Posted by Dinah on January 7, 2006, at 11:27:47
It seems to me that there are some things that happen on the board so frequently and have such sadly similar outcomes that we ought to be able to sit down together and come up with a strategy to deal with it.
I think Babblers have gotten very very good at not reading posts that trigger them, or not responding if they don't think that they can be civil. I've been really impressed.
But it seems that there are times when that strategy, the one advocated by Dr. Bob, doesn't work all that well. That there are times that that strategy just seems to cause things to escalate. Then something snaps and all h*ll breaks loose, as posters wish to defend someone they think was wronged, or buttons are pushed, or for whatever reason.
And I'm left wondering how best to try to head these things off. Because it seems to me that there ought to be something we can do.
Now mind you, I'm not entirely talking about the latest storm. I think Lar's post could have been taken several ways. And clearly Dr. Bob and several posters read it one way, and I and other posters read what he said a different way. So I think reasonable people can differ.
I'm at something of a loss to figure out what can be done, though. Maybe it's even a necessary thing for the community. My therapist always tells me that my desire to avoid conflict isn't the healthiest thing for a relationship. That sometimes relationships need conflict, like forests sometimes need naturally occuring fires to allow for growth.
I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas to brainstorm? For those occasions where choosing not to read or choosing not to respond seem to only work to a limited extent?
poster:Dinah
thread:596210
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20051205/msgs/596210.html