Reply #29: nah [View All]

The really really saddest thing is that I'm one of the few people who actually learns anything by hanging out here, by virtue of doing something other than

- responding to what other people say by misrepresenting what they say

- writing incomprehensible "rebuttals" to things other people say that are not remotely related to what they said

- making unfounded and/or outright false allegations about the sources and validity and truth of the things other people say

- making unfounded and/or outright allegations about other posters

- staging bizarre attacks on the honesty and intelligence of honest, intelligent public figures

... shall I go on?

Me, I actually take the opportunity to learn something when an unfamiliar (or suspect) fact or argument is presented, and I go read about it. (I'd be hard pressed to name an occasion when I learned much, if anything, from any said by any of our firearms control opponents, of course, since pretty much all we get from them is misrepresentations of other people's words, incomprehensible rebuttals, unfounded allegations, bizarre attacks ... what a lot of wasted energy all that involves, and what a truly odd way to spend one's time, is what I'd say if asked.) Being someone who reads and writes for a living, after many years of reading and writing for grants and scholarships and loans, it just comes natural like, I guess.

Anybody who hasn't tried it really oughta. There is satisfaction, and even a little thrill, in learning something one didn't know, and in putting the grey matter to work to figure something out. Ya never know what you might enjoy until you try it.