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So tell me. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter black crow
- Start date
jan van daalen
Well-known member
The more I learn about the subject, the more I understand how little I know.
I do know, that I learn a lot from some guys and doll (who lives upsidedown:gh: and can't help it) and am glad to be part of this "team".
No offence taken Black Crow. Thank God everybody is entitled to an opinion.
Just my two pennies.
Jan
I do know, that I learn a lot from some guys and doll (who lives upsidedown:gh: and can't help it) and am glad to be part of this "team".
No offence taken Black Crow. Thank God everybody is entitled to an opinion.
Just my two pennies.
Jan
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NDhunter
Experienced observer
I like the discussion, and also the word hobbyist, it is friendly and will
include all who like to discuss birds, binoculars and everything in between.
As you may know Steve C. a valuable member here, is from the Klamath
area, and also has the same opportunities.
Jerry
black crow
Well-known member
Thanks guys. I'm just playing this safe. I love this place and it's been good to me, even the chance I might unnecessarily offend someone isn't worth it to me. Not over this silly little musing anyway.
I may just be dense, but what makes you think you offended someone?
You asked a question, as I recall.
black crow
Well-known member
Someone said something to the effect that the use of the word elitist was loaded and offensive. It's not loaded to me but as your sig said everything offends someone and I figured this just wasn't worth taking the risk. I went back and forth even thinking of starting the thread all morning because I knew there was some risk of offending people. I knew I was taking a chance and told myself if I saw some posters getting upset at any of it I'd just drop it.
I think that some offense is taken because the posting is not understood or misinterpreted.
Also language problems, even the same language.
Also I have sometimes posted what seems easy to me, and clearly a jest to me, but may not be familiar to another reader who takes it seriously.
Then I see news items, which usually lead back to the rag called The Daily Star.
Every minor orbiting lump of rock is doom, and going to wipe us out.
Everything is blown out of all proportion to scare the living daylights out of people, who seemingly want to be scared.
And these blue moons and Supermoons. This is daftness gone berserk.
It is of absolutely no importance as Moons within 1% or 2% of that apparent size are frequent.
People seek instant pleasure now, wanting to be liked, and instant sadness when they are not liked.
50% of people that I see in the street seem to behave like zombies to me, clutching their mobile devices as if their lives depended on them.
What has happened to this world?
What will happen when the internet fails completely?
Also language problems, even the same language.
Also I have sometimes posted what seems easy to me, and clearly a jest to me, but may not be familiar to another reader who takes it seriously.
Then I see news items, which usually lead back to the rag called The Daily Star.
Every minor orbiting lump of rock is doom, and going to wipe us out.
Everything is blown out of all proportion to scare the living daylights out of people, who seemingly want to be scared.
And these blue moons and Supermoons. This is daftness gone berserk.
It is of absolutely no importance as Moons within 1% or 2% of that apparent size are frequent.
People seek instant pleasure now, wanting to be liked, and instant sadness when they are not liked.
50% of people that I see in the street seem to behave like zombies to me, clutching their mobile devices as if their lives depended on them.
What has happened to this world?
What will happen when the internet fails completely?
Those who seek to be offended will succeed, no matter what.
I for one, sincerely hope that OP will not go away.
Those who delight in the actual use of these marvelous instruments without getting immersed in all the minutiae and the quantitative stuff are always refreshing to hear from.
Please keep coming back.
Richard
I for one, sincerely hope that OP will not go away.
Those who delight in the actual use of these marvelous instruments without getting immersed in all the minutiae and the quantitative stuff are always refreshing to hear from.
Please keep coming back.
Richard
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black crow
Well-known member
That has turned out to be one of the real truisms of life.
In real life we have tone of voice, facial expression and body-language to give us strong clues as the meaning and intention of words spoken to us. Words that look unarguably insulting and aggressive in posts or emails can actually be meant in good humour or at least without rancour which is clear in real life but just isn't on the internet.
Lee
Binoscoper
Also a spotting scoper
Pandemonium....:eek!:
tenex
reality-based
Thanks for your thoughts. Thinking aloud is OK, I do it often myself. We do however need to be careful with words like "elite" and "elitist" because they're so loaded. At least in the US, and especially lately, they're widely used as a lazy way of denigrating experts and educated people, by those who can't actually engage or refute their arguments legitimately.
black crow
Well-known member
Yeah people take offense and you don't always know what will trigger it. I should have known better however, it's a loaded word for a lot of people. Fortunately nothing got out of hand so it's all good.
I'm an elitist about some things. Dog training for example. I don't feel a bit bad about it either. I'm proud to be among that group. Maybe that's why the word doesn't bother me. I've never used it to denigrate anyone that I can think of.
I'm an elitist about some things. Dog training for example. I don't feel a bit bad about it either. I'm proud to be among that group. Maybe that's why the word doesn't bother me. I've never used it to denigrate anyone that I can think of.
The concept behind this thread was a great talking point if only because it reinforces the notion that different folks enjoy optics for wildly different reasons which to me seems a fine thing.
And the extent to which a word is an insult often depends much more on the attitude of the speaker rather than the meaning of the word.
I met a native Kenyan in a bar in northern Sweden (of all places) and was telling him how on a visit to Zimbabwe I was not going to behave as I had seen some white folks in South Africa behave towards native Africans, but had quickly realised that if I carried a tray of drinks back to our table myself this would deprive the guy behind the bar of a tip from 4 customers. So I let the guy carry the tray and he got his tips. My Kenyan bar-mate laughed his socks off and patted me on the back and called me 'a true White Bastard for all the right reasons'. While buying me another beer. Being called a bastard has never again been so complementary and just shows how the intention behind the word is more important than the word itself.
Elitist can mean having high standards or high ambitions or it can mean an attitude of self-importance and snobbery. The trick on the internet is trying to make your attitude clear which isn't always easy, but in the case of the OP on this thread I think it was always very clear.
Thanks for the thread and keep on thinking out loud.
Lee
And the extent to which a word is an insult often depends much more on the attitude of the speaker rather than the meaning of the word.
I met a native Kenyan in a bar in northern Sweden (of all places) and was telling him how on a visit to Zimbabwe I was not going to behave as I had seen some white folks in South Africa behave towards native Africans, but had quickly realised that if I carried a tray of drinks back to our table myself this would deprive the guy behind the bar of a tip from 4 customers. So I let the guy carry the tray and he got his tips. My Kenyan bar-mate laughed his socks off and patted me on the back and called me 'a true White Bastard for all the right reasons'. While buying me another beer. Being called a bastard has never again been so complementary and just shows how the intention behind the word is more important than the word itself.
Elitist can mean having high standards or high ambitions or it can mean an attitude of self-importance and snobbery. The trick on the internet is trying to make your attitude clear which isn't always easy, but in the case of the OP on this thread I think it was always very clear.
Thanks for the thread and keep on thinking out loud.
Lee
looksharp65
Well-known member
Don't know if this locution exists outside Sweden, and it's not too common here, either:
"Throw a stick into a flock of pigs. The one who feels hit will be the one to whine."
A lot could be said about this, and the locution could be used for all too many purposes. Nonetheless I find it very true.
//L
"Throw a stick into a flock of pigs. The one who feels hit will be the one to whine."
A lot could be said about this, and the locution could be used for all too many purposes. Nonetheless I find it very true.
//L
looksharp65
Well-known member
Not being an elitist, the fact is you're mistaken 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_Africa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_Africa
dries1
Member
Thread
I don't want to go further down this road, and go way off topic. So I will keep on the binos and birds.
A.W.
I don't want to go further down this road, and go way off topic. So I will keep on the binos and birds.
A.W.
