Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Ryujin]

There was an infamous student at my college who allegedly had some sort of breakdown in a Classics class because other people were making light of the plight of the Pompeiians. I'm not sure it really happened as the legend has been told to me, with yelling and tears, but it 100% fit her personality to pull that sort of crap, either because she actually developed a weird emotional attachment to people who died 2000 years ago or because she just wanted to do the Socrates social gadfly thing and stir things up.

So watch out where you make those Pompeii jokes. For some folks its still too soon.

Big "Leave Brittany alone!" vibe.

 

[Willie the Duck]

There was an infamous student at my college who allegedly had some sort of breakdown in a Classics class because other people were making light of the plight of the Pompeiians. I'm not sure it really happened as the legend has been told to me, with yelling and tears, but it 100% fit her personality to pull that sort of crap, either because she actually developed a weird emotional attachment to people who died 2000 years ago or because she just wanted to do the Socrates social gadfly thing and stir things up.

So watch out where you make those Pompeii jokes. For some folks its still too soon.

Big "Leave Brittany alone!" vibe.

It's hard to say. Sometimes 'too soon' is simply not relevant, or maybe the point. Some half-dozen years ago researchers uncovered a 8400 year-old burial in Sweden where it appears that a dog was buried, without owner, and with toys or other grave goods. Now, I'm familiar enough with anthropology (and science reporting) to know that the toy part most likely was conjecture. Still, the notion that some pre-pottery nomadic hunter-gatherer from the Mesolithic era not just cared enough to bury a dead pet, but cared that their dead pet had something to play with in the afterlife, was enough to have me staring out the window wistfully for the better part of an afternoon.

Mind you, my point isn't that you thus can't bring up Pompeii. More aptly, it means you can't really predict what will legitimately set people off. Sometimes you just have to be able to respond appropriately. Humor and tragedy are inextricably linked, and hard and fast rules will never replace situational responses and adult behavior.

 

[TiQuinn]

Sometimes 'too soon' is simply not relevant, or maybe the point

“Too soon” is a matter of knowing your audience or from the other perspective, keeping your emotions in check.

 

[MoonSong]

Mind you, my point isn't that you thus can't bring up Pompeii. More aptly, it means you can't really predict what will legitimately set people off. Sometimes you just have to be able to respond appropriately. Humor and tragedy are inextricably linked, and hard and fast rules will never replace situational responses and adult behavior.

And that's why trigger warnings are a bad idea! n_n

 

[Umbran]

Tell me how few RPG products you've read without telling me how few RPG products you've read.

This... kinds sounds like appeal to authority. Only those who have read enough ought to speak? Gatekeep much?

People who haven't read as much as you can still have good points to make, Whizbang. Indeed, they may have fewer preconceived notions than you do, and may have fresh perspectives you can learn from.

If you are going to dismiss someone, do it for their specifics, not a generalization that (mis)applies to others, hm?

 

[Umbran]

And that's why trigger warnings are a bad idea! n_n

You're trying to be ironically funny, right?

 

[Mannahnin]

This... kinds sounds like appeal to authority. Only those who have read enough ought to speak? Gatekeep much?

People who haven't read as much as you can still have good points to make, Whizbang. Indeed, they may have fewer preconceived notions than you do, and may have fresh perspectives you can learn from.

If you are going to dismiss someone, do it for their specifics, not a generalization that (mis)applies to others, hm?

I feel like you're reading too much in here, Umbran. I don't know what he's choosing not to respond to. And he's explicitly not gatekeeping because he's commenting here rather than replying to them, right?

If it was a post along saying something as untrue as "a class and level system is necessary for an RPG" or "all RPGs use skill systems"...

 

[Umbran]

I feel like you're reading too much in here, Umbran.

I feel like if that was posted anywhere but in this thread, folks would have(correctly) asked me to whip out the red text.

Even as dissociated blowing off steam back in this thread, it is a weak, stereotyping position to take.

If it was a post along saying something as untrue as "the class and level system is necessary for an RPG" or "all RPGs use skill systems"...

As I said, if you are going to dismiss someone, do it for their specifics. "Dude, you don't know what you are talking about" is far better than, "Dude, you haven't read enough to speak."

 

[el-remmen]

I feel like you're reading too much in here, Umbran. I don't know what he's choosing not to respond to.

If it was a post along saying something as untrue as "the class and level system is necessary for an RPG" or "all RPGs use skill systems"...

I was gonna say the same.

It is not that someone less well-read can't make a good point, it is that sometimes not being well-read enough in a field (like RPGs) without expressing the caveat of how informed you aren't, can come off as unearned arrogance when you make a clearly erroneous claim.

It why I used to emphasize the importance of signal phrasing and research context in my writing classes. It not only helps to provide clarity, it can also buy you grace from your audience.

 

[Deset Gled]

If you are going to dismiss someone, do it for their specifics, not a generalization that (mis)applies to others, hm?

But going into specifics violates the thread rules, eh? There's only one catch, and that's catch-22.