Bloody hifi forums...
Right.
What is it with hifi forums?
What is it with all the vitriol and all the finger poking unpleasantness?
Friendly banter? Honest debate? A quest for truth? Like boooolocks it is.
Would those who poke their fingers, swagger their gait and flex their oratory care as much if the dialogue were carried out in private with only their debating counterpart(s)?
They would not.
The problem with hifi forums, or any forum is not the presence of adversaries, but the presence of the third party audiience. Where peers gather, prestige, honour and status are won or lost. It is the real or imagined nods of approval or hoots of derision from the great unwashed that motivate the insatiable lust for one-upmanship. Why would anyone honestly give a flying flip what someone else, a million miles away, decides to spend their own their money on and time listening to?
...Because if they listen to what you suggested they should listen to then it means that your opinion, is valued over someone else's. And more than that that you are valued over someon else? In the ancestoral environment humans got access to food and sex relative to how well they were valued. Well ladies and gentleman the cavemen are amongst us, and campfire the pissing competition is now decided by who can humilaite in verbose acobatic over whether DD beats belts or valves beat transistors.
Human beings are terrible things. And are doomed.
Look at this twatish rant for example. It's remote purpose is likely identical to any other rhetorical nonsence on any other topic or any other fourm. At least I'm pissed. I have an excuse. This is hypocryticality due to intoxication. *hic*.
I hear some folks optimistically whittering on about how one day soon all people will realise that being nice to everyone else is the best way forward. Why do we assume that humanity is moving towards this higher state of harmony? Why do we think that humanity will one day live together in peace and harmony? Ego and tribalism are hardwired into our genome. One might as well hope that one day soon we'll all realise we'd all be better off if we didn't have to rely quite as much on water.
There's some variation of course. Not everyone's six foot 5 inches. And not everyone's a colossal egotistical nob. But almost everyone is a bit, just as everyone is somewhere above zero height. And just like being higher than 4 foor is something most of us do quite well, posessing relentless and unforgiving unpleasantness is one of the things humans do best. And when that unpleasantness isn't motivating humans to fly planes into skyscrapers it's motivating them to hang on for dear life to some point of debate or priniciple on some 2 bit forum because they think to not to might make them lose face. We're doomed I tells ya. Doomed.
Look at how we explain our successes to ourselves - almost always because we made a good decision or planned well or were naturally superior, as compared to our failures - because we were unlucky or because someone else cheated. Almost every single post-match interview with any football manager bares this out. Noone has ever said "We won because we had a couple of lucky breaks and because we took out their best player", or "we lost because our relative lack of talent made victory impossible". Humans are 100% genuinely and sincerely self delusional. What better way to convince everyone that you're the best and that any apparent discrepancy with that FACT must be caused by gross misfortune or the deceit of others than to speak from a position that genuinely, yes genuinely believes that lack of success can be explained only in those terms...?!
These problems aren't cultural people, they're as part of us as 10 toes and 2 lungs. Read Pinker people. It's all in there.
For as long as its humans posting on bloody hifi forums, the piss and bile will flow. People are bloody horrible. Always have been. The proportion of prehistoric human remains that are dug up that show archeological evidence of GBH and murder is terrifying. Far higher than any murder rates known in any modern society not experiencing war. It is a statistical certainty that everyone of us is decended from murdurers. In 10,000 years from now humans will be working out how likely it was that they are decended from nutters on C21st hifi forums. Evil places. Evil species.
Blaahh!
What is it with hifi forums?
What is it with all the vitriol and all the finger poking unpleasantness?
Friendly banter? Honest debate? A quest for truth? Like boooolocks it is.
Would those who poke their fingers, swagger their gait and flex their oratory care as much if the dialogue were carried out in private with only their debating counterpart(s)?
They would not.
The problem with hifi forums, or any forum is not the presence of adversaries, but the presence of the third party audiience. Where peers gather, prestige, honour and status are won or lost. It is the real or imagined nods of approval or hoots of derision from the great unwashed that motivate the insatiable lust for one-upmanship. Why would anyone honestly give a flying flip what someone else, a million miles away, decides to spend their own their money on and time listening to?
...Because if they listen to what you suggested they should listen to then it means that your opinion, is valued over someone else's. And more than that that you are valued over someon else? In the ancestoral environment humans got access to food and sex relative to how well they were valued. Well ladies and gentleman the cavemen are amongst us, and campfire the pissing competition is now decided by who can humilaite in verbose acobatic over whether DD beats belts or valves beat transistors.
Human beings are terrible things. And are doomed.
Look at this twatish rant for example. It's remote purpose is likely identical to any other rhetorical nonsence on any other topic or any other fourm. At least I'm pissed. I have an excuse. This is hypocryticality due to intoxication. *hic*.
I hear some folks optimistically whittering on about how one day soon all people will realise that being nice to everyone else is the best way forward. Why do we assume that humanity is moving towards this higher state of harmony? Why do we think that humanity will one day live together in peace and harmony? Ego and tribalism are hardwired into our genome. One might as well hope that one day soon we'll all realise we'd all be better off if we didn't have to rely quite as much on water.
There's some variation of course. Not everyone's six foot 5 inches. And not everyone's a colossal egotistical nob. But almost everyone is a bit, just as everyone is somewhere above zero height. And just like being higher than 4 foor is something most of us do quite well, posessing relentless and unforgiving unpleasantness is one of the things humans do best. And when that unpleasantness isn't motivating humans to fly planes into skyscrapers it's motivating them to hang on for dear life to some point of debate or priniciple on some 2 bit forum because they think to not to might make them lose face. We're doomed I tells ya. Doomed.
Look at how we explain our successes to ourselves - almost always because we made a good decision or planned well or were naturally superior, as compared to our failures - because we were unlucky or because someone else cheated. Almost every single post-match interview with any football manager bares this out. Noone has ever said "We won because we had a couple of lucky breaks and because we took out their best player", or "we lost because our relative lack of talent made victory impossible". Humans are 100% genuinely and sincerely self delusional. What better way to convince everyone that you're the best and that any apparent discrepancy with that FACT must be caused by gross misfortune or the deceit of others than to speak from a position that genuinely, yes genuinely believes that lack of success can be explained only in those terms...?!
These problems aren't cultural people, they're as part of us as 10 toes and 2 lungs. Read Pinker people. It's all in there.
For as long as its humans posting on bloody hifi forums, the piss and bile will flow. People are bloody horrible. Always have been. The proportion of prehistoric human remains that are dug up that show archeological evidence of GBH and murder is terrifying. Far higher than any murder rates known in any modern society not experiencing war. It is a statistical certainty that everyone of us is decended from murdurers. In 10,000 years from now humans will be working out how likely it was that they are decended from nutters on C21st hifi forums. Evil places. Evil species.
Blaahh!
Comments
whenever i feel my faith in humanity fade into pessimism and doom, i switch on my hi fi and play some beautiful music ,works every time,
when i feel as Doc does about forums i log into chews and am quickly reminded that not all forums are populated by keyboard warriors that type as if hi fi and their opinion on it is the root of all life. works every time,
truth is there is so much beautiful and wondrous music out there that even if we started listening at birth and never stopped listening until death we wouldn't be able to hear a millionth of it, we can only be grateful for what we are able to listen to .the hi fi lets me hear that beauty so well that it touches the soul,
i visit forums because it helps me get more from that hi fi and also i cant discuss hi fi and music with any of my work mates (apart from one) or friends as they think i am mad when i tell them i heard a bit of music last night that moved me to tears or how i just got some special bits of cable that improved my system so much i was actually laughing at how good the music filling my listening room was, forums allow me to share this and even if some dont get it ,some do, even if one person gets it it was worth posting.
just because some forums would rather moderate out the guys who can actually help us in favour of those guys that would rather hinder we shouldn't be put off
humanity is doomed ? not quite, humanity in its current form is doomed ? yes most definitely.
i guess i am an optimist ,i also dont drink alcohol which helps .
hope your head isnt too sore Doc.
let us not forget to remember on this day 9/11 just how lucky we are to be able to walk across our respective listening rooms to switch on those systems that let us play music and how we can switch on a device that lets us communicate with others of like minds all over the world !! AMAZING !!!!!
all the best folks!
matt
.
^#(^
no i havent, where is this located? wouldn't mind a peek