An open letter on BULLYING here in IIS

[Octane (Humayun)]

You're an idiot, Jay.

H

[2stroke (Jay)]

gahaha. Thats it, i'am going to home row you if i can stop crying after being bullied by you.

[sjastro]

Yeah bullying is very funny.
Try telling that to families who have lost loved ones through suicide.

I don't see the joke of being threatened with physical violence, fortunately it hasn't happened on this site............

Steven

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

It's not funny suffering physical violence either - that I can promise you.
Being smaller and weaker or simply non-violent can be a burden that becomes intolerable and it may only be a small thing that tips the balance between gritting the teeth and biting the bullet.

[2stroke (Jay)]

Originally Posted by sjastro

Yeah bullying is very funny.
Try telling that to families who have lost loved ones through suicide.

I don't see the joke of being threatened with physical violence, fortunately it hasn't happened on this site............

Steven

Where did this happen? Anyhow i'am going to jump out of this thread because its got to many P.C. trolls Sorry to troll it up myself to the other users.

Sarcasm some people just don't get it

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by 2stroke

Where did this happen? Anyhow i'am going to jump out of this thread because its got to many P.C. trolls Sorry to troll it up myself to the other users.

Sarcasm some people just don't get it

Actually, bullying leads to lots of people killing themselves each year and its becoming a really serious problem, especially in cyberspace. It can be savage, merciless and soul destroying for the target. Workplace bullying is rampant despite legislation and unions.

Where did this happen? Try reading the paper sometime.

As a teacher, I've seen many kids bullied by those who think its fun to destroy someone and it wrecks lives. Unfortunately, there is damn little I can do to stop it.

Sarcasm can be quite harmless, especially when its done with humour rather than venom but I can promise you it is completely different to bullying.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

The real test of a bully, is if they have cajones to repeat their words in person, in an offline situation.

Otherwise, they are just wasting the world's supply of 1's and 0's, and should be acknowledged as such.

And just for disclosure, I like to troll occasionally, because I know there are some really good reactions out there.

But I won't bully. Life is too short to keep making enemies. Especially when it concerns a pastime that I really, really enjoy.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

A friend of mine attempted suicide two weeks ago - reason?
Wife is a bully and he got bullied by his gay son as well and it pushed him over the edge.
He's 67 years old

[Zhou (Mick)]

Basically Bullying is lame!

As a teacher I have had to deal with bullying. The majority of bullies fall into the following catagories. You have the bully that compensates for their own lack of self worth; they believe putting down others makes them better or stronger. You also have the bullies that like to pick on those that they percieve to be weaker and of cousrse those who are different.

Bullying is not acceptable anywhere and that includes the Net!

The majority of people on this forum are fantasic, they just want to share their hobby with other like minded souls. But, occasionally you do get a few losers who aspire to lord it over others. You may get an individual who believes their percieved superior knowlege of astronomy gives them the right to belittle and demoralise the astro-proles*. You also get the very occasional gear-head that believes just because they own a prolific amount of equipment be it a quiver of large apochromatic refractors or the greatest Ritchey–Chrétien telescope available makes them somehow awsome and venerable. Give me a break!

Most people on this forum want to enjoy their hobby. When a jerk bullies and intimidates someone who is asking an innocent question or has posted a comment that is really bad form; a better way to dissuade people in this fantastic hobby I don't know. Me musn't, however, get robust debate and bullying mixed up. Sometimes things get heated, it is our hobby and things do get passionate. But most of us know the difference between passion and intimidation.

Luckily IIS is has very few bullies. Many other forums and chat rooms I have visited in the past be it astronomy of something else are rife with jerks and other assorted knobs. Lets enjoy our hobby and encourage others to share our fantastic journey.

Chill



* I use the term astro-prole from the antagonist's point of view.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

I gather that there were/are some particularly "arrogant bustards" (I had to change the spelling to avoid the censor!) on the IIS science forum, who used to flame people for just "not knowing something"

It is a pity that the Science Forum has become so moribund, with hardly any contributions. I have done my best over the last few months to put in some interesting posts.

[sjastro]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

I gather that there were/are some particularly "arrogant bustards" (I had to change the spelling to avoid the censor!) on the IIS science forum, who used to flame people for just "not knowing something"

It is a pity that the Science Forum has become so moribund, with hardly any contributions. I have done my best over the last few months to put in some interesting posts.

There are no more "arrogant bustards" in the Science forum then in any other IIS forum.
The term "arrogant bustard" has a different connotation when used in the Science forum. Along with a few other descriptives some of which have been mentioned in this thread, it's nothing more than an expression of anti intellectualism.
I once invited a physicist (a world leading researcher in radioactive dating techniques) to contribute in the Science forum. The guy refused given the treatment that was meted out to the so called "arrogant bustards".

I'm sure he feared he would automatically qualify as an arrogant bustard for simply having a knowledge base way beyond any individual here.

Regards

Steven

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Who would want to date someone who is radioactive?
I'd refuse as well.
I'm an irritant bar stweard

[sjastro]

Originally Posted by jenchris

Who would want to date someone who is radioactive?
I'd refuse as well.
I'm an irritant bar stweard

I'm sure he has heard that line a million times before along with why would he date someone that's not carbon based.

Regards

Steven

[bojan]

Originally Posted by sjastro

... , it's nothing more than an expression of anti intellectualism.
I once invited a physicist (a world leading researcher in radioactive dating techniques) to contribute in the Science forum. The guy refused given the treatment that was meted out to the so called "arrogant bustards".

I'm sure he feared he would automatically qualify as an arrogant bustard for simply having a knowledge base way beyond any individual here.

Regards

Steven

Well, you know, you do not have to be world-leading physicist to be labelled "arrogant" or even worse.
Recently I was given an interesting, sexist even (no idea what on earth prompted that person to mention this detail... apart from desperate attempt to insult me), attribute (via PM, and I intend to keep a copy of it as I really liked that comment - this doesn't happen to you every day, for sure).

It goes like this (quoted, some parts, mainly repeats in the same style, are omitted):

anyway, thanks for suggesting that I lack education or intelligence.
it is due to people like you (that is me) that I indeed have a thick blockage in my head with neon writing on it, saying:
You CAN't DO THAT!
anything natural science related.
...
Classic. In an archaeological way. That type of man (me again) is a dying species. you can be proud to be one of the lingering last

I was honoured by those words above probably because I offered the help in terms of general direction, but not ready-to-use recipe.
So, here you go - to participate or not to participate in forum discussions ?? .
I'll continue.. for now .

[sjastro]

Originally Posted by bojan

Well, you know, you do not have to be world-leading physicist to be labelled "arrogant" or even worse.
Recently I was given an interesting, sexist even (no idea what on earth prompted that person to mention this detail... apart from desperate attempt to insult me), attribute (via PM, and I intend to keep a copy of it as I really liked that comment - this doesn't happen to you every day, for sure).

It goes like this (quoted, some parts, mainly repeats in the same style, are omitted):

I was honoured by those words above probably because I offered the help in terms of general direction, but not ready-to-use recipe.
So, here you go - to participate or not to participate in forum discussions ?? .
I'll continue.. for now .

Strange how some people react. One of the "best" put downs I have experienced over the years is from a particular individual who entered the Science Forum with the specific purpose of putting my credibility on trial rather than discussing the accuracy of my posts with such penetrating comments like "is this the best you can do", "prove it!!" or "how do you know that!".
It became pretty obvious this individual knew absolutely nothing about the Science, but was riled by the fact that there are people out there who knew more than he did.

That plus the more juvenile insults has curtailed my involvement in the Science Forum.
I'll probably stick to the less contentious forums.

Regards

Steven

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by sjastro

.............
I'll probably stick to the less contentious forums.

Regards

Steven

Like this thread???

[bojan]

Originally Posted by sjastro

...
That plus the more juvenile insults has curtailed my involvement in the Science Forum.

I think the kind of comments and insults we are talking about (which tells everything about the authors of the insult and really nothing about the targeted individuals) should not curtail the valuable contributions to a forum like this one - it shouldn't be forgotten ever that spreading a knowledge and scientific way of thinking is a kind of mission, and worthy of excess effort, more valuable today and tomorrow as ever (having in mind the current trends in devaluation of education in general).
The most important thing is to not loose the nerve and keep the level of the discussion up to a civil standards (until it makes sense, of course - the last resort is enforcing of TOS). In my opinion, this is the best method (sometimes slower..) to eliminate the trolls.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

PEOPLE!

Please, what is going on here on IIS again.

There is so much angst and aggro being pushed. Why?

Some people are expressing considered opinions in good faith, sometimes on touchy subjects, and then they are being mocked and taken out of context. Debate is being crushed for the sake of ego, again.

Where has everyone's manners gone?

Yours sincerely,

Alex.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

More seriously now, your point is a very valid one Alex, the social atmosphere becomes rather antisocial at times, usually in the General Chat section,

There is a very strong correlation between the social atmosphere in the General Chat section and the real atmosphere. The level of b|tchin' is a good indication if it's worth setting up or pass due to risk of cloud cover.

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by multiweb

There is a very strong correlation between the social atmosphere in the General Chat section and the real atmosphere. The level of b|tchin' is a good indication if it's worth setting up or pass due to risk of cloud cover.

Quite right Marc, though sometimes it seems that members start threads on controversial topics just with the sole intent to elicit conflict, bad weather or not!

The Green-eyed Monster also has an influence on some topics, though that has been more obvious on CN than IIS.