RE: META: Dishonest debate (was "cluster bombs")

From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Fri Jun 13 2003 - 06:13:05 MDT

  • Next message: Michael Wiik: "RE: META: Working Towards a Pledge"

    Dehede011@aol.com wrote,
    > Last, while you two young lads were leaping so quickly to
    > that ladies defense you might have noticed that she never
    > complained about me misrepresenting her.

    This is another logical flaw that I have been seeing a lot on the list
    lately: The assumption that there must be only two choices, so that by
    looking at one we can assume something about the other. Amara is assumed to
    be supportive if she hasn't complained. Damien is assumed to support
    regimes he hasn't posted against. I have been assumed to support communism
    when I argue on an unrelated topic with an anti-communist. A person who
    questions our President is assumed to be anti-American. A person who posts
    unfavorable battle statistics is assumed to be supportive of terrorists.

    The world isn't binary! These faulty deductions are wasting a lot of time
    and driving a lot of people away with baseless accusations. A lack of
    complaint does not prove support. Pointing out flaws in one side does not
    mean someone is on the other side. Disliking our current President is not a
    war crime. We have enough differences of opinion. We don't need to project
    further ones where they do not really exist.

    Seriously, folks: I don't think we have been infiltrated by anti-American
    terrorists on this list. Half of the current debates and defenses of
    people's positions are over fictional topics and baseless accusations. I
    can't imagine someone disrupting our group more effectively if they
    deliberately tried.

    --
    Harvey Newstrom, CISM, CISSP, IAM, IBMCP, GSEC
    Certified InfoSec Manager, Certified IS Security Pro, NSA-certified
    InfoSec Assessor, IBM-certified Security Consultant, SANS-cert GSEC
    <HarveyNewstrom.com> <Newstaff.com>
    


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