[MD] Trust in Philosophy

[MarshaV]

On Nov 29, 2010, at 11:01 PM, david buchanan wrote:

> 
> 
> ?? Marsha said to Dave:
>> As I see it I'm only asking you to say what you mean.   I'm telling you 
>> that I don't know what you mean ...  and I'm asking you to say what 
>> you mean in your own words.   I really don't see how the 
>> reasonableness of that request can be denied. I can speak english, I 
>> know the language of philosophy to some extent.  I really don't see 
>> why it should be a problem for you to make your ideas clear to me.  
>> You're angry because I'm asking you to say what you mean, because 
>> I'm asking you to define the terms you use?  Isn't that just the most 
>> basic demand placed on anyone who wishes to communicate about 
>> anything?  I think so. And your apparently refusal is more than a little 
>> suspicious. I mean, it's hard to believe that you're really trying.
> 
> 
> Matt replied:
> 
> Can I just say that if I had marked the above paragraph "DMB said to Matt:" people wouldn't have thought twice?  That Dave has been saying the same thing to me for years now?
> 
> dmb says:
> Not that it matters, but that paragraph is what dmb said to Matt. Marsha then repeated it back at me and called it bullying.

Marsha:
I didn't cite the paragraph as an example of bullying.  I called your general tactics bullying.  Mostly your posts are unexplained quotes, hyperbole, ad hominem insults and evasion.  I think the requests made in that paragraph of Matt are the standard you should be held to, especially since you brag of your intellectual competency: A-grades, teacher's, &etc.  And please notice you avoided answering the question.  


> dmb:
> I think it's just a reasonable thing to request. If that's counts as bullying, I sure wish I'd grown up in your neighborhood. 

Marsha:
I agree with you.  You consider yourself an intellectual, hold yourself up as one by using your own standards.   Again, the paragraph was not bullying, your general tactics most often are.  I am quite happy you wrote the paragraph.  It may be quite useful.   


> 
> Matt said:
> 
> .. The devolution of trust between participants seems to me to be a regular pattern in the course of a participant's stay at the MD.  And trust is terribly difficult to repair.
> 
> dmb says:
> That's certainly true. But trust and distrust can be justly earned. It's not just a matter of good manners or a generous spirit. It some cases it really would be foolish to extend trust, thus Arlo's recent use of Charlie Brown and Lucy to depict the situation between myself and Marsha. As every Peanuts reader knows, Charlie foolishly trusts her and he pays for it every time. 

Marsha:
The Peanut-show is hyperbole, and it puts one in lose/lose situation.  To defend myself against it, I'm inadvertently participating in it.  If I ignore it, he steals the show with its comic action.  Hyperbole is not a substitute for an intellectual explanation or open discussion.  It's used to make an opponent look foolish.  In dmb's case It's showmanship (style), and used probably by someone with a shallow depth of understanding, or little care.   imho   




 
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