Nancy, your beliefs about the average effect of insults on people do not seem to me to be a good reason to avoid bluntly telling people when they are behaving badly. IMO, you are not properly considering the positive effects of pointing out such bad behaviour. If someone behaves badly, and you don’t tell them, they don’t learn. Others might think their behaviour is acceptable. Still others might think you approve of their behaviour—and so on. It is not as though I had not tried all manner of rational argument first. Yes, people might be insulted or offended by someone else pointing out what is going on—if it reflects badly on them, but that is—ultimately—their business.
Not especially—and certainly not from my point of view. Alas, I found responding to your comments to be a waste of my time and energy. Especially so with your “oblique” comments. So, overall, I would rather you had not bothered commenting in the first place.
Nancy, your beliefs about the average effect of insults on people do not seem to me to be a good reason to avoid bluntly telling people when they are behaving badly. IMO, you are not properly considering the positive effects of pointing out such bad behaviour. If someone behaves badly, and you don’t tell them, they don’t learn. Others might think their behaviour is acceptable. Still others might think you approve of their behaviour—and so on. It is not as though I had not tried all manner of rational argument first. Yes, people might be insulted or offended by someone else pointing out what is going on—if it reflects badly on them, but that is—ultimately—their business.
I’ve told you rather bluntly that I don’t approve of your behavior, though I think I’ve managed to avoid insulting your intelligence or character.
Do you think the world is a better place as a result?
Not especially—and certainly not from my point of view. Alas, I found responding to your comments to be a waste of my time and energy. Especially so with your “oblique” comments. So, overall, I would rather you had not bothered commenting in the first place.