h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Even though you are obviously not taking my recommendations seriously - which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how you look at it - I am here to welcome you to our community. As you are no doubt aware, my name is Gw7en and I am one of the ACEs (Assistant Community Editors) here at H2G2. It is my pleasure to welcome you to our community. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

You have stirred up quite the hornets' nest over on the soapbox. Whether this is positive or not is a matter of opinion. However, it does show you that the people here are most definitely part of a community and have - perhaps an excess of occassionally - community spirit. (Something that I'm sure, as a Doctor of Philosophy, you will agree is sorely missing in most places these days.)

Perhaps that was your point. I had a philosophy teacher in college who started the first day of class by telling everyone he was a Communist. He did this to force us to evaluate ourselves and our world views. While this was very effective, it made him one of the least popular professors on campus. A shame really, since he was a brilliant, witty, charasmatic instructor. Our class of 50 dropped to 15 after the drop date, but I learned more from him than any other professor that year.

I guess that the point I am trying to make here is that, while his method worked, it only worked for 15 of us. that's 35 students who did not get to benefit from his knowledge, all due to his approach. I feel that this is a shame. If more people had learned to see beyond the stereotypes he mocked, it would have made the world a better place.

I would be interested to hear if this really was the purpose of your comments. If so, I applaud the idea, if not the methods.

Anyway, please try to enjoy yourself while you are here. I pointed out several "humourous and off-the-wall" groups that I am personally a part of. Feel free to drop by any of those postings and look around. Also, please drop by my page. Most of my ramblings have humour in them somewhere.

G7

Hello Gw7en,

You are very perceptive. As you may see from a number of the replies I have posted to other people, my general defence of my "behaviour" was as a counter to the stultifying paradigms I see too often entrenched in the HHGTTG chatrooms - and everywhere else for that matter. Whilst my initial comments may, justifiably, be branded as inflammatory they did do one thing - cause an enormous amount of debate, some of which resulted in some very interesting self-examination. It is also interesting to note how "text book" the responses were - personal villification, the closing of ranks, defence of behaviour & c.

I will do as you suggest and "stick around" for awhile - the dynamics on this site interest me very much...

Regards,

Xolin

Xolin -

I'm glad that I was right in my assumptions about your motives. And I'm glad that you will be with us for a while.

I have to admit that I find your methods interesting. As I said, they remind me of my professor's. He turned quickly into one of my favorites.

I agree that the responses were very interesting. The responses were fairly normal for this group. You'll find that we're fairly loyal, very emotional and, for the most part, quite intelligent. I think that you'll enjoy us, individually and as a group.

G7

[edited from the Jargon File: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/troll.html]
--
Troll v. n.

1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post itself.

2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll."
--

Dear Xolin.

As you can see from the definition above, you are a troll. You may deny being a troll, but you are in fact a 'textbook' example, right down to the "if you leave now you'll lose" gambit.

You have been given several opportunities to apologise for offending people in the 'trite crap' thread - several places where you could back down without losing face. Instead you have managed to continue to be offensive, patronising, insensitive, and unfunny. Ironically, all the character traits which you deride in those who have risen to your bait.

However, you exhibit in other posts some redeeming features, which make me feel it may be worthwhile to try and convince you to modify your behaviour. This will be my only attempt - do not expect debate on the subject.

When you troll you make a large number of *real* people angry. I notice that you backed down when one researcher revealed their reality, it may potentially do some good to reveal my own: two hours before I read your post I learned that Lisa(my cousin)'s cancer has spread, and it is likely that she will die within the year. Naturally, I was, and still am, a little off-edge. Your post did not help matters.

People on the web are real. Just as you would not go into a pub and loudly shout that everyone there is gay, so you should not enter a collaborative site and spam that all the content which they have written is trite crap. I am sure that in both cases the responses would be interesting, and no doubt many of them would be 'textbook'. Nevertheless both activities are socially and morally unacceptable.

Please refrain from trolling. The happiness it may give you is outweighed by the unhappiness it causes others.

Yours in hope,
Martin

Xolin,

I am posting this in order to extend an olive branch to you. My posts in the 'trite crap' thread were out of order, or at least somewhat irate in tone. This I acknowledge. I hope it has not further jaundiced your view of this site or the members of the accompanying community, as my comments were highly untypical, both of myself and of the h2g2 researchers as a whole.

I applaud your ability to cause such a fuss. Whilst praising your antisocial efforts, however, I must also give you a word of advice. If you do not mind me misquoting HHGttG, 'the one thing people really can't stand is a smart arse.' I can only hope that you are not too proud to take heed.

N7...

Well, I must admit, I admire your candour and your peace-offering (though, strangely enough, this is the second time someone has said something about olives in the last hour...).

I do realise the acrimony that may have been generated from my remarks - however, I will say one thing : my remarks can (and obviously do) seem inflammatory, caustic and even downright rude. They are, however, my comments and opinions and I'll defend them to the last. This is not to say, however, that I am generally not a reasonable chap who likes, more often than not, a little malicious humour... Regardless, I will keep in mind my potential "hanging" at the hands of those who don't like a smartarse and try not to be too handy in the infinite improbability department...but I can't promise anything

Well - more rational responses, I'm beginning to like this...

Lucinda, I DO walk into pubs and shout "you're all gay!!" - I am just as brash, opinionated and annoying as my electronic alter ego. As I have just posted to Nexus7, however, I am willing to "give things a go" and see what transpires.

As for me "backing down" to that purile, callowed, illiterate little S******e - I only did so after making a joke to cheer him up about being in hospital and having some Morphine and then him referring me to his bio which contains all sorts of horror stories/ramblings about drugs. I only backed off when I felt that he needed some cheering up. The little sod blurted it to all and sundry in another chat room, however, that he had "won" an argument with me for doing this. The mendacious, snivelling little urchin...

Anyway, enough acrimony - I still contend I am not a troll in the true sense of the word ; I just display some of the traits... Let's see how this all pans out, hey?

Even S******n are people. Even S******n deserve respect. And even if they don't, you signed terms and conditions when you entered this site not to be offensive.

Personally, if someone openly announces that they are intentionally trying to wind people up, I simply won't take it to heart. Saying that you intend to cause dispute among the forums suggests that it is possible you may simply say what you think will wind people - stuff which is not neccessarily your true opinion, but simply that which you think will provoke a reaction. In my view, this invalidates your comments, and I refuse to be wound up by them if there isn't any _real_ reason for conflict.

I think you, as you said, HAVE struck a nerve amongst this community by your subject title - by calling it "trite crap" you managed to insult EVERY Researcher who has ever contributed anything to the site - it is us (not that I discount the staff in any way) who make this place what it is.

But hey! I haven't taken offence and this whole affair does make good reading. In a perverse sort of a way.

I really can't get through to you, can I? I will quite happily respect anyone - but, if you bother to look at the posting that Bob whats-is-name put up about him "winning" an argument with me by making me feel sorry for him, then you will see that he showed ME no respect whatsoever. I was really apologetic to that rat-faced little worm and he used it against me. He has the moral fibre of a gnat and if you think I have to take that sort of nasty, immoral behavior because I "agreed to terms and conditions", you are sorely mistaken...besides, I hadn't noticed your compliance to the "terms and conditions" in your reactions to me...?