Re: Crocker's Rules (WAS: Women, fire...)

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@mercury.colossus.net)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 09:38:47 -0700 (PDT)

> In my opinion, the best policy to follow is the maxim from computer
> protocol design: be conservative in what you send and be liberal in
> what you accept. That is, try not to take offense, but try not to give
> offense either.

That's exactly what I try to do in practice, and for the same reason. Where I may occaisionally rant is that sometimes the receivers are so hopelessly fragile that they stifle communication altogether. Sure, I try not to give offense; but when someone is offended by the simple honest content of the message, what can be done?

> Politeness exists for a reason, and I believe that denying it is
> going to impose costs which could have been avoided.

I would phrase it "politeness /evolved/ for good reasons", with which I agree. So did pain. That doesn't mean we can't transcend both. 

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC