On fighting fire with fire...

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:23:46 -0500, Rocco Moretti wrote:

> Professionals (and even decent hobbyists) don't 
> escalate flame wars, even unintentionally.

You don't get out much, do you? *wink*

If your comment is meant to be _prescriptive_ rather than _descriptive_, I
don't entirely agree.

Flame wars, like all wars, are unproductive beyond a certain point, but to
push the combat analogy, punitive raids can be productive at changing
behaviour.

It is never pleasant to be on the receiving end of a flaming, but if it is
deserved, then people should accept it and learn from it, rather than just
dismiss it as a flaming and therefore meaningless.

The problem on the Internet is that there is little or no status: the most
ignorant newbie and the stupidest AOLer think that they are equal in
status to somebody who has proven their knowledge for ten years. (This
lack of status on the Internet is not *always* a bad thing, but it can be.)

If your boss or professor or a judge gave you a tongue-lashing for stupid
behaviour, sensible people accept it. "I've been bad, I got caught, thank
goodness I'm suffering nothing worse than being told I'm an idiot." At
worst they might complain to their friends afterwards. 

But on the Internet, people who deserve that tongue-lashing think that
because they can retaliate, they should retaliate -- and that's where the
risk of escalation from punitive raid to unproductive flame war lies.



-- 
Steven.