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magentabluesky wrote:This is clearly a shovel full of manure coming my way, and to be clear, if Bob tosses a shovel full of manure my way, he is going to get ten shovel full’s of manure back.
This quote was from the bottom of Michael's post in a topic which he titled as "US Hawks / Pedophilia". I've included the entire post below.
What Michael is admitting in his post is that he will post 10 shovels of "manure" to the U.S. Hawks for every shovel of what he perceives to be "manure" at him.
It's important to consider the implications of this statement. One implication is that if Michael feels that an untruth has been told about him, then he will feel justified in hurling back 10 untruths in return. That is exactly what we've seen.
There's a lot that can be said about Michael's statement, but for now, I just want to focus on what it means to his credibility. Most of us are familiar with the concepts of stability and divergence in hang glider design. A stable design will seek an equilibrium, while a divergent design will stray from equilibrium at an ever increasing rate.
Michael's statement is a statement of divergence. If he perceives one slight, he will send 10 back. If he perceives one lie, he will tell 10 lies. Any conversation with such a person that involves criticism will likely end up with what we've seen from Michael recently: verbal terrorism. By his own admission, the statements that Michael will make in that situation are "manure" (lies).
A better alternative to Michael's "10 for 1 verbal terrorism" is the approach that comes from the "scientific method" - honestly seek the truth. In the world of science, it is believed that there are fundamental truths of the universe that can be discovered through careful study. Two people - who may start with different opinions - can both follow the scientific method to arrive at the one truth that unites them. This is the path to convergence rather than divergence. It's the path we should all strive to follow.
I don't know what to do about Michael's confession at this point. I am very disappointed to have to consider that he would intentionally lie in retaliation for anything. I've had lots of people lie about me, and that's never given me a justification to lie about them. The fact that Michael would seize on such a justification is something I'd never considered of him. I believe Michael's credibility is another sad casualty of the dysfunctional monopolies dominating the sport of hang gliding today.
magentabluesky wrote:Posters Note: Bob Kuczewski is the person who brought the subject of pedophilia into the discussion.
Bill,
Ninety-nine point nine percent of the readers just like me know absolutely nothing of the circumstances of Bob’s statement describing an act of pedophilia. Bob Kuczewski is associating my name with whatever went on in a description of pedophilia with the inference that I am somehow involved or I don’t care about taking a stand against pedophilia.
It would appear to me, Bob is doing exactly what he is accusing Jack of. Bob = Jack.
This is clearly a shovel full of manure coming my way, and to be clear, if Bob tosses a shovel full of manure my way, he is going to get ten shovel full’s of manure back.
Footnote:
The topic of pedophilia was introduced into the discussion by Jack Axaopoulos several years ago. At the time, Al Hernandez had made a comment that Jack didn't like. Jack banned Al and then changed Al's post to read "I like to touch little boys" as if that's what Al had actually written about himself. This was just one example of a long and continuing series of abuses by Jack Axaopoulos on hanggliding.org. I have been critical of Michael and others for not speaking up against these kinds of abuses. That is the source of pedophilia in the discussion, and it was introduced by Jack and not myself. I have added a similar moderator's note to the original post.
