And this challenge of knowing or not knowing someone you've never met compared to someone you have is stupid. You surely cannot seriously believe that you could know someone on a message board that you've never met as opposed to someone that you have?
your comment "They don't want to drive people away. They don't want to get punched. They don't want to be spat on. Here they don't have to worry about that. Here they're free to be themselves with no real consequences. They are free to act within their (lack) of conscience, to display their innermost thoughts to the world without worry. They can proverbially "let it all hang out." what that means is that they can run their mouths and act tough when they really aren't. They can pretend to be a bad ass when they are really scared of their own shadow. They can threaten without having to back it up. that's not being themselves, that's being someone they wish they were. wake the fuck up dude.
Ok let's compare: you've had 100 inter-actions on the message board with person X compare it to 50 inter-actions IN PERSON with person Y who would you get a better feel for as a person? Of course the one who's eyes you have looked into, heard their voice, seen their facial expressions and body language.
If you say person X then maybe you're some sort of anti-social anomaly that could only handle online inter-action. I guess it's normal you wouldn't see it any other way.
Time for cafe ole and chocolatine
It all depends on the people involved and the nature of the interaction. What I'm saying is that over the course of time and many posts, you can certainly get a
general idea of what someone is like in a broad sense. You can get a basic idea of their personality and level of intelligence. Well enough to leave your kids with them? No, that level of trust goes much, much deeper. But I never suggested that and I don't think anyone else did either. Just meeting someone 50 times, 100 times or 1000 times, in itself, wouldn't convince me to leave my kids with them either (if I had kids, that is). And of course meeting someone gives the added benefit of being able to look into their eyes and *try* to read their body language. But like I said in the beginning, it really depends on the people involved and the nature of the interaction. What life and experience have taught me is to not place a lot of trust in
anyone at first glance, whether I have met them or not. Someone I've now known for about 8 months has very recently proven that he is completely untrustworthy. But looking in his eyes didn't tell me that. I try to judge people and situations based on objective data (that's basically what I'm paid to do), not solely on their words. But based solely on words, can I get a
basic read on someone's temperament and personality? It gives a good starting point in many cases. Not here, but on other message boards, I have met quite a few of the people I've interacted with. And they tended to be (personality wise) pretty much as they were on the internet. Now, if someone is a polished, talented con, he/she can hide it on the internet... and he/she can hide it in real life too. I've just "known" too many people over the years, mostly through work, who I had no idea that they were drug addicts, beat their wives or kids, abused their parents, were thieves, cheated on their spouses (when I believed them to be faithful to their marriages) or were just blatant liars. I'm in a situation right now with someone who has known me since I was a baby, someone who would have become my "mother" had my parents died when I was a child, and because there is a lot of money at stake, this person is now showing her
true colors... and not in a good way. See, it turns out that I didn't really know her afterall... and I've looked in her eyes since I was big enough to sit up on my own. Now, I consider her my mortal enemy... but I don't show it. She has no idea of the level of hate I now have for her. She will only know that I knew what she was up to when we get to the end of this deal and I have fucked her six ways from Sunday. And at that point, she will
know me.
Even looking at myself, I'm able to express (true) political views here that I don't have the luxury of expressing in public. Because of the nature of my profession, I'm not in a position that I can have any sort of controversial statements attached to my name. I have a folder full of "letters to the editor" that I'd love to send to various local newspapers. But I don't feel like having a conference with corporate HR the day after I send even one. So I appreciate that the anonymity of this board allows me to freely express those thoughts and beliefs. Who am I really... in real life? :dunno: Like most people, to varying degrees, I am a man of the moment. Depending on the situation, I will show you what I feel you need to see and tell you what I feel you need to know... nothing more, nothing less. In large organizations or corporations, you either learn to play the political game or you get stepped on. And I'm not into being stepped on. I've found that it's better to be the
stepper than the
stepee.
Most of us are just here for casual conversation and what not. I don't need to see anybody's psych report, background check or credit score. Most of us will never meet each other. But if I imagine who I would or would not sit down and have a beer with, I believe (based on observation and casual conversation) that I'd be good with having a beer with this person known as
Lurkingdirk. And there are others that I'd be OK sitting down with for a drink. And yeah, there are one or two that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to ply me with alcohol and put me in the same room with them. There are a couple that (
at their core) probably really are the shit-asses that they play up even more here.
Deputy Fife: Sir, what exactly happened to this man?!
Drunk me: Well, Occifer, I don't rightly know. See, that feller was layin' on the floor with his teeth spread out around his head when I got here. I think he's just drunk and he fell down and hit his head. :dunno:
A double espresso for me. I have some goat milk in the fridge that should soften it up a bit. :hatsoff: