Re: Ad Hominem and Thumbs down.

"Kenneth Downs" <firstinit.lastname_at_lastnameplusfam.net> wrote in message news:2k59mc.cqo.ln_at_192.168.10.210...
> Laconic2 wrote:
>
> > In a recent post, I failed to mark the purpose of my use of the word
> > "drivel" as ironic. As a consequence, some readers took my remarks
> > concerning Pascal as seriously intended, rather than as serving as an
> > illustrative counterexample to the point I was trying to make.
> >
> > Gene called my remarks "ad hom", which they were.
> >
> > That got me to thinking. What's the connection between the "thumbs
down"
> > signal and "ad hominem" attacks.
> >
> > Well, if I trace them both back to ancient Rome, I think there's a
> > connection. The thumbs down signal was used by the crowds in the
coliseum
> > to indicate to a victorious gladiator that he should kill the vanquished
> > gladiator. It doesn't get any more "ad hominem" than that.
> >
> > And I think the "thumbs down" signal still carries the ad hominem
> > overtone, regardless of whether it is applied to a person, or to that
> > person's work.
> > It's like calling someone's writing "drivel". That's such an extreme
> > characterization of the person's work that it amounts to an ad hominem
> > attack on the person who issued it.
> >
> > Surely we can point out what's wrong with someone else's work without
> > descending to that level.
>
> This ng is the height of civil manners compared to most, I'd say we're
doing
> OK.

I'd agree NOW, but that is a significant departure from the list when I started posting. Thanks to folks like Marshall S, laconic2, mAsterdam, erk, celko, Jan H, Wol, Bill H, and many others, this is now a good place to chat. Cheers! --dawn

> --
> Kenneth Downs
> Use first initial plus last name at last name plus literal "fam.net" to
> email me
Received on Wed Nov 03 2004 - 01:27:12 CET