NP Re: Is it OK to be a Luddite?

[Musashi Miyamoto]

Davemarc on the mark, as he has frequently been these many years on The
List.

,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_

Carefully,

Henry Musikar

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of davemarc
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 10:36 PM
To: Pynchlist
Subject: NP Re: Is it OK to be a Luddite?

From: David Morris <fqmorris at yahoo.com>
>
> What can one do with an asshole like this?

For starters, I would suggest refraining from insulting him.  If you
don't
respect him, try not to engage him.  Just...let it be.
>
> Milly is like a conditioned dog who just can't resist trying to one-up
or
put
> down either jbor or Malignd when ever they have the notion to post.
His
> masochism is evidenced by the obvious fact that he's not up to the
task he
runs
> after.  The damage he does here continues nonetheless.

Simply put, my perception of his "conditioning" is that he tends to
respond
to insults and explicit dismissals of his posts by maintaining his
positions
and repeatedly advocating for them.  Perhaps the reason that this group
has
become less of a Pynchon discussion and more of a pissing contest is
that
among the subscribers is a set of people who take apposite positions to
his
but have similar conditioning.  Hence the (thus-far) interminable
insults,
sniping, and reiterations.  A small set of subscribers continues to
trigger
each other like the Simpsons in that episode where instead of refraining
from giving each other electrical shocks they repeat it and repeat it
until
the town has a black out.

My suggestion is that people who are pissed off at each other keep it to
themselves, at least for a while.  Please don't feel obligated to post
anything but your own strictly list-relevant contributions.  And if
you've
already expressed a point dozens of times over the past year (i.e.
something
about author's intent, pomo, or whatever), please give the rest of us
the
benefit of the doubt and assume that there's no need to reiterate the
point
for a little while at least.  And refrain from those asides that are
likely
to reopen wounds.

In other words, please give the list a break and a chance to rediscover
itself.

Best,

d.