[theforum] mailing list rules (content)

Joel D Canfield joel at bizba6.com
Fri Oct 24 16:00:27 CDT 2008


> > But it's not bad. It's just not. It's lazy, maybe. Definitely
> > inconvenient. But it's not bad.
> 
> Do you think being inconvenient or lazy is a good thing? 
> Probably not, so it's simply bad.

well, my tongue was firmly in my cheek, but I'll bite.

good and bad are at opposite ends of an infinitely graduated spectrum.
they are not The Only Two Choices for Morality. otherwise, putting the
toilet seat down would rank the same as dying for another, and leaving
it up would rank the same as murder. therefore, I do indeed believe
there are levels of 'good' and 'bad', and cases (like, 99.9% of the
time) where something partly good and something partly bad are mixed.
then, you have to use your innate intelligence guided by experience to
separate the wheat from the chaff; keeping the former, and, as someone
more poetic than I said, "with the breath of kindness, blowing the rest
away."

how about sorting these into 'good' and 'bad'-

1. a helpful, well-worded post which answers your question perfectly,
which is top-posted!
2. a perfectly worded posted-in-sequence comment which doesn't answer
your question, and doesn't even seem to understand your question

I think #1 is good. I think #1 is well-intentioned, but less good. I
don't think either is bad.

in the end, I'll take human consideration and genuine value over
semantics and procedures every minute of every day for the rest of my
life. my convenience is nothing, nothing at all, compared to the value I
get from the people who give me the gift of their attention and even
occasionally, intelligence.

and if you'd like to read even more of my business philosophy, I'll give
you a screaming deal on both of my books as a package. or, if I've
really cheesed you off, at least you know not to waste your money.

my tongue, by the way, spends much of its free time in my cheek. feel
free to assume that, although I'm serious about my message, I'm smiling
cheerfully and genuinely wishing we could have this conversation over a
cold beverage because it would be fun.

thanks for playing. Ron, tell our guests what they've won!

joel



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