Aggressive language on python-list

[rurpy at yahoo.com]

On 10/17/2012 05:39 PM, Ian Kelly wrote:> On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 5:17 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>> Excuse me, I think that anybody who was offended by it needs to take a
>> long, hard look at themselves. Would you be offended if Rurpy asked "Are
>> you diabetic?"
> 
> If the question were sincere, no.  On the other hand, if it were a
> rhetorical question with the implication that only diabetics could
> possibly be so obtuse, then yes, it would be offensive.
> 
> Instead of "diabetic", try inserting the word "black" or "female".
> There's no shame in those either, yet I think that the offensiveness
> of either of those words used in that context should be obvious.

The question *was* sincere.  Some people with Asberger's 
tend to take words and expressions too literally.  I know
because it it is a problem I often have.

Nevertheless I should not have raised the issue in the
newsgroup, especially when criticizing Steven for not 
just asking, but asserting, that someone else's writings
were the products of excessive drug use.

This list is not the place to ask or speculate about
personal traits of posters; rather only on message 
contents.