I feel the necessity to allow myself to be questioned by my fellow posters. I will accept any and all questions regarding my life. This includes my personal life, my faith, my philosophy of life, my political beliefs, my feelings about my fellow posters, my weaknesses/shortcomings, my failures, my family, my reasons for remaining on TOL, how I first became associated with TOL, my sense of humor/Wit, and the list goes on and on. Most people/posters enjoy their anonymity on forums such as TOL and they create one particular 'persona' or another. I believe we're all 'multi-faceted individuals who make choices regarding what we will disclose about ourselves and what we choose to guard against.
When I was attending 'Elementary school' in the 1950s, they used to show films about different subjects such as science, driving, etc. Those films usually used Disney cartoon characters. I remember one particular 'film' that included the Disney character, Goofy. It was trying to show/teach how people who drive cars can be very kind, patient, law-abiding citizens, and civil, until they get in the driving seat. Once 'Goofy' got behind the wheel of his car, he suddenly became, angry, belligerent, uncivil, angry and hostile towards his fellow drivers on the road.
I believe the same thing occurs on forums and other social outlets. After all, the Internet protects our true identities and as such, we can, if we so desire, let our hair down and say, think, and behave as we please. Most posters wouldn't have the gall to say certain things to people in person that they feel comfortable saying to them behind the 'protected screen' of their Laptop. Basically, we as human beings only show others what we want them to see about ourselves. We protect/guard other facets of our being we don't wish to expose. I asked a good friend of mine, years ago: "Do you act the same way around everyone you have contact with?" He answered: Yes, I do."
Personally, if we were, to be honest about ourselves, I believe we'd have to admit, we act differently towards others according to the circumstance. In other words, we act one way when we're in the presence of our friends, relatives, and the people we encounter on a regular basis. Whereas, there's a tendency to act differently when we first meet a complete stranger. The list below contains a number of people who we might act differently around if we were, to be honest with ourselves:
A Stranger
A Boss
A celebrity
A friend
A relative
A wife or husband
A homeless person
A cashier at a store
A person you dislike
A fellow church attendee
A Pastor or Priest
A potential romantic interest
No doubt you can add others.
When I was attending 'Elementary school' in the 1950s, they used to show films about different subjects such as science, driving, etc. Those films usually used Disney cartoon characters. I remember one particular 'film' that included the Disney character, Goofy. It was trying to show/teach how people who drive cars can be very kind, patient, law-abiding citizens, and civil, until they get in the driving seat. Once 'Goofy' got behind the wheel of his car, he suddenly became, angry, belligerent, uncivil, angry and hostile towards his fellow drivers on the road.
I believe the same thing occurs on forums and other social outlets. After all, the Internet protects our true identities and as such, we can, if we so desire, let our hair down and say, think, and behave as we please. Most posters wouldn't have the gall to say certain things to people in person that they feel comfortable saying to them behind the 'protected screen' of their Laptop. Basically, we as human beings only show others what we want them to see about ourselves. We protect/guard other facets of our being we don't wish to expose. I asked a good friend of mine, years ago: "Do you act the same way around everyone you have contact with?" He answered: Yes, I do."
Personally, if we were, to be honest about ourselves, I believe we'd have to admit, we act differently towards others according to the circumstance. In other words, we act one way when we're in the presence of our friends, relatives, and the people we encounter on a regular basis. Whereas, there's a tendency to act differently when we first meet a complete stranger. The list below contains a number of people who we might act differently around if we were, to be honest with ourselves:
A Stranger
A Boss
A celebrity
A friend
A relative
A wife or husband
A homeless person
A cashier at a store
A person you dislike
A fellow church attendee
A Pastor or Priest
A potential romantic interest
No doubt you can add others.