I could explain why I am not replying to Shetterly's comments

[james_davis_nicoll]

But frankly coffeeandink did it better than I could.

sparkymonster's contribution is also of note

Comments

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

That's what everyone's been trying to tell you!

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

Thank GOD for white people educating me about my own history.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

I kind of think Sparky was being sarcastic. But I could very well be mistaken! (But I doubt it. A lot.)

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

You seem to think sarcasm is a character flaw. How interestingly curious.

[(Anonymous)]

Sigh, I'm about to engage in hyperbole in James' LJ.

Will,
The times I've seen you in person, you've been quite pleasant and civil. Individuals I respect consider you a friend.

However, in several online fora, you have managed to profoundly irritate huge numbers of people. I've seen you do it on Making Light, here in LJ, and multiple times on Usenet. It isn't about your opinions, it's about how you interact with people. You don't listen. You drag the conversation over to what ever hobby horse you're riding at the moment.You are completely closed to the possibility that someone else might have relevant experiences and perspectives that do not match yours.

In online fandom, you're the guy at the party who won't shut up. You're the kudzu in our conversational garden. You're the cat pee in the carpet of our salon. Not only are not wanted, you drive out what we want to have.

While you don't have the sheer car crash entertainment value of seeing what new flavor of crazy Jordan or Adam brings, I'm almost ready to ask if anyone has seen Will Shetterly and Stevar in the same room together.

If you're finding you're not invited to the party anymore, it's because you've made yourself unwelcome.

Sincerely,
David Owen-Cruise

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Will:

For at least ten years, people have been disagreeing with you about this topic. Smart people. People who have studied this topic at least as much as you have.

And, mainly, they've all had similar, or at least, consistent, arguments. Hundreds upon hundreds of smart, well-educated people who have studied these issues have presented you with dozens of interlocking arguments which form a consistent and solid framework of evidence which demonstrate the strength of their position.

On the other hand, there is you. One person who's studied these arguments.

Which is more likely? That hundreds of people have researched this topic and all independently reached the same erroneous conclusions, or that you've reached an erroneous conclusion? Which is more likely? That you are wrong, or that hundreds of other people, all equally as smart as you, are all independently wrong?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Can you consider the possibility that, even if there are other possibilities besides being right or wrong, that you are wrong?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

On average, I change my mind about something important about once a month or so.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Learn something new, or be exposed to a new way of looking at facts, or have it explained that the way I was perceiving something was flawed, about different things.

I like being right.

Because of that, I find it very important to listen to people who say that I'm wrong. It is vitally important to me to listen with humility to people who disagree with me, and to consider their arguments carefully.

Because, if I AM wrong, it is only by acknowleging that, and learning more, and recognizing that I have been wrong, that I can be right.

It is vitally important to my self-image that I do not become ossified in my thinking, that I am always willing to consider the possibility that I have been mistaken, that someone who disagrees with me is correct. I will not engage in a debate with someone unless I am willing to have my mind changed by that person. If I realize that my belief in something is not subject to evidence, I don't argue about it. There are things I believe without evidence and without subject to evidence, things on which my mind cannot be changed.

I don't talk about them, because there's no point in talking about them. Unless I can be demonstrated wrong, unless I can change my mind, why discuss something?

I seek out people who disagree with me, to listen to their arguments, and decide if I have been mistaken. Because I don't like being mistaken. I like understanding the universe. And if my understanding is mistaken, then I don't understand the universe.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Okay, you are now defending ignorant obstinancy. I'm done.

TEN YEARS???

[dharma-slut.livejournal.com]

I'm bookmarking your comment here. The next time I notice Will Shetterly making it be all about him, I can point the thread this direction.

Don't waste your time arguing with the man. Just write him off as a fruitcake.