Board personas and the hobby...

[Wakeup]

Okay TA, I'm going to violate a rule. I'm going to explain myself, and I shouldn't. Every time someone says "if you have any insight, please share it with me", they're simply saying that as a prelude to saying "you're wrong" once that person does actually explain themselves. But, call me the eternal optimist, here I go, just for you TA.

First, you picked the perfect thread to ask the question, since we're talking about board personas. Every board persona is a lie to some extent. I choose to have no opinion on the degree of their falacy, so I assume they're all just massive lies, equally, but every persona here is nothing but a lie. You KNOW absolutely nothing about anyone here. No matter how long you've been here, how many posts you've read, no matter how many parties you've been to, you know absolutely nothing about anyone here.

So now, Brooke starts a thread about her mother being in a coma. Every day in this world, thousands of people die, and their deaths go unlamented, unmentioned, and unrecorded. They disappear into history because no one knows them, and no one really cares about them. Every day you see on the news someone gets shot in this city. Do you call their family and offer their condolences? Do you take out an ad in the Chronicle paying your respects? Do you even care so much as to blink twice? Nope. You have had just as much exposure to that person on the news as you have with Brooke here, yet, for some reason, this board is completely different.

So here we have Brooke, a board persona, TRYING to interject her real life into the board and asking for your sympathy. Do you know her? Do you REALLY know her? Nope. She's nothing more than a bunch of blinky pixels on a computer screen, and for all you know, she could be a 6'-7", 365 pound lineman for the Texans. Yet, in spite of this complete and total LACK of actual human interaction, people offer up their sympathies. Why? Why do they do this here when they don't give a shit anywhere else? Two reasons.

First, it's easy. They can type a response and don't have to go through any more effort than that. They don't have to track down a family, or pay for an ad, or pick up a phone or go to a funeral. Second, they do it because they see others doing it and they feel "societally compelled" to follow suit, like a lemming following its brother. They don't do it because they have a single scrap of ACTUAL caring, because they'd be caring about a figment of their imagination, which is the height of stupidity. They do it because it's easy and because it's expected of them.

No I ask myself, would I want ANYONE to offer me sympathy for those reasons? If Brooke's mother died tomorrow you'd forget about it next week. If Brooke died tomorrow, you'd forget about it tomorrow because she wouldn't be here to start the thread about it. So, I say keep the fake sympathy. Keep the easy path. Keep your societal pressure, and, as such, don't expect me to start any threads about my personal problems here. Caring about the problems if a fake board persona makes about as much sense as caring about the problems of the wind that blew westward through the Himalayas yesterday.

So, my intention...

My intention was to interject a fact that every person in this world dies, and as such, one, it's nothing to mourn about, because it's inevitable, and two, there's absolutely nothing special about Brook, her mom, or Fancy's dog that make them any more worthy of your sympathy than the curb you ran over when you turned into the parking space at Macy's last week. At least the curb is a real, animate object...not a fake board persona.

All this was done without any malice, without and anger toward anyone, and completely devoid of emotion. Could I have worded my post differently, absolutely. Do I HAVE to word it differently? Not on your life.

There, I hope that makes some sense to you, I leave it open for the ever-present "you're wrong" summation...have at it, that's all the explanation you're going to get...

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by DickEmDown

Are you kidding, as soon as you drop that load...I do have one condition though.

You have to make WU watch!

You know she wouldn't want me to just watch in that scenario...she's uninhibited that way...besides, she finds you incredibly sexy...

Sorry hun, you know it's true.

[dearhunter]

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

...... I, and I'm sure Brooke, shall continue to write about anything we wish, and anybody can say what they want back. Freedom of speech is a beautiful, and an awful, thing.........

You and I agree........Brooke had the right to write what she wrote......and Wakeup had the right to respond as he did.

Too bad others can't agree with us.......ijs.

[Rubchasertx]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

The difference is that there are a lot fewer blatantly obvious idiots out there than in here for me to interact with

Ok I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. While the percentage of idiots may be higher in a SHMB, everybody on it - or at least a third of them (subtracting for alternate handles) - are "out there"

I contend that there are all of the idiots that are in here - out there - in addition to the other 10's of thousands of idiots in Houston alone. I will admit that it is possible that the hundreds of idiots that I deal with in a given day could possibly be "in here" but I would call those chances remote.

Apologies for the hijack. To stay on topic, I can say that the board persona that a number of providers display eliminates them from the list that I am interested in.

$.02 please.

[Fancyinheels]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

Okay TA, I'm going to violate a rule. I'm going to explain myself, and I shouldn't. Every time someone says "if you have any insight, please share it with me", they're simply saying that as a prelude to saying "you're wrong" once that person does actually explain themselves. But, call me the eternal optimist, here I go, just for you TA.

First, you picked the perfect thread to ask the question, since we're talking about board personas. Every board persona is a lie to some extent. I choose to have no opinion on the degree of their falacy, so I assume they're all just massive lies, equally, but every persona here is nothing but a lie. You KNOW absolutely nothing about anyone here. No matter how long you've been here, how many posts you've read, no matter how many parties you've been to, you know absolutely nothing about anyone here.

So now, Brooke starts a thread about her mother being in a coma. Every day in this world, thousands of people die, and their deaths go unlamented, unmentioned, and unrecorded. They disappear into history because no one knows them, and no one really cares about them. Every day you see on the news someone gets shot in this city. Do you call their family and offer their condolences? Do you take out an ad in the Chronicle paying your respects? Do you even care so much as to blink twice? Nope. You have had just as much exposure to that person on the news as you have with Brooke here, yet, for some reason, this board is completely different.

So here we have Brooke, a board persona, TRYING to interject her real life into the board and asking for your sympathy. Do you know her? Do you REALLY know her? Nope. She's nothing more than a bunch of blinky pixels on a computer screen, and for all you know, she could be a 6'-7", 365 pound lineman for the Texans. Yet, in spite of this complete and total LACK of actual human interaction, people offer up their sympathies. Why? Why do they do this here when they don't give a shit anywhere else? Two reasons.

First, it's easy. They can type a response and don't have to go through any more effort than that. They don't have to track down a family, or pay for an ad, or pick up a phone or go to a funeral. Second, they do it because they see others doing it and they feel "societally compelled" to follow suit, like a lemming following its brother. They don't do it because they have a single scrap of ACTUAL caring, because they'd be caring about a figment of their imagination, which is the height of stupidity. They do it because it's easy and because it's expected of them.

No I ask myself, would I want ANYONE to offer me sympathy for those reasons? If Brooke's mother died tomorrow you'd forget about it next week. If Brooke died tomorrow, you'd forget about it tomorrow because she wouldn't be here to start the thread about it. So, I say keep the fake sympathy. Keep the easy path. Keep your societal pressure, and, as such, don't expect me to start any threads about my personal problems here. Caring about the problems if a fake board persona makes about as much sense as caring about the problems of the wind that blew westward through the Himalayas yesterday.

So, my intention...

My intention was to interject a fact that every person in this world dies, and as such, one, it's nothing to mourn about, because it's inevitable, and two, there's absolutely nothing special about Brook, her mom, or Fancy's dog that make them any more worthy of your sympathy than the curb you ran over when you turned into the parking space at Macy's last week. At least the curb is a real, animate object...not a fake board persona.

All this was done without any malice, without and anger toward anyone, and completely devoid of emotion. Could I have worded my post differently, absolutely. Do I HAVE to word it differently? Not on your life.

There, I hope that makes some sense to you, I leave it open for the ever-present "you're wrong" summation...have at it, that's all the explanation you're going to get...

Like I said, context. But thank you for your explanation. Still doesn't fly for me, but no, that doesn't make you right OR wrong. Just rude in the context of society, which you care naught for, anyway. Why bother to explain, then?

Brooke, you, myself, the curb, are all real in terms of animation. (Btw, a curb is an inanimate object. When do curbs move?") SOMEONE is typing this stuff, after all. There are more than enough people who have met us both, and taken photos, to prove that neither of us are a "6'-7", 365 pound lineman for the Texans," so your logic is flawed, but I do understand what you mean. If you are accusing us of making this stuff up to elicit sympathy for our "board personas," or needlessly taking up space that should be reserved for Hobby discussion, since ALL this board is supposed to be about is the P4P sex, sex, sex, of course, that's your right to think so, obviously, but your opinion shows more about you psychologically than us. What makes us "special" is purely in the eye of the beholder, and you obviously hold us in little esteem. So be it.

We and the people we associate with know the reality, so up to the rest of you to determine what is and isn't so, and how you wish to comment. Wakeup, what is the difference between you posting and trying to persuade people to be uncaring and uninterested and me posting thinking that they might care and be interested? Rhetorical question, btw.

As for "caring about the problems of the wind that blew westward through the Himalayas yesterday," that could be pretty important weather info for the people that weather affects, even if it doesn't affect you.

[Jules Jaguar]

From my experiences I have found that I like the asshole fucktard persona havin mofos even more in person than I do on here.

I don't like the sneaky handle shit that's for pussies!! The guys who are assholes on here and still cant even pay a hooker for "time" are the real losers.

Wakeup is cool in my book... Id fuck em

[Out_of_Bounds]

Originally Posted by Jules Jaguar

From my experiences I have found that I like the asshole fucktard persona havin mofos even more in person than I do on here.

I don't like the sneaky handle shit that's for pussies!! The guys who are assholes on here and still cant even pay a hooker for "time" are the real losers.

Wakeup is cool in my book... Id fuck em

Won't happen, you're too fat.
Asshole enough for ya?

[Jules Jaguar]

bwahaha u are probably correct...

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

Btw, a curb is an inanimate object. When do curbs move?

Um...when you hit them with your car...as I said...

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

If you are accusing us of making this stuff up to elicit sympathy for our "board personas,"

Mentioned nothing of the sort. However, if you want sympathy for something about to die, and then it doesn't die, I'll probably comment...

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

We and the people we associate with know the reality

We were doing good right up till then. No, you don't know the reality, you only know the portion of reality they choose to display here, or what they choose to display when you meet them if you do so, which, may be no reality at all.

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

Wakeup, what is the difference between you posting and trying to persuade people to be uncaring and uninterested and me posting thinking that they might care and be interested? Rhetorical question, btw.

The question would be rhetorical only if you already knew the answer, but you've obviously misunderstood even the question, let alone the answer. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. Why would I care if some animated text icon agrees with me, or clicks a like button, or anything else? I explained the reasons behind my post, that's it. I didn't post it for you. In fact, I lied, I didn't even really post it for TA as I said, I posted it for a different audience which I'm having a discussion with.

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

As for "caring about the problems of the wind that blew westward through the Himalayas yesterday," that could be pretty important weather info for the people that weather affects, even if it doesn't affect you.

Very true, just as I'm sure that Brooke's mother being in a coma is important and relevant information to her family. Which, incidentally, is the group where this type of info should stay, the people who can REALLY offer her the sympathy and comfort she needs, not here with a group of fake personas taking the easy way and following along with the peer pressure. But that's a different thread.

[TransAm]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

Okay TA, I'm going to violate a rule. I'm going to explain myself, and I shouldn't. Every time someone says "if you have any insight, please share it with me", they're simply saying that as a prelude to saying "you're wrong" once that person does actually explain themselves. But, call me the eternal optimist, here I go, just for you TA.

First, you picked the perfect thread to ask the question, since we're talking about board personas. Every board persona is a lie to some extent. I choose to have no opinion on the degree of their falacy, so I assume they're all just massive lies, equally, but every persona here is nothing but a lie. You KNOW absolutely nothing about anyone here. No matter how long you've been here, how many posts you've read, no matter how many parties you've been to, you know absolutely nothing about anyone here.

So now, Brooke starts a thread about her mother being in a coma. Every day in this world, thousands of people die, and their deaths go unlamented, unmentioned, and unrecorded. They disappear into history because no one knows them, and no one really cares about them. Every day you see on the news someone gets shot in this city. Do you call their family and offer their condolences? Do you take out an ad in the Chronicle paying your respects? Do you even care so much as to blink twice? Nope. You have had just as much exposure to that person on the news as you have with Brooke here, yet, for some reason, this board is completely different.

So here we have Brooke, a board persona, TRYING to interject her real life into the board and asking for your sympathy. Do you know her? Do you REALLY know her? Nope. She's nothing more than a bunch of blinky pixels on a computer screen, and for all you know, she could be a 6'-7", 365 pound lineman for the Texans. Yet, in spite of this complete and total LACK of actual human interaction, people offer up their sympathies. Why? Why do they do this here when they don't give a shit anywhere else? Two reasons.

First, it's easy. They can type a response and don't have to go through any more effort than that. They don't have to track down a family, or pay for an ad, or pick up a phone or go to a funeral. Second, they do it because they see others doing it and they feel "societally compelled" to follow suit, like a lemming following its brother. They don't do it because they have a single scrap of ACTUAL caring, because they'd be caring about a figment of their imagination, which is the height of stupidity. They do it because it's easy and because it's expected of them.

No I ask myself, would I want ANYONE to offer me sympathy for those reasons? If Brooke's mother died tomorrow you'd forget about it next week. If Brooke died tomorrow, you'd forget about it tomorrow because she wouldn't be here to start the thread about it. So, I say keep the fake sympathy. Keep the easy path. Keep your societal pressure, and, as such, don't expect me to start any threads about my personal problems here. Caring about the problems if a fake board persona makes about as much sense as caring about the problems of the wind that blew westward through the Himalayas yesterday.

So, my intention...

My intention was to interject a fact that every person in this world dies, and as such, one, it's nothing to mourn about, because it's inevitable, and two, there's absolutely nothing special about Brook, her mom, or Fancy's dog that make them any more worthy of your sympathy than the curb you ran over when you turned into the parking space at Macy's last week. At least the curb is a real, animate object...not a fake board persona.

All this was done without any malice, without and anger toward anyone, and completely devoid of emotion. Could I have worded my post differently, absolutely. Do I HAVE to word it differently? Not on your life.

There, I hope that makes some sense to you, I leave it open for the ever-present "you're wrong" summation...have at it, that's all the explanation you're going to get...

First off, I really appreciate your taking the time to respond. I'll start off with a moderate surprise, in that I'm not going to say, "Wakeup, you're wrong." I think it's important to distinguish between two very different concepts: "I disagree with you" and "You're wrong." Two totally different ideas at work here.

And let's get a few of the things we agree about out of the way. "Do I HAVE to word it differently? Not on your life." We agree on this. DH is absolutely correct in saying you have the right to put anything you want to out there. By the same token, the rest of us can conclude anything we want about what you post, and I know you'd agree with me on that one.

Here's the parts we disagree on. You assume that every board persona is a lie, at least to some extent. While I agree that there are elements of unreality in the online lives we lead, you yourself said that you're really not that different from the person you portray on this board. Same here.

You also assume that the only reason somebody would offer sympathy to Brooke in that situation is because it's easy, costs nothing, and in reality, none of us care. But see, that really reflects YOUR emotional bias, rather than being an actual fact. You start from the position that every persona on this board is a lie, which leads you to the conclusion nobody really cares about anyone on this board, even in persona form. Again, that might be true for you, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that being so. But why assume that's true for everyone? It may be true for you that someone you haven't met face to face is incapable of arousing any sympathy or human compassion in you. But why do you leap to the conclusion that this is true of everyone on the board? It's true that I haven't met Brooke. Does that make me stupid for taking a moment to care about someone potentially losing a parent? If it does, why? You were right about one thing: It doesn't cost me anything to care, and it doesn't cost me anything to show compassion. I'd be fascinated to know why you think it would cost YOU.

"My intention was to interject a fact that every person in this world dies, and as such, one, it's nothing to mourn about, because it's inevitable, and two, there's absolutely nothing special about Brook, her mom, or Fancy's dog that make them any more worthy of your sympathy than the curb you ran over when you turned into the parking space at Macy's last week. At least the curb is a real, animate object...not a fake board persona."

Let's discuss this passage. It IS a fact that everyone dies. But everything else you put after that is opinion, reflective of your own emotional biases. I defend your right to HAVE that opinion, but that does not make it fact. You may think there's nothing to mourn, but I hope you respect others' right to believe that there IS something to mourn. Similarly, the fact that YOU don't think there's anything special about Brooke, her mom, or somebody's dog doesn't make it so for everyone else.

Again, I will not say you are WRONG, we just disagree. Everybody can use this board any way they want, so I'm not suggesting you change anything. I appreciate you taking me into your head a bit, it does give clarity to some of the things I've wondered about you.

Happy Hobbying.

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by Rubchasertx

Ok I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. While the percentage of idiots may be higher in a SHMB, everybody on it - or at least a third of them (subtracting for alternate handles) - are "out there"

I contend that there are all of the idiots that are in here - out there - in addition to the other 10's of thousands of idiots in Houston alone. I will admit that it is possible that the hundreds of idiots that I deal with in a given day could possibly be "in here" but I would call those chances remote.

Not sure what you're trying to say actually. If you mean that the personas represented on this board are actually being controlled by physical persons out in the real world, then of course, I'll agree, for the most part. There are a few bot handles running around.

If you're saying that the personas represented here are direct representations of the personalities of the people out in the real world, I'll disagree. Take for instance your board persona. Here, you've told thousands of "people" that you've fucked, gotten jacked off by, gotten blown by, and ate the pussies of at least eight different women, and you paid all of them for the service. How many people in the real world know these things? How many people out there have you shown the reviews to? If it's less than thousands, then your board persona is a lie, again, to a certain extent, in that you're doing things here you don't do in your real world life. In fact, you're doing things here (like telling people that you fuck hookers all the time) that in the real world you might consider idiotic to tell everyone on the street.

Now, specifically to my comment about idiots. I've been on the Internet almost since before Al Gore invented it, and in that time I've learned one thing really, really well. People do and say things on the Interwebs that they would never dream of doing in their real lives...and a lot of that stuff is pure idiocy. People feel an almost pathological compunction to do stupid shit on the Internet, and then think absolutely nothing of it. In the real world, people stop, take a breath, and analyze the consequences of their actions a LOT more than when they're on the Internet. That single fact alone is why people are so confused about me. I'm exactly the same here as I am out there, the difference being, the idiotic behavior that I comment on is MUCH more prevalent here than out there. So, while you'll see me acting like a dick to idiots in here all the damn time, out there, it happens very rarely. It still happens though, and it's a sight to behold when it does.

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by TransAm

You assume that every board persona is a lie, at least to some extent. While I agree that there are elements of unreality in the online lives we lead, you yourself said that you're really not that different from the person you portray on this board. Same here.

Wait...you believed me when I said that? Why? See where I'm going with this?

Originally Posted by TransAm

You also assume that the only reason somebody would offer sympathy to Brooke in that situation is because it's easy, costs nothing, and in reality, none of us care. But see, that really reflects YOUR emotional bias, rather than being an actual fact. You start from the position that every persona on this board is a lie

That's a fact, not a position to be taken. Let's start with the simple question of "do thousands of people in your life know that you're posting comments on a hooker board right now?" and we'll go from there.

Originally Posted by TransAm

which leads you to the conclusion nobody really cares about anyone on this board, even in persona form. Again, that might be true for you, and there's nothing particularly wrong with that being so. But why assume that's true for everyone? It may be true for you that someone you haven't met face to face is incapable of arousing any sympathy or human compassion in you. But why do you leap to the conclusion that this is true of everyone on the board?

Because the only frame of reference we all have to judge anything on this board is our own. This is actually a much bigger discussion, because I'm not just indicting the people on this board, I'm indicting "society" as a whole here. I think we'll probably let this one go.

Originally Posted by TransAm

It's true that I haven't met Brooke. Does that make me stupid for taking a moment to care about someone potentially losing a parent? If it does, why?

Yes. Because one, you have no idea if what she said was actually true. Two, because whether she lives or dies has no impact on you at all. And three (I know, I started a sentence with a preposition, cb) the "sympathy" you're feeling isn't really sympathy at all, you just don't realize it. Again, number three is a much bigger conversation within the indictment of society. Yes, it makes you stupid to offer sympathy in this situation.

Originally Posted by TransAm

You were right about one thing: It doesn't cost me anything to care, and it doesn't cost me anything to show compassion. I'd be fascinated to know why you think it would cost YOU.

It wouldn't cost me a thing, except the time and physical calories it would take to type the message. It's a testament to how little I care about her, or anyone here on the board, that I would not even undertake that small amount of effort to show, what you call, compassion.

Originally Posted by TransAm

Let's discuss this passage. It IS a fact that everyone dies. But everything else you put after that is opinion, reflective of your own emotional biases.

I disagree that it's opinion. It's actually demonstrated by people every day.

Concerning mourning the inevitable death. Do you mourn when the sun goes down? The sun arguably has a bigger impact on your daily life than your mother. Do you cry when it stops raining? Rainfall keeps you, your family, and your "society" alive, every day. Inevitability is present in every facet of our lives. In fact, inevitable things happen that carry much more weight than the death of anyone on this planet. Yet, for some reason, we place an overabundance of emotion upon the death of living creatures. Why? Again, the answer is part of a much bigger discussion, it's just food for thought. Suffice to say, I disagree that it's opinion, it's another indictment of "society".

If you thought you had insight before...heh...now it's gotta be REALLY interesting...

[Fancyinheels]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

....... We were doing good right up till then. No, you don't know the reality, you only know the portion of reality they choose to display here, or what they choose to display when you meet them if you do so, which, may be no reality at all.

That can be said of everyone, not just Hobbyists. How do we know anyone is real in what they say, what they project, even those we are closest to? What is reality? A collection of synapses firing? What is fantasy? To a schizophrenic, his reality is just as tangible as our's, rationalized because it has, does, and will continue to exist for him, even with all the little voices talking to him and telling to paint his cock with green polka dots and wear a tutu around it. My, we could go into deep philosophical discussion on this, but my shallow brain is too tired. I will borrow the wise perception of another on reality, and end my comments in this thread so I can go dive into a pool, or what I perceive is a pool, anyway.

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. -- Edgar Allan Poe

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by Fancyinheels

That can be said of everyone, not just Hobbyists. How do we know anyone is real in what they say, what they project, even those we are closest to?

Finally...dawn breaks! Now she's getting somewhere...I didn't say that "only" the board personas here were lies...I said that all of them here were lies...

[Rubchasertx]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

Not sure what you're trying to say actually. If you mean that the personas represented on this board are actually being controlled by physical persons out in the real world, then of course, I'll agree, for the most part. There are a few bot handles running around.

You got exactly what I was trying to say right here. At risk of trying to describe your actions, I'll take rest at an attempt to educate the masses. I embrace the thought that considering a handle on here as a true persona associated with a person's real life has distant connections at best in most cases but at the end of the day, the handles on this board are controlled by real people. I think that the real people on this board often reflect their level of idiocy through their board personas just as you convey your penchant for stirring the pot and making people consider their viewpoints and actions.