Some people respond without any thought

[Fairlight]

Y'all catch dis heeyah?  Dennis Malen been jivin' 'bout like:
> 
> Then there are others who take the question seriously and respond in kind. 
> That's what the list is all about.

Generally a good thing, although it's just next to impossible to take
certain individuals seriously after repeated demonstration of their
cluelessness.  No names are necessary.  It's a generalisation.  

Such impressions build up inertia that will inevitable take a prolonged
application of opposing force to overcome.  IOW, once someone plops
themselves into that niche in someone's mind, they tend to remain there
until they can demonstrate a sustained effort at being something other than
they originally got themselves pegged.

> The list still works wonderfully even with those negative minded people 
> lurking in the background.

Things are in the mind of the beholder.  The only negative-mindedness I can
think of personally are the people that tend to demonstrate the apparent
lack of one.  "Negativity" in your context is a now PC buzzword for someone
saying something you don't like, no matter how true it may turn out to
be.  It's not just -your- use of the term here--as with the word 'abuse'
in our society, its overuse has contributed to a dilution of the term to
the point where it no longer has any significant meaning to anyone that
doesn't buy into pre-packaged sociological mumbo-jumbo that exists soley to
provide topics for gratuitous PhD theses and government jobs responsible
for generating studies of dubious intrinsic value.

IOW:  Not buying it.  People screaming, "Negative attitude!" tend to miss
the actual message for the delivery style, thus cheating themselves out of
legitimate (and often useful) substantive input.  Their loss due to
oversensitivity on their part.

People tend to get out of anything something roughly commensurate to to
what they put into same.  Except the perma-leeches, who take anything they
can get, and -have- next to nothing to contribute--except gratuitous
observations borne of the School of PC Thinking.

And one additional note:  The attempt to slam those with whom you disagree
on whatever grounds by couching it terms that include it with praise for
those who do exactly what you want, is transparent as glass, and is a
generally poor practise.  You'll only alienate yourself further from those
that are clued enough to see right through the charade.  You're trying to
shame those who don't subscribe to your values and toe your personal line,
and it's patently absurd--and especially embarassing for you when you frame
it so obviously.  The praise may have been sincere, but it was a thin
disguise for the sideband transmission.  

As someone once reminded -me- on USENET:  You ask for feedback, you don't
get to pick and choose the feedback you get; you take the undesirable with
the desirable.  If you want 100% satisfaction, hire someone so you have
some grounds for dictating the terms of the arrangement.

But that wouldn't be a 'free' resource, would it?  No.  But you can have a
free resource that comes with some undesirable results, or a non-free
resource that you can control--it requires that you pick one, and be
willing to stand by the conviction.

Anything less is, quite frankly, gratuitous whining.

As for responding without thinking--not true.  I personally put a great
deal of thinking into assessing when someone is being clueless.  I put even
more thought into pointing it out, since there's thought to spare when the
cluelessness is as obvious as in some cases.  There's a little obtuse, and
then there's solid brick.  Some people actually save up for cranial cases
constructed of lead.  I'm confident of this.

And lest I be accused of negativity, I'm -positive- I know exactly what I'm
saying.  :)

mark->
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