Re: Top posting
Hal Vaughan wrote:
> On Friday 10 June 2005 03:05 am, Basajaun wrote:
> > Hal Vaughan wrote:
> > > On Thursday 09 June 2005 05:26 pm, Alex Malinovich wrote:
> > > > On Thu, 2005-06-09 at 22:06 +0100, Graham Smith wrote:
[snip]
> > > As
> > > long as people follow your rules, they are open minded. People who don't
> > > are closed minded. So does it not occur to you that many people think
> > > differently than you, so top posting may work better for you?
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > Yes, and many people could choose to believe that Mars is closer to the
> > Sun than the Earth, yet it would not make it true, would it?
>
> And that has what to do with the price of tea in China?
What I meant is that supporting what is actually right is not
"close-minded", and opening the mind to something that is wrong is not
necessarily "good". Of course, how does one judge something is he/she
didn't open his/her mind in first place? Well, there you could have a
point.
> Oh, nothing. I get it. Just your way of saying you think something is a fact
> when it is an opinion. There's a big difference between fact and opinion and
> you don't see that your "2 euro cents" is an opinion, not a fact.
Actually you are right. Yes, the debate in this thread _is_ a matter of
opinion, and I have been a bit too axiomatic. But the arguments against
top-posting are facts, and I only see opinions to back it. The
proposition that bottom-posting is more readable, respects logical
order and context etc. is a fact. You could dismiss it (opinion), but
not negate it.
[snip]
> Again, that's your opinion, also the opinion of others. From this thread,
> it's clear it is not everyone's opinion. Yes, it is the accepted practice on
> the net from way back, but that does not make it the best or only way to
> post. Insisting we have to stick with something because there are some who
> say it is the best or because it's tradition does not make your opinion fact.
> Insisting the current or old way is the best or only way is the same type of
> attitude that we saw when rock 'n' roll first started to emerge and the older
> generation said it was evil and terrible and should not be tolerated.
Hey, but, rock 'n' roll _is_ evil! :^)
> Such
> people had the opinion rock was morally wrong and inferior to all other
> music. They may or may not have been right, but the point is it was only
> their opinion and is generally the opinion of each generation about the music
> of the younger generations.
It is a strawman argument. I support bottom-posting because it is
better (well, yes, "I think" it is better), not because it is common
practice. The rock 'n' roll is a cultural activity, and has nothing to
do with efficiency or correctness.
The Usenet is also cultural, but a list like this one should try to
adhere to efficiency and correctness standards. Hence, it should obey
some rules, or at least follow some guidelines, aimed at this. One can
choose not to, but will be probably frowned upon.
> So come out of the dark ages and separate opinion from fact.
>
> > You can top-post out of selfishness or laziness, and you might be
> > forgiven. But don't try to sell us that you "made the great effort" of
> > top-posting because you thought that "it was much more readable an
> > generally nicer" to others.
>
> While you may notice I inline post, I've seen many top postings that were much
> easier to read than others. It may be a short 1-line "Thank you," or
> something similar. In my overall experience, I know I've never had much of a
> problem reading top posts, but, then again, I'm open minded and understand
> that different people process information in different ways. Some are stuck
> in a linear mode and others have transcended that and can process it in other
> ways.
Yes, your inline post is indeed "more readable and generally nicer" to
me, thanks. Way other some information process to linear too is brain
my that fact the to due is this probably (Yes, I am not being original,
sue me).
And, to be honest, yes, 1-line "Thank you" posts could well be
correctly top-posted... not 100% of top-posts are full of satanic evil,
I'll give in on that one.
[snip]
Basajaun
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