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thecurly1

Unfortunately this thread started and for the most part finished before you came onto the scene. At the time you were first getting your feet wet and reading more than posting.

IMHO, you seem like a rather bright young man to still be in high school. Also you have strong opinions. You are vocal on the board and raise valid points. I would guess when you are a little older and have some of life's experience under the belt, that you will indeed mature into a quite respectable adult. This is not meant to be one of those Young Whippersnapper posts; rather an observation with speculation.

 

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Thanks, I like compliments.

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You are already a quite respectible adult.

 

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What the hey ...

Testing ... 1 ... 2 ... 3

Just checking to see if this forum is working.

 

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I don't think it is. Must be everybodies night out. In fact I think you could hear a bee bee rolling around in this place with echos that will probably show up tomarrow morning.

 

I love this place!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm only a recent addition to this forum but I wanted to add something after reading this thread. I bought this computer last year because the concept of an 'information super-highway' was too compelling to ignore. Sure, a library or a bookstore will eventually lead you to what you're looking for, but I wanted results at the push of a button. I had many questions I wanted answered and the web provided that service. I know that you have to cull the information gained and work out what's true or not but, so far, for everything I've wanted to know about, I've found something to quench my thirst for knowledge.

I also wanted to be able to talk to other people all over the world and started looking through some chat rooms. What chaos! I was looking for intelligent exchanges and found utter madness. Needless to say I was disappointed, so chat rooms got the flick and I went on my merry way learning about things that were important to me.

To this day I have no idea how I fell into this forum, but it was a dream come true. Here were people from all over the world exchanging ideas and opinions or even jokes without fighting to get one line in at a time. I love this site. I'm still catching up on threads and it takes up a lot of time but I don't care. I don't mind admitting that some of the technical stuff goes over the top of my head, but it's good to know that the contributors to this forum will possibly answer any questions I might later raise. I feel like I'm sitting in on an on-line dinner party. I haven't come across any nastiness and I hope it stays that way, but I love reading different viewpoints and opinions on all these topics. I get a lot to think about from reading the threads and it's true that you do get a sense of what kind of people you're talking to and I think it's great that everyone is different. There have been many replies that have made me laugh too.

I have a point, which I'll get to now - keep on doing what you're doing. This is a great place. Keep it up!!!

Teri

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Hi, Teri2 ...

Had pretty much the same experience you did with the WWW and was almost resigned to using it just for seeing what was happening around the world. And then I too lucked onto Sciforums.

It's a neat and fun place with an interesting collection of intelligent, knowledgeable and curious individuals putting in their two cents ... and sometimes five and six cents ... and for the most part quite civil. Once in a while there's a bit of a heated debate or exchange that gets a little ... shall we say ... down and dirty. But overall I think you'll find it an enjoyable place to spend online time. I know I do.

Welcome aboard and enjoy.

Chagur

 

I find I must echo Chagur's thoughts. Welcome to Sciforums, Teri 2. I do indeed hope that you find that which you seek here. It is a collection of and mixture from the truely educated and intellegent, to the off-the-wall and curious, with a place for all.

I can not say about the chat rooms as it never held interest but I can say about seeking and learning. Ever I am curious and learning is likened to a drug for me. So here is a home for those who seek. Pull up a chair and welcome.

 

Warm welcomes!

Hi again,

One thing I forgot to mention in my post was that newcomers are given such warm welcomes when they post a reply. I've seen it often in other threads and think to myself how nice that is. Thank you Chagur and Wet1 for your responses.
See you in the threads!

Teri

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It has been quite some time since this thread was in the forefront. I thought that with all the new people that have come on the scene that it would be nice to see some of the comments that the members might have here about the current members or their posts or even their method of writing. So what say you? Anyone have any observations that they would like to share?

 

Teri 2's enthusiastic post warmed my heart. I share this same excitement about ideas, and the discussion of ideas.

We have a natural reluctance to expose our inner thoughts. We fear that others might ridicule our ideas or view them as naïve. But such fears attenuate free discussions, resulting in our thoughts becoming inbred. Nothing is as healthy for an idea than to have it submitted for review by others.

An open forum is bound to attract cranks. But in the words of the mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota, "It's often hard to distinguish the crank from the genius, sometimes they are both". Having to deal with cranks is one of the messy but necessary details of democracy.

If my idea is flawed, I see it as a kindness that others point out the flaw. The longer one holds an idea the more attached one becomes to it. It's thus to my own advantage that gross errors are wrung out of my thoughts as soon as possible. Discussion makes this possible in a particularly efficient manner.

Do we discuss, debate, or do we argue our ideas? I'd prefer that we discuss our ideas. To my mind, a debate or an argument entails a competitive contest. A discussion is a gentler beast, the aim of which is to arrive at better ideas in common. A polite discussion often ends as a win/win situation.

Has this ever happened to you?
In the past I've had persons refuse to accept the slightest truth in a point I'd been hoping to make. I'd go away marveling at their strong and contrary opinions. But some months or even years later, in conversation with this same person I've been astonished to hear my earlier arguments (embellished with my earlier examples and quotes) come from their mouths! They've forgotten where they first heard this idea, but they now maintain it with the same fervor they reserved for their original idea. I've had this experience a number of times in my life.

Isn't this is a curious human behavior? Few of us are willing to alter our ideas in public. We would rather be seen as bigoted rather than admit that our idea was wrong. But later, when we've retired to the quiet of our own room, the arguments we've heard (and publicly rejected) receive a more fair play in our mind. If the arguments were reasonable, we begin to assimilate them into our own thinking. I've decided that when presenting ideas it's often possible to lose the battle, but still win the war. A rational argument speaks forcefully, even if whispered.

So I would have us all take heart. Our words might appear to fall upon deaf ears, or to occasionally elicit a fierce rebuttal. However, you may rest assured that your expressed thoughts have an impact upon others. A good idea is a particularly contagious virus. Ideally, we come away with our minds as much changed as those whose minds we've caused to change. I'm pleased and excited to have found this forum. I look forward to pleasant discussions in the coming year.

Happy Solstice,
Michael

 

<b>orthogonal</b>'s post really got me thinking.

This is a nice online place to not necessarily replace actual conversations we may have with others in our own respective lives, but it does give us a chance to arrange our words in a more concerted manner.

Who knows, maybe tony1 is actually as rhetorical and quick-witted in his relationships offline as he is online.

I always like to take a step back from time to time to consider how I present myself to others. Is this really how everyone sees me? Perhaps I'm too aloof (then again, doesn't everyone think this of themselves?) for others to even form an opinion of me.

A lot of times it seems that people want to put some lasting thought into their posts and that impresses me. I sure want to do the same, whether I'm arguing against a certain facet of belief or just listing the kinds of books I'm into. The fact that this is an intelligent board where others can come and spout forth coherence, whether you're for it or not, really speaks volumes about the openness in communication here. Personally, to get responses from posters like <b>tiassa</b>, <b>Cris</b>, or <b>tony1</b> should be taken as a compliment. It's fairly easy to see that an incredible amount of thought goes into Cris' comments, a thoroughness in research supports tiassa, and an exhaustive knowledge of Biblical verse flows through tony1.

Like orthogonal said, I also may not agree with some of the things said at the time, but later on, I'll retire to my own spot and reconsider things. If anything, this site has helped me to be even more sharp-witted. I realize that I'm not going to convince too many others about their beliefs, but then again, so do most of them. It's just the discussion that is the most exciting part. The times when I discover, "Oops! I should have thought about that part a bit more before writing it" or the times when I realize I've made quite an articulate comment on the topic at hand.

Perhaps we have times where we want the conversation to go in a certain direction and, when it doesn't, we start a thread. Balancing comments and diversifying them enough for multiple threads has got to be quite an intellectually challenging exercise.

Naturally, there are times when some of us write in anger, but that is loads better than responding physically. This forum almost makes us control those emotions and direct them into a more viable avenue. And, hell, it gives everyone a chance to say something worthwhile.

One of the greatest things in life (to me) is trying to understand where others are coming from. The slights in their life, the why's of their individual belief system, and the ups and downs. Heaven, to me, would be a place where I could read how others encountered difficulties and how they chose to overcome them, if they did.

Sometimes when I get down (blasted seasonal-affective disorder!), I think that somewhere there's someone else in basically my same position that's decided to handle things a bit better. May or may not be true, but I think it is. Like this site. Somewhere, there's someone that has that original thought of ours and when they write it, that's quite a connection, you know. Like orthogonal mentioning <b>Teri 2</b>'s love of ideas.

Thanks!

prag