Usenet Holy Wars
I'm riding BART home, thinking about usenet holy wars.
What's a usenet news holy war? Well, usenet news is like a big discussion forum on many different topics. You may have heard it just called news., and a holy war is when there are two (or more) sides of a topic that have adherents that think their point of view is the one true point of view, and nothing can dissuade them of that view. Usually there is no definitive right or wrong, just opinions. Emacs vs. vi is one example, mac vs. pc is another. Some would even say abortion is a holy war topic.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because in some case transportation can be a subject for holy wars. Some people feel that mass transit advocates are trying to take away their cars, and with them, their freedom. Some people feel that private vehicle advocates are being selfish, focusing on their own needs rather than the needs of our society. Realists recognize that when it comes to transportation, a balance must be found.
I must admit, sometimes I'm a bit too strenuous in my belief that we need to focus more on mass transit than we are doing now, and sometimes I get engaged in holy wars about it, but I like to think that I do listen to the other side of the argument.
I'm engaged in a discussion right now that has all the signs of an approaching holy war.
But the struggle for me is recognizing when a discussion has descended into a non-recoverable state, a true holy war.
It's easier, I think, to tell when a face to face conversation is going nowhere then it is to tell when a distributed discussion, like usenet, has reached that same place.
When it does, whether it's face to face or distributed, the best thing to do is gracefully disengage. That doesn't mean firing one last shot and fading into the mist, that means acknowledging the different points of view and then admitting that this discussion is going nowhere. No finger pointing, because, remember this, it's your fault, too. No matter how crazy, illogical, pigheaded, and wrong you think the other side is, those on the other side of the topic feel the same way about you.
in usenet, just like in the rest of your world, the only mind you can change