vs. Earth First here because that's who is most liable to be concerned about PO. And since we don't discriminate - or at least try not to, the head butting flares pretty often.

My impression is Earth First pretty well buys PO and AGW (and any other man-made damage) but isn't quite as concerned with the economy while Ruby Ridge can swallow PO but is less inclined to agree with GW and more concerned about the economy, so there are many opportunities for 'discussion'.

The big "problem" of course is there is no area immune to the effects of PO so there isn't anything we can say is truly off topic for argument - I mean discussion. Politics is obviously a hot button but it is also more important to the way PO progresses than geology. Various threads on general economics and specific events are usually in action, some threads on how to actually prepare for the future (not nearly as many as at one time) and these sometimes lead to more heat than smoke as well.

I have to admit we usually err on the side of more speech not less and that makes people mad who are used to being able to dial in a channel that tells them exactly what it is they want to hear and nothing uncomfortable.

Still we try to keep the eye poking to a minimum and we're sometimes successful, but don't forget your: < [safety glasses]

[efarmer]

That previous post is why we love our Pops so much. He is one of the folks here
who apply the moderation to be good moderators.

Keep kickin' 'til you hit something, or throw money at it 'til
it quits talking back, or live on love and throw the skins out
the window, or whatever else works for you.

We are getting more people on the planet, we are consuming more fossil
fuels, we do not have any source of energy on the event horizon to replace
them, so they are going to get much more expensive, damage the environment
we live in more, and the people in America who live on a leveraged military
and financial gambit that funnels a disproportionate amount of the global
goodies into American hands on hallucinated money is on the ropes.

If we were squirrels we would be speculating and living on other
squirrel's nuts and acorns, and promising to run on the power line
more often to get rid of our little squirrel pus guts.

[Newfie]

Some of the animosity comes from being anonymous. A few years ago Scientific American did a short piece on it. Being anonymous levels the playing field, we all have equal say no matter our status in the 'real' world. Thus we let go with our 'true' thoughts, no need to self moderate.

But to integrate that with the idea of social isolation due to social media then that may help to explain why the country is drifting into such different camps. Our social media has allowed us to each find our little self defining, self supporting community. We get the feedback that affirms our world view, which can ramp up our paranoia.

Back on the idea of an ecological self conscious I wonder if that is not to some degree driven by our up bringing? I think that if you grow up in an inner city environment with little to no contact with the 'natural' world then you will be less sympathetic to Earth's plight. Whereas folks who have grown up in a rural environment will be more well connected. There can be outliers in either camp, I am talking statistically.

For myself my Father was a powerful influence in my life. He would take me here or there and say "I just want you to see this before it is gone." And he would tell me stories of how things looked before development.

Now the locale where I grew up is over-run with development, there is no 'natural' world left there. My Father's livelihood, living off the Earth, is a faint memory captured in history books and museums. His words were surely true.

I have lived in a center city environment for the last 20 something years. As long as I was doing the reverse commute, and I could see some trees and sky line, I was OK. Then a few years ago I started to walk to a center city job. Not ever being out of the city drove me crazy, really depressed me. We now have our boat in a small town about 40 miles from city center. It is a nice old town with open spaces and trees. It is a great relief to me to spend our weekends there.

My Wife grew up in Germany and her Father was a bug on churches and such. When she saw a photo of someone kayaking past the Doge's palace in Venice she started to cry. It hit her how the treasures of her youth were at risk. So we had similar responses even though there was some difference in the circumstances.

[Sixstrings]

I heard that PO.com is a great place to learn, vent, and get comfort from each other.

...

Man oh man, people go at each other here.

I think it's mostly an "internet thing," not just this forum. Look at comments on newspaper sites.. they're brutal.

I tend to view the colorful argumentation on here as smacktalk. It's an intellectual / writing exercise. But ad homs and personal insults are over the line. I've never understood how there are cliques of people on the forum who seem to HATE each other so much. I don't dislike anyone on here.

Ultimately.. as doomers we need to remember that people skills are important to survival. Knowing how to get along. How to build community, not tear it down. How to not get thrown out of the transition town because you're such a cantankerous jerk.

[babystrangeloop]

Man oh man, people go at each other here.

I think it's a safe place to release frustration.

I spend all day not saying things and here I can say whatever I want before I go back to suppressing myself again.

[babystrangeloop]

Yeah, we have a whole bunch of ex-moderators

Being a moderator and $3.75 will get you a gallon of gas.