in reply to What is "aggressive" argument?

Your problem isn't new.

If you give me your attention, I will tell you what I am:
I'm a genuine philanthropist — all other kinds are sham.
Each little fault of temper and each social defect
In my erring fellow-creatures, I endeavour to correct.
To all their little weaknesses I open people's eyes;
And little plans to snub the self-sufficient I devise;
I love my fellow creatures — I do all the good I can —
Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!
And I can't think why!

To compliments inflated I've a withering reply;
And vanity I always do my best to mortify;
A charitable action I can skillfully dissect;
And interested motives I'm delighted to detect;
I know ev'rybody's income and what ev'rybody earns;
And I carefully compare it with the income-tax returns;
But to benefit humanity however much I plan,
Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!
And I can't think why!

I'm sure I'm no ascetic; I'm as pleasant as can be;
You'll always find me ready with a crushing repartee,
I've an irritating chuckle, I've a celebrated sneer,
I've an entertaining snigger, I've a fascinating leer.
To ev'rybody's prejudice I know a thing or two;
I can tell a woman's age in half a minute — and I do.
But although I try to make myself as pleasant as I can,
Yet ev'rybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!
And I can't think why!

We can all see King Gama's problem, but we can't see our own. Burns points that out:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!

But don't get the impression from that second quote that I mean to imply anyone is a louse. I'm not.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: What is "aggressive" argument?
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Nov 23, 2010 at 01:18 UTC
    Your problem isn't new.

    Hm. (Inevitably:) You're wrong. Or, you might be right, but not in the way you think.

    You see, I know why people find me a disagreeable man. There are flavours of course, but mostly, it's because I am.

    My only "problem" here is why other people think I should change. More importantly, why do they think that I should want to change.

    This place isn't a part of my social life. Just a place where I pass time by attempting to solve interesting problems. As I said somewhere else in this thread, I find programming problems infinitely more interesting and challenging than crosswords or sudoku. Every now and again something I post seems to help the OP and that's nice. And when it doesn't, that okay too, because I probably had fun doing it anyway.

    I wish it were possible to have in-depth, technical discussions here, without people taking disagreement with their ideas, code or logic, as attacks on their person; or them resorting to attacks on my person when their technical arguments are exhausted or disproved. It used to be possible.

    Just as a person does not have to be beautiful, to do something beautiful; they do not have to be stupid, to do or say something stupid. To say: "That is stupid" is not to say: "You are stupid"; but that distinction seems lost here these days.

    I remember when I first came here, I was admonished: "Stop being so damn polite!". Well, this place has knocked it out of me. So, if those with whom I have disagreements, see me as "disagreeable" all I can do is own that.

    Nice poem by the way.

    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
[reply]
      To say: "That is stupid" is not to say: "You are stupid"; but that distinction seems lost here these days.

      In my experience that distinction has always been lost

[reply]

        Do you mean here at PM? Or that the distinction doesn't (or isn't seen to) exist?

[reply]

In Section Meditations