The Power of "Ignore"

[RiverSnake]

Having "rights" is another issue, but somewhat related anyways.

 

The idea is that if you consider yourself "compassionate" or "honorable" or doing the "right thing", chances are you are heading in the direction of self-righteousness and sanctimonious moralizing. Its a trap that plenty of cultivators miss. Its not a rare problem.

 

Everyone is fallible, that is the point. Having a real view on equanimity is quite helpful, because accepting faults in others helps to accept faults in yourself and vice versa. It contributes to a workable situation rather than something to be avoided and shunned and down-voted and booed and so forth. You might think that you are doing yourself a favor by avoiding all the assholes in your life, but you can also do yourself a favor by realizing that assholes only exist in your own mind to begin with.

 

I never said it was easy, btw.

 

I agree with most of what you have said. I am not a fan of lists of moral dogma as that itself can be quite blinding. The decisions we make in our lives should come from the deepest reservoirs of our wisdom.....by listening to the echoes within the void and observing the mirror of the mind. It's not about "right" or "wrong". It's about being true to oneself and knowing what serves you and develops you as a practitioner and what doesn't.

 

In the past although painful as it was I got a lot of learning from dealing with trolls. It helped me develop a thick but porous skin for nonsense, so that such things would not shock and paralyze me in the future. Kinda of like the first time you get punched in the face when sparring, after a couple hits you get used to it.

 

It helped me learn that detachment and neutrality is the best policy......rather than reflexively shooting from the hip and getting into pointless and depleting conversations. Of-course most importantly the best strategy for weathering strife is to have the necessary foresight and self-knowledge to not be in the situation to begin with. It can be compared to hanging out with "low energy" people whom unconsciously drag everyone around them down with negativity (we have all experienced such people before). These are situations that I find no value in forcefully putting myself in once I have been there and understand the underlying dynamics....it is something I find is best handled with detachment and acceptance if it comes within my sphere.

 

You also mention that everyone is fallible, I agree, but there are also varying levels of insight and experience along the path. These varying levels of insight make quite a difference when conversing with others. I come to TTB to share my insights and experiences as well as to receive the insights and experiences of others. Knowledge that uplifts and empowers is of great value. Also I'd say that knowledge of things that drag you down energetically is also of great value....but only so you know how to harmonize such facets within your own sphere and avoid such entanglements so that you may continue moving forward in ones cultivation.

 

As a side-note, I do not appreciate the various assumptions you made regarding my character....ie.....avoiding assholes everywhere I go and being self-righteous and arrogant. I walk my own path and live by experience.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 6, 2013 by OldChi

[RiverSnake]

I feel this thread got a bit offtrack with going into the deep metaphysical implications of the ignore feature.....which is cool. But I'd like to bring it back to the practical features of this tool.

 

-------------------------

 

One of the greatest benefits of the the ignore feature is that it tidies up threads. For example when a thread is derailed (usually by the same group of people) things can easily become a mess. Although you may really enjoy the topic of the thread and a few people may be contributing some of there well earned pearls and gems, because of trolling and derailing.....reading the thread becomes a dreary and conflict-ridden act. You are required to sift through dozens of posts trying to determine the chaff from the wheat or the mudslinging from the sincere posts, as a result the overall quality experience of the forum is decreased.

 

This is something that has always been bothersome for me. The ignore feature is helpful with this because you can basically glide through threads and have all of the mudslinging and senseless posts minimized yet still open for your viewing pleasure/pain if you so choose.

 

So instead, if you look at a page of 20 posts with probably 5 posts that are on topic and healthily contribute to the discussion, you may simply see a much smaller page with more concentrated information that sifts through the garbage effectively. This is a quality of the Ignore post feature that I have found great value in and it has made my experience on TTB much more relaxing and enjoyable.

 

I will be writing more on my experiences, if others would like to share there positive or negative experiences of utilizing the feature I would encourage you to do so.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 8, 2013 by OldChi

[soaring crane]

 

 

One of the greatest benefits of the the ignore feature is that it tidies up threads.

 

Nice summary!

 

This simple statement reflects my thoughts on the subject as well. I really don't have a problem with 'trolls' in general, but the TTB trolls do tend to be rather loquacious...

[Taomeow]

My ignore function is in my mind, I don't relegate decision-making to technology if I can help it.

 

There's scores of posters I ignore, some in the moment (when they're talking nonsense), some on a regular basis (if they always talk nonsense), some when they touch on certain subjects (if I remember they always talk nonsense on those particular subjects, but are capable of making sense talking of something else.)

 

I almost always summarily ignore bullies, racists, idiots, the chronically rude, the self-important, the dishonest, the short-fused, you name it. In other words, anyone I would ignore in real life, I ignore on the forum. If they engage me, however, I try to practice taiji, which I also do in real life. Taiji of the mind can be as lethal as the physical kind, but I never use it in a fully engaged manner, just as I wouldn't in real life.

 

And just like in real life, there's scores of wonderful people who get ignored from time to time through no fault of theirs, simply because I don't have the time to give them my full attention even if they deserve it. Life is life, time is time.

 

Technology will never catch up with my mind.

[soaring crane]

Technology will never catch up with my mind.

 

ha! Statement of the evening. Of the entire week, perhaps

[skydog]

As long as one is differentiating between "I am superior to all those lowly people that I ignore"

 

Highly judgemental, uncompassionate, not understanding others or where others come from and labelling someone as a "troll" thus making them inhuman.

 

Or just this person really irritates me and rather than snapping at them, it would be kinder to put them on ignore.

 

I blocked someone on my facebook, because really Im usually in a good mood, but unlike other people I own my dark side, my shadow side, I dont put on a "mr positive persona" all the time, and express some emotions some times, and when I do this girl likes to preach to me, and make me sound and feel so helpless and weak, I mean a lot of people dont express or have the courage to be themselves, it doesnt make one person a worse person than others, to me it just stinks of fakeness.

[RiverSnake]

 

I almost always summarily ignore bullies, racists, idiots, the chronically rude, the self-important, the dishonest, the short-fused, you name it. In other words, anyone I would ignore in real life, I ignore on the forum. If they engage me, however, I try to practice taiji, which I also do in real life. Taiji of the mind can be as lethal as the physical kind, but I never use it in a fully engaged manner, just as I wouldn't in real life.

 

And just like in real life, there's scores of wonderful people who get ignored from time to time through no fault of theirs, simply because I don't have the time to give them my full attention even if they deserve it. Life is life, time is time.

 

Technology will never catch up with my mind.

May your cunning and skill continue to grow Taomeow. Thanks for the contribution.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 8, 2013 by OldChi

[Taomeow]

As long as one is differentiating between "I am superior to all those lowly people that I ignore"

 

Highly judgemental, uncompassionate, not understanding others or where others come from and labelling someone as a "troll" thus making them inhuman.

 

I believe "troll" refers to "online behavior" rather than "human validity." One can be a fully human human being and engage in trolling, which makes him or her a troll for purposes of the exchange in which his or her trolling has taken place.

 

And I do think people who don't troll are better partners for online discussions than people who troll. Doesn't mean they are better people for all purposes -- some of those who troll online may be using this and only this outlet to vent their otherwise inexpressible angst, misanthropy, ennui, chagrin, or whatever it is that fails to float their boat. We all have something to cry about, don't we? But making others suffer because of that only multiplies tears of the world.

 

Ideally one would know the human being behind the troll and, when appropriate, perhaps try to accommodate the trolling behavior if it is well justified by the human necessities of the whole person. But without such knowledge, online you are stuck with the reduced version of a human being, his or her virtual self. And that's not exactly what we as a species evolved to understand and interact with, so the internet is still in its primordial soup of elements in this respect, you do encounter many unicellular organisms here, and you can't do anything to "dehumanize" them because this virtual self is only part of the eucariote and never had full humanness to begin with.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Taomeow

[Owledge]

I only read the initial post, but I want to say this:

 

1) Setting a user to "ignore" might take things out of context; make certain discussion threads very confusing. (Not sure though whether they completely vanish here or are shown in a hidden state, since I'm not using the ignore function.)

 

2) If you need to set a troll on ignore to remember they're trolling, then you can't recognize trolling well, but you will not learn to improve your ability of accurate judgment or tolerance.

 

I put no-one on ignore, since information about what's going on helps to make accurate judgments. This policy has helped me to improve said judgment and this, combined with investigating people's motivations for certain behavior, enabled me to handle a certain messiness of the internet.

Also, I often find myself being the only person in internet-based disputes who really means it when they say they're not responding anymore, and others might not even be able to believe it.

People have so little self-discipline sometimes, and it has become the norm. ... This is not what garners respect.

 

As a sidenote, I prefer rudeness over falsehood. If someone is angrily calling me names, I know they're sincerely expressing their feelings, which is a good start.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Owledge

[Harmonious Emptiness]

When fool rings your doorbell -- don't answer it.

[Owledge]

Interesting that you found time to TALK to us, but not to LISTEN to what others in this thread said.

 

The power of ignore.

I wasn't talking to you.

[Coaster]

I have encountered the exact opposite situation, namely that the two posters whom made the most sense, both had "Banned" under their usernames.

[Aaron]

The ignore function is really a great feature too few people use. I personally use it for those people who have consistently showed themselves to post views that I find offensive. Of course now that I am helping to steward the off-topic section I have to look at those people's posts, so I've decided that instead of ignoring I need to look at these posts objectively and not let them get under my skin. In the end my peace of mind trumps their intolerance.

 

Aaron

Edited November 10, 2013 by Aaron

[dawei]

I put no-one on ignore, ...

 

yes... that is what the index finger is for... slide mouse wheel downward...

[soaring crane]

I have encountered the exact opposite situation, namely that the two posters whom made the most sense, both had "Banned" under their usernames.

 

that can't be a good sign

[Coaster]

that can't be a good sign

I think it says that the ability to be thoughtful is not the same as the ability to get along with others.

[skydog]

I believe "troll" refers to "online behavior" rather than "human validity." One can be a fully human human being and engage in trolling, which makes him or her a troll for purposes of the exchange in which his or her trolling has taken place.

 

And I do think people who don't troll are better partners for online discussions than people who troll. Doesn't mean they are better people for all purposes -- some of those who troll online may be using this and only this outlet to vent their otherwise inexpressible angst, misanthropy, ennui, chagrin, or whatever it is that fails to float their boat. We all have something to cry about, don't we? But making others suffer because of that only multiplies tears of the world.

 

Ideally one would know the human being behind the troll and, when appropriate, perhaps try to accommodate the trolling behavior if it is well justified by the human necessities of the whole person. But without such knowledge, online you are stuck with the reduced version of a human being, his or her virtual self. And that's not exactly what we as a species evolved to understand and interact with, so the internet is still in its primordial soup of elements in this respect, you do encounter many unicellular organisms here, and you can't do anything to "dehumanize" them because this virtual self is only part of the eucariote and never had full humanness to begin with.

 

I just wanted to touch on the underlined part.

 

Some people are extremely expressive. This is part of their path in life, they will be artists, poets, story writers, musicians etc.

 

Often people with a very dark blue aura, passionate intense sometimes people.

 

Sure these people may make a strong attempt to keep quiet, to be more balanced but this balance will never be 50/50 just a bit more.

 

But if these people express their mind, IT DOES NOT MAKE THEM A BAD PERSON.

 

Expression of emotions can also be a very kind, virtous thing.

 

Expression of pride can be beautiful.

 

Expression of anger can be beautiful.

 

Expression of victim mentality can be beautiful.

 

Expression of niceness is not the only good expression.

 

Im sick of people thinking that an expression of emotion = a bad person.

 

These are ones own insecuritys, when people cannot handle emotion.

 

Other than that I agree with what you have said, really I should allow people to have their own beliefs.

 

But yep here I am expressing human emotion.

Edited November 10, 2013 by skydog

[skydog]

[Marblehead]

yes... that is what the index finger is for... slide mouse wheel downward...

I use my middle finger to do that (as well as for a few other applications).

[BaguaKicksAss]

[Owledge]

 

Funny... even war criminals can share words of wisdom (or philosophy or skill).

Just a tool that can be used for good or evil.

Can I post Hitler quotes here, or would that cause too much cognitive dissonance?

[Marblehead]

Funny... even war criminals can share words of wisdom (or philosophy or skill).

Just a tool that can be used for good or evil.

Don't be too hard on the man. His country used and abused him unfairly.

[Owledge]

Don't be too hard on the man. His country used and abused him unfairly.

Well, of course there are reasons for all human actions that one can feel compassionate about, but setting boundaries is also a good thing. Sometimes kindness does the trick, sometimes people need it more bluntly. Sometimes nothing will help.

The thing I was referring to is that Churchill deliberately misdirected a passenger liner into hostile territory to get them to be attacked, which they then actually were, by a German submarine, and it seems there also were explosives on the ship, or at least it was also used as an ammuinition transport. The passenger list showed an unlikely high number of women and children, and they died. They died at Churchill's hand in order to draw the powerful USA into their war.

War minister Churchill was demoted, but as history showed, that didn't stop him from becoming prime minister later. That attitude probably helped him, because that's how politicians get to the top.

 

Which incident(s) are you referring to in your post?

[Coaster]

Uh, you are referring to a different universe, the one where Elvis is still alive and where at least one sentence of your post is accurate.

 

I am not defending any particular person, but that belongs in the " Clinton is a Reptilian Alien from Beta Centauri " category.

[Owledge]

Uh, you are referring to a different universe, the one where Elvis is still alive and where at least one sentence of your post is accurate.

 

I am not defending any particular person, but that belongs in the " Clinton is a Reptilian Alien from Beta Centauri " category.

Very accurate filling of a clichée you're doing there. You look at me and all you see is yourself.