Posted by finelinebob on September 17, 2006, at 1:50:28
In reply to Re: please be civil » finelinebob, posted by Dr. Bob on September 16, 2006, at 9:43:00
> > twice you have quoted me out of context within these boards and used these quotes, I feel, to further your own interests with no regard to my own.
>
> Please don't post anything that could lead others to feel accused.So, what should I have posted? Perhaps this:
I feel misrepresented when quotes of my posts are cited not just in portion, but incompletely (to wit: the use of ellipses to denote the removal of my own words) and used in logical arguments to provide support to points that may or may not reflect my own personal beliefs.
Would that be a fairly civil re-statement of the quote above?
"quotes of my posts are cited not just in portion, but incompletely (the use of an ellipsis to denote the removal of my own words)" is a demonstrable fact, not an accusation. How is that use of language different from the much more succinct "quoted out of content" which, again, is a demonstrable fact?
"used in logical arguments to provide support to points that may or may not reflect my own personal beliefs" is again a demonstrable fact in that these quotes are used as the basis for presenting a point of view of which I have presented no opinion. But how is that statement different from "used these quotes, I feel, to further your own interests with no regard to my own."?
In fact, the statement you use above to cite as an act of incivility on my part ends prior to the context of stating exactly the point I am making here. I'm not stating that the quoter is faithfully or unfaithfully representing my position, I'm stating my objection to being quoted out of context. My objection is based entirely upon the possibility of others who have not seen the original statement to mistake **my** meaning and intention.
In short, should I have said this:
I feel misrepresented when someone performs demonstrable fact A and/or when that same someone performs demonstrable fact B.If that is the case, then how more meaningful would that statement be than "PDP (nm) >> personX"?
Again, to place the text of my incivility within the context of that post in particular, or the thread as a whole, I see no accusations.
In particular, in the paragraphs preceding the out-of-context quote show a degree of respect and support for the general arguments being made. In the thread as a whole, however, I try to point out how a logical fallicy -- arguing from generalities to specifics -- can undermine support for that argument and so should be avoided if one instead is looking to rally support.If illustrating the untenability of logical fallacies and demonstrating the effect -- personal for me, in this case -- they can have on eliciting support for one's arguments is accusatory or defamatory, then I stand guilty as charged. Particularly if context and stated intention are irrelevant, I stand guilty as charged.
As I said within the context of the quote cited above, I consider accepting responsibility for one's actions admirable in others and a given for myself. As such, I choose to disengage from futher discussion here in order to demonstrate any sense of honesty to those convictions.
flb
poster:finelinebob
thread:686504
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20060826/msgs/686717.html