paulr

..or do they just exist for the sole purpose of giving your opinion,......to a load of people who are only interested in giving you theirs?

imlach

They sometimes seem to work, but often not

It's more like the House of Commons on here really. No-one ever agrees

Harry_Boy

Paul - not intending stalking your Blair post or anything this eve mate, but I believe you've raised a very interesting point here.

Of course, we're all very much entitled to our own opinions. And the Internet is probably the ultimate democratic forum for people to express their views and thoughts on a wide variety of issues.

As such, my thought here is that anyone's answer to this specific question has to be very personal to them. In other words, they alone will know whether they strive to inform others, to be informed, or a mix of the two. Indeed, it's also true to say that some will just seek to hide behind the (relative) anonimity of a display, keyboard and user name, and use these as tools to bull**it.....

Persoanlly, I'd like to think that my main reason for my participation in discussions a la ScoobyNet is a mix of educating and being educated. In my view, it's important in this context to strike a reasonable balance, and be willing to defer to those that are manifestly more knowledgeable and experienced on any given topic.

Cheers, HB.

Brendan Hughes

Wot E Sed.

Harry_Boy

ajm

2 people are arguing, person A is right, person B is wrong. The argument draws to a close when person B accepts person A is right, but who wins?

Person A who has gained nothing but the satisfaction of being right or person B who has come away having gained knowledge they didn't have before?

As we know, its human nature to avoid admitting defeat, so in black and white it looks like no one is gaining anything, but we are all learning from interactions, online and off, whether we admit it or not!

Brendan Hughes

ajm, there's far worse. If the wrong one is better with words, they can end up convincing the right one, and screwing both up. In your scenario I'd call it win-win (provided pride/SOH is retained), but lose-lose is unfortunately possible.

imlach

A better awareness of Person A's views is sometimes a good final outcome too. ie, a bit of a shift in views, not necessarily a full-on change of views of Person B.

skiddus_markus

Most people don't actually listen,just wait for their turn to speak.

angrynorth

Not sure, what do you think?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Actually Brendan,AJM and Ilmach are all wrong IMO

Pointless, mildly witty remarks is what its all about - usually contributing nothing to the original subject matter. Make sure you put a at the end.


Personally I approach discussions on the net in the same way I discuss a subject face to face, as in, if I'm willing to contribute then I'm also willing to listen.

Brendan Hughes

Wot E Sed 2

angrynorth

Seriously though, I think its really interesting to read what other peoples views are on things. I spent months just reading Scoobynet just posting here and there, before becoming a regular poster.

Its also great to get help and advice from some very knowledgable people. There is a lot to be learned from listening. Although its sometimes good to have a bit of banter eh, Jay?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Also helps increase word power, grammar, comprehension - which, as you can see - isn't a specialist subject of mine.

oh

philc

gets beyond a discussion down the pub, cos there's usually some-one on the forums who's 'bin there, done that', so can offer opinion based on experience (army, RAF, doctor, dentist, gym instructor, etc., etc.......)

paulr

Good point.
On a personal note the opinions of people who have had first hand experience counts far more.

Alan C

So.

On this particular subject, everyone appears to agree:

'We all like to listen and hear other opinions for many different reasons'

No one disagrees. Everyone's point is well presented & thought out......

What now? Ever wondered how a post just fizzles out?

Edited to say: I'm not being facetious. I just got a warm fuzzy feeling and glow from a post where everyone agrees and compliments each other. Brings a tear to my eye.

milo

or maybe anyone who would disagree didn't open the thread up because they really didnt want to hear other people's opinions?

Alan C

But surely if they disagreed, they'd be the first on here to remind you of that fact and to enjoy the moment that they REALLY do want you to hear what they said.

Or did I miss your point?

milo

clearly not - because nobody's done it yet!

Alan C

Good point mate. Well presented and very accurate. However, my time will come!

Surely this can't last?

unclebuck

I'm interested in other peoples' opinions. That's why I read the threads. I've learned a lot, sometimes from the most unlikely of sources (the name moses springs to mind ). I enjoy the debates that go on, except when a few trolls go out of their way to spoil things.

UB

Alan C

Very true UB.. But aren't you stretching it a bit about learning stuff from Moses?

BTW.. Me and Moses get on. We completely disagree about everything. But we get on.

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Ah, but is it the subject matter of this thread that brings harmony and agreement?

There's quite a few grandmasters hanging round here

Leslie

Its what is known as "communication" and is quite important I think. Nothing wrong in seeing everybody's opinion, might even learn something!

Les

Faire D'Income

It's a good question that deserves a good answer (so I'll fail miserably with this one ) but essentially it depends on the poster and how he/she reacts in the real world, assuming that they're not trolling or bullsh*t artists.

Provided that you can accept other people's opinions can be different to your own and are willing to listen to them, indulge in debate and not take it personally i.e play the ball, not the player then it should work well. I've had a few debates on here where I strongly disagree with another poster's opinion but if I can modify their views because they're wrong or at least educate them then it's a worthwhile exercise. Equally, if I'm wrong or there's an alternative opinion that is worth hearing then it can be very interesting and I'll take it onboard and sometimes I'll even admit I'm wrong.

In conclusion, I reckon the most interesting aspect is that you can have very strong opinions about something and not have even considered a point of view that another poster has.

Geezer

Counts for what? Is some, probably most, this is true, the opposite can also be true.

Consider this, someone is constantly mistreated by a group of people (maybe a different race or religion), and thus their opinion of said group becomes somewhat jaded.

They then go on spread all sorts of malicious rubbish based upon their experience of a very limited section of the group, but theur views have credence because of their first hand experience.

Worse still, people deliberately lie, but their experience lends credibilty to their arguments.

Sometimes, it is better to form an opinion without experience, it makes you more objective.

Geezer

RichWalk

just depends on the collective/ none collective mood of the day, some threads on here have been brilliant discussions where many have learnt, others have been pure distructive sniping by certain players, who have proven their intellect yet prefer to troll...... probably due to boredom or a required distraction.

TelBoy

You're ALL fookin wrong.

ScoobyDoo555

Don't panic - it seems that you're not on your own

Webby should get the mods to check spolling and gremmer for all posts

Dan