Do you really think fellow DUers "won't let you" believe what you want?

[Silent3]

That they "won't let you" express yourself?

This isn't just about DU. It's a common message board/discussion group phenomena that many who are criticized, who face any sort of opposition to what they post, complain of "censorship", of "not being allowed" to do this or that. There seem to be a lot of people out there in the world who can't tell the difference between someone who disagrees with them and someone who's ready to authorize a SWAT team to bust down their doors and stop them from saying or doing whatever is in dispute.

Are the only appropriate responses in a message board conversation enthusiastic agreement, saying "thank you for sharing", or silence?

[LakeSamish706]

1. Not me, I just think that there are some here that don't like being unpopular....

and thus, use that excuse "won't let you" to hide behind. Now if your like me, and could care less what people think of what I post, then you will get along just fine here.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. LOL!

Right!

Uh, no. I believe what I want, and readers are welcome to extrapolate their own impressions.

I often wonder how many ignore lists I am on.

[LakeSamish706]

5. Lol.. I'm probably on more ignore lists than you are..... n/t

[rwheeler31]

3. I have always found a great exchange of ideas here.

[RoyGBiv]

4. This is very simple ...

"You're trying to silence me" is code for "You aren't accepting what I say uncritically, and I can't (or don't want to) support my opinion with a reasonable argument."

For a more detailed explanation of the kind of thinking that leads to this ...

Principles of the American Cargo Cult

I. Ignorance is innocence

Complicated explanations are suspect

The world is simple, and there must be a simple explanation for everything.

Certainty is strength, doubt is weakness

Admitting alternatives is undermining one's own belief.
Changing one's mind means one has wasted the time spent holding the prior opinion.

Your opinion matters as much as anyone else's

When a person has studied a topic, he has no more real knowledge than you do, just a hidden agenda.

The herd should be followed

The contemplative lemming gets trampled
Popular beliefs must be true.
No bad idea can survive.
People are generally smart.
Even if a popular belief doesn't pan out, at least you'll be in the same boat as everyone else.

http://klausler.com/cargo.html

[Believing Is Art]

6. People can post whatever they want as long as I agree with them

Just kidding.

Some people post on message boards specifically to pick a fight or to engage in an existing one. Perhaps it's fun, perhaps it's venting. The internet is a feasible outlet for argument that rarely results in real consequences.

I don't think that's the case with DU. We come here to find like minds, but there are a lot of shades of blue. So when someone comes here and finds a post that offends her/him or that he/she disagrees with, it's disheartening or unexpected . . . something along those lines.

I don't think I've ever been in a flame war on DU, but I understand why it happens . . . I think. I'd just rather not get involved. :hide:

*edit: conjugation

[scarletwoman]

7. "*edit: conjugation" -- no sex posts please. (nt)

[Believing Is Art]

9. verb conjugation . . . n/t

[scarletwoman]

11. It was a joke. Sorry, obviously not a very good one. I should have included a smiley.

:yoiks:

[Believing Is Art]

12. !

:toast:

[Medusa]

8. Message boards do seem to devolve into

"group think"--it's not a healthy thing by any means.

[MADem]

10. I've been told what "DU" will allow me to think!!!!

But usually, that's the last refuge of some poutrageous and petulant whiner who can't defend him or herself in a spirited discussion, and is lashing out with a last dire gasp. I sometimes get ominous suggestions that my views are insufficiently progressive, or I'm a rightwing troll, or something on those lines, simply because I'm a social liberal/poli-economic moderate who doesn't believe that Cuba is paradise or Hugo Chavez is a selfless saint.

Believe whatever you want, defend your viewpoints, be aware of the DU rules, and don't worry about what anonymous people say.

If it's bothering you that much, you just may need to spend more time with friends and/or family.

[havocmom]

13. People can post (within the rules) what they want. They cannot dictate response.

People can RESPOND (within the rules) however they want. There do seem to be some thin skinned posters who do not quite grasp that RECIPROCAL freedom from censorship.

edited to correct a text change