SL Forums: Whose Culture is it Anyway?

You can say things in New York that will get you stoned in Oklahoma.

Whose cultural mores do you think we should follow?

Can we extend a tolerance to all language provided it is not used as a personal attack?

Do we have a responsiblity to control our own world using the Ignore key, rather than try to make other people conform to our prejudices?

Is it alright to use $20 words to call a person a fucktard instead?

If the Lindens gave a clear definition or list of what was appropriate language, would you change your posting habits?

NOTE: If you feel that we already have a clear definition in the TOS, or you believe a Linden has made a definative ruling on this issue, please post your sources.

I just be myself and just play it by ear. The rest will take care of itself.



Alexin

Well, I should have been more clear in that I wasn't talking about Coco in particular. She did go on and on and I very much agree that there wasn't any sexual harrassment going on. I was speaking in general as to what I've seen happen to some folks in the past, while others do get to slide by. There have been some relatively famous cases of it in the forum's past.
However, I do think folks can be pretty damn mean, just for the sake of entertainment, and I'm not into that. It just seems childish and unneeded.

But again, I'm all for the forums being mature and being open to anything anyone wants to say, as long as it's within the ToS.

My posts abide by the PG guidlines.

And Siggy, just like any other person with enough gray matter to compose thougts and construct eloquent speech, reserve the right to call someone else a retard.

About Siggy, he's a wonderful debater, he fights the points not the persons, if people get personal about replies... maybe they shouldn't post on the forums at all

But stating even in a public forum that she considered Siggy to be sexually harassing her? Come one, does this forum allow freedom of speech or not?

No it's not. However you want the world to work, the fact is that if a man says to a woman in a bar (who has said nothing foul to him) to shove it up her arse, that is going to be considered worse than if he says it to a man his own size.

And that is sexual harrassment.

I am not defending her. I'm just sure as daylight not defending Siggy.

everyone is fucking insane, yes?

See ya all. Off to more important things.

Like making money? woah... that's... deep

How boring they would be if they fell under what you're implying Wayfinder.

As I said, I don't know the specifics of the attack. I do know that usually Coco has been pretty level headed in other forums where she's commented.

Without reading all 17 pages of posts... if Coco blew a fuse and burned, I'd take a wild guess that Siggy provided the penny -- either here or elsewhere. But if Coco was banned because she finally had enough and decided to take on Siggy head-to-head, without applauding such I can't bring myself to condemn it either.

* P.S. Does anyone else find it really obnoxious when someone has to make a big production about putting someone on ignore? Can't people just hit the button and shut the fuck up?

Sooo, Maxx-- what important things do you do with your time?



Now, for the second statement then hopefully I'm outta here:


I don't find anything boring about people treating others with consideration and respect.

I have never, on any message board, ignored anyone. Even those I despised were at least entertaining enough to put up with as I skipped their posts.

Hehe. Yeah, same here. I think the ignore button is a great invention that, despite the occasional joking reference, I never really actually used before. But I'm glad that it's there.

Personally I have my own built in ignore button that's much easier to invoke and works 100% of the time.

Alexin' Personal Portable Universal Ignore System
Step 1) Roll your eyes
Step 2) Shake your head
Step 3) Sigh
Step 4) Mutter "fuckwit" under your breath
Step 5) Hit the (Next Post) button

* For RL applications, omit Step 5.

Step 5) Hit the (Next Post) button

* For RL applications, omit Step 5.

It was just too much work for too little payoff once I did finally translate their posts.

Otherwise.. I follow your steps as well.

OK Surreal, quick answer I promised at 2:30am... then I'm outta here. And thanks for the invite. Truly enjoyed chatting with you here.

OK, let me address this and then I'm out of here.

The name of this forum is "Whose Culture is it Anyway?"

General observation of forum atmosphere: I'm a businessman. I operate daily by observing facts and making logical decisions. As a policy I avoid getting into the "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" philosophical debates. I have more important things to do with my time than endlessly debate with people over their personal philosophies. (which is one reason I'm exiting stage left, as of today. I officially have now exceeded the mandatory 1000-posts limit and have no further need of such life-fulfilling goals. LOL

I reviewed the title of this thread, which is in the form of a question. As a businessman, that answer is extremely obvious: it's Linden Lab's culture. They are a USA-based country, so it's logical to assume that the culture will be primarily US in nature. It is exceedingly obvious to me that as a U.S.A.-based company and with a user demographic of 80%+ USA residents... Linden Lab is going to tend to follow the social structures and concepts of the USA (moreso than it would follow the mores of say... outer Mongolia). And for those who just can't seem to get it in their heads.. I am not discussing U.S. law and how it pertains to freedom of speech. You're arguing with me over a moot issue. I'm talking social concepts. But like someone pointed out, no matter what, in every aspect of operation, Linden Lab attorneys DO have to be aware of potential implications of company decisions in a legal context. That's what attorneys are paid to do. But the discusion is "Culture", not legal tort and mitigation.

So, it's Linden Lab's culture. If some folks can't see that for some reason, I'm sorry, I can't help such individuals. You either see it, or you don't. If you don't, that's a shame. Please don't apply to me for a job. LOL. People not recognizing simple fact only convinces me (and others) that this forum is a "dance on a pin"
waste of time and moves us to spend that time elsewhere.

Why does language on a forum matter anyway? What's wrong with someone using obscene language? We're all over 17, right?
Throughout history, the human creature has in general, as a rule, been a very crude, selfish and arrogant beast. As a whole, we ignore warnings, fight logical process, and stubbornly insist on our own way regardless of obvious harm to others. We were told for decades about the dangers of the Greenhouse effect and we for the most part ignored it--and now it's here, decades ahead of predictions. AIDS is a pandemic, yet people still engage in unsafe sex. We are told about the dangers of smoking, but still teenagers take up smoking every day and adults refuse to quit (and then harass non-smokers who dare to complain about them polluting the air around them).

Human beings are for the most part very intelligent, yet unreasonable and unreasoning creatures. It is a very popular viewpoint today that anything is OK, that tolerance is our prime directive (even if it means being tolerant of that which is obviously harmful), and the will and perception of the individual is almighty God of the new millenium. So if anyone dares object to vulgar language, why, shame on him!

That attitude of "doing what I want" in total disregard for the feelings and opinions of others is the primary flaw with our society today... not just in the US but everywhere. It's a fatal flaw. Because of this attitude, I fully believe that the majority of the human race will perish. Why? Because mankind, as a whole, is too stupid to listen to reason and too selfish to make individual concessions for the good of mankind as a whole and for the good of this planet on which we live.

It's insistance on using vulgarity when it is known to offend others and our lack of consideration for our fellow man that will result in eventual societal collapse and vast loss of human life. When it comes to the end game, it won't be some alien invader or giant meteor that destroys our society. It will be our own, basic inability to discern right from wrong, a failure to discern beneficial from non-beneficial and act on it for the common good of mankind.

Which is why little principles like this are important. If people refuse to make a concession of controlling their language for the sake of the sensibilities of their neighbor, when they insist on their own way and fail to recognize that there is a reason that vulgar language is considered vulgar, how can they even hope to tackle the life-threatening problems that impact our society today and avert them in time to avoid global disaster? They can't... and they won't. I think the fate of this generation is fairly obvious and predictable at this point.

Sound bleak? That's because it is bleak. It's dismal. We always take the stance that someone is going to pull a rabbit out of a magic hat and save us despite ourselves. Well folks, the hat is ripped, the rabbit is dead and this morally bankrupt mankind society is heading for the same end. And if anyone thinks I'm going off the deep end... I guess we'll just have to wait and see what develops, eh? I remember a lot of folks calling the greenhouse warnings "alarmist" and I know of people to this day who insist that cigarettes aren't really that bad and that the government is just lying to people (and they never stop to think, "Why would the government tell people something is dangerous when the government is making megabucks taxing that item?".

So people see no harm in vulgarity, and remain totally oblivious to the fact that it's not so much the vulgarity itself... as it is the attitutes of the people who stubbornly insist on using it even though they know it offends others (case in point: Maxx's post just prior to this one). That same selfish, uncaring attitude that is evidenced in such language carries on into other aspects of life-- and affect our worldwide society as a whole.

See ya all. Off to more important things.


(Uh, ok, maybe the answer wasn't so quick. I have got to get off these forums. LOL)

How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?
.

Human beings are for the most part very intelligent, yet unreasonable and unreasoning creatures. It is a very popular viewpoint today that anything is OK, that tolerance is our prime directive (even if it means being tolerant of that which is obviously harmful), and the will and perception of the individual is almighty God of the new millenium. So if anyone dares object to vulgar language, why, shame on him!

That attitude of "doing what I want" in total disregard for the feelings and opinions of others is the primary flaw with our society today... not just in the US but everywhere. It's a fatal flaw. Because of this attitude, I fully believe that the majority of the human race will perish. Why? Because mankind, as a whole, is too stupid to listen to reason and too selfish to make individual concessions for the good of mankind as a whole and for the good of this planet on which we live.

OK Surreal, quick answer I promised at 2:30am... then I'm outta here. And thanks for the invite. Truly enjoyed chatting with you here.


OK, let me address this and then I'm out of here.

The name of this forum is "Whose Culture is it Anyway?"

General observation of forum atmosphere: I'm a businessman. I operate daily by observing facts and making logical decisions. As a policy I avoid getting into the "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" philosophical debates. I have more important things to do with my time than endlessly debate with people over their personal philosophies. (which is one reason I'm exiting stage left, as of today. I officially have now exceeded the mandatory 1000-posts limit and have no further need of such life-fulfilling goals. LOL

I reviewed the title of this thread, which is in the form of a question. As a businessman, that answer is extremely obvious: it's Linden Lab's culture. They are a USA-based country, so it's logical to assume that the culture will be primarily US in nature. It is exceedingly obvious to me that as a U.S.A.-based company and with a user demographic of 80%+ USA residents... Linden Lab is going to tend to follow the social structures and concepts of the USA (moreso than it would follow the mores of say... outer Mongolia). And for those who just can't seem to get it in their heads.. I am not discussing U.S. law and how it pertains to freedom of speech. You're arguing with me over a moot issue. I'm talking social concepts. But like someone pointed out, no matter what, in every aspect of operation, Linden Lab attorneys DO have to be aware of potential implications of company decisions in a legal context. That's what attorneys are paid to do. But the discusion is "Culture", not legal tort and mitigation.

So, it's Linden Lab's culture. If some folks can't see that for some reason, I'm sorry, I can't help such individuals. You either see it, or you don't. If you don't, that's a shame. Please don't apply to me for a job. LOL. People not recognizing simple fact only convinces me (and others) that this forum is a "dance on a pin"
waste of time and moves us to spend that time elsewhere.

Why does language on a forum matter anyway? What's wrong with someone using obscene language? We're all over 17, right?
Throughout history, the human creature has in general, as a rule, been a very crude, selfish and arrogant beast. As a whole, we ignore warnings, fight logical process, and stubbornly insist on our own way regardless of obvious harm to others. We were told for decades about the dangers of the Greenhouse effect and we for the most part ignored it--and now it's here, decades ahead of predictions. AIDS is a pandemic, yet people still engage in unsafe sex. We are told about the dangers of smoking, but still teenagers take up smoking every day and adults refuse to quit (and then harass non-smokers who dare to complain about them polluting the air around them).

Human beings are for the most part very intelligent, yet unreasonable and unreasoning creatures. It is a very popular viewpoint today that anything is OK, that tolerance is our prime directive (even if it means being tolerant of that which is obviously harmful), and the will and perception of the individual is almighty God of the new millenium. So if anyone dares object to vulgar language, why, shame on him!

That attitude of "doing what I want" in total disregard for the feelings and opinions of others is the primary flaw with our society today... not just in the US but everywhere. It's a fatal flaw. Because of this attitude, I fully believe that the majority of the human race will perish. Why? Because mankind, as a whole, is too stupid to listen to reason and too selfish to make individual concessions for the good of mankind as a whole and for the good of this planet on which we live.

It's insistance on using vulgarity when it is known to offend others and our lack of consideration for our fellow man that will result in eventual societal collapse and vast loss of human life. When it comes to the end game, it won't be some alien invader or giant meteor that destroys our society. It will be our own, basic inability to discern right from wrong, a failure to discern beneficial from non-beneficial and act on it for the common good of mankind.

Which is why little principles like this are important. If people refuse to make a concession of controlling their language for the sake of the sensibilities of their neighbor, when they insist on their own way and fail to recognize that there is a reason that vulgar language is considered vulgar, how can they even hope to tackle the life-threatening problems that impact our society today and avert them in time to avoid global disaster? They can't... and they won't. I think the fate of this generation is fairly obvious and predictable at this point.

Sound bleak? That's because it is bleak. It's dismal. We always take the stance that someone is going to pull a rabbit out of a magic hat and save us despite ourselves. Well folks, the hat is ripped, the rabbit is dead and this morally bankrupt mankind society is heading for the same end. And if anyone thinks I'm going off the deep end... I guess we'll just have to wait and see what develops, eh? I remember a lot of folks calling the greenhouse warnings "alarmist" and I know of people to this day who insist that cigarettes aren't really that bad and that the government is just lying to people (and they never stop to think, "Why would the government tell people something is dangerous when the government is making megabucks taxing that item?".

So people see no harm in vulgarity, and remain totally oblivious to the fact that it's not so much the vulgarity itself... as it is the attitutes of the people who stubbornly insist on using it even though they know it offends others (case in point: Maxx's post just prior to this one). That same selfish, uncaring attitude that is evidenced in such language carries on into other aspects of life-- and affect our worldwide society as a whole.

See ya all. Off to more important things.


(Uh, ok, maybe the answer wasn't so quick. I have got to get off these forums. LOL)