What if we found the whole thing a totalitarian nightmare?

While I am very comfortable with the HZ policy - I think one has to be very careful about ostracization, blocking and basically everything that makes it appear to the outside world that the posters here are somehow patting eachother on the back while spitting at the ignoramuses or weirdos.

I lean towards the Fox approach towards flaming or banning etc: dignified silence.

Let's be really honest. Lot's of new folks either sink or swim here. Depending on their personality-type they will either thrive or flee in horror. We may miss out on some really savvy folks because of maintaining a discriminatory appearance.

MSNBC had a lot of bizarre posters - but there was something to be said for a site that has an open and public venue attracting new blood, new ideas and new posters. Let's face it - most of us were on MSNBC, so denigrating the place is sort of like "dissing" oneself.

We all know eachother fairly well now. That can never be lost. However, we need to seriously analyze the way we treat newbies and looky-loos.

The ignore approach for trolls, anomalists or what have-you is FAR better PR for HZ and our standards as individuals than the ALL CAPS flames - flames that live for a LONG time on Google and other archives.

This isn't MENSA. We don't need to feel good about ourselves and prove our superiority by tossing those who don't meet our intellectual standards out on their ear.

After all is said and done - everyone - is trying to learn and grow. The anomalists, creationists, etc. are all human too despite there evident obsessions, fixations or misconceptions.

The ultimate test of humility and humanity is to show and demonstrate compassion for those who have obvious hang-ups. That doesn't mean wasting time on them - but sometimes it simply means holding back contempt or ridicule and avoiding gratuitous flame posting.

Sorry to take all this out on you Jacob, you certainly are not the target nor is any individual poster here, but your post opened a doorway and you caught me in a mood and I am concerned about the well-being of the collective body HZ.

Welcome back to the mainland!

SDAI-Tech1