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Subject:Ending a flame war? From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:45:55 -0600
One thing I've noted about slams and flame wars: they tend
to get nasty when the participants insist on having the
last word. It's difficult to ignore a contradictory
opinion, but if your position is strong, sometimes it's
best to simply let the contrary opinion slide by and trust
the readers to figure out which position is most nearly
correct. It also helps to resist the urge to take an
extreme position: most times when someone contradicts you,
there's probably a grain or two of truth to what they said.
If you acknowledge that the messages you dash off in a few
seconds of typing aren't as perfect as text that you spend
an hour polishing, it's a lot easier to accept (and learn
from) public criticism. It also helps you accept the public
mistakes of others that much more easily.
A final tip that is particularly germane given that it's
Easter: "Love the sinner, hate the sin." In short, correct
the error, don't attack the person who made it.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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