July 29, 2013
On Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:47:30 +0200
"Jonathan A Dunlap" <jdunlap@outlook.com> wrote:

> Simply I believe the people who have the most respect or fame in the industry need to be the most careful about their expression.

I agree with that, but only because being well-known leads to a much higher change of being quoted out-of-context in a very widespread, or even deliberately sensationalized manner. Therefore, they (unfortunately) have to be careful what they say publicly simply for their own sake.

> Just like any parent to child relationship, be aware that others may emulate your behavior and cross boundaries where you had carefully walked the line.

That I don't agree with at all. If person X, famous or not, is seen smoking and person Y thinks "Wow, that person's great I wanna do every dumb fuck thing they do (because I'm apparently a stupid fucking shit who can't think for myself, and can't be expected to)" and then gets hooked on nicotine gets lung cancer, etc, then it's purely person Y's *own* dumbshit fault.

Blaming person X for that, famous or not, would be a ridiculous shifting of responsibilities on par with blaming some music band, or blaming JD Salinger, etc. A person, famous or not, cannot rationally be held responsible for what the masses of idiots they've never even met will end up doing out of their own colossal stupidity.

July 29, 2013
On 7/29/2013 1:31 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> Blaming person X for that, famous or not, would be a ridiculous shifting
> of responsibilities on par with blaming some music band, or blaming JD
> Salinger, etc. A person, famous or not, cannot rationally be held
> responsible for what the masses of idiots they've never even met will
> end up doing out of their own colossal stupidity.

I agree with you.

I'm a big believer in free will, and that adults ought not be blaming their own behavior on others.

That said, it is also clear that in any organization, attitudes, tone and style flow from the top down. (It's amazing how pervasive this is.)

July 29, 2013
> Blaming person X for that, famous or not, would be a ridiculous shifting
> of responsibilities
==
> That said, it is also clear that in any organization, attitudes, tone and style flow from the top down. (It's amazing how pervasive this is.)

Totally agree, I didn't mention blaming. Of course, everyone is free to express themselves and how others replicate their actions cannot be controlled. However fame, just like any power, should be responsibly used, but it's a personal choice as long as it doesn't cross unacceptable boundaries (e.g. personal attacks). I'm with Walter that ideally rules shouldn't be established as the natural maturing of a community lends itself to becoming stronger because of it.

Basically:
a) Don't promote or feed the fire of bad behavior, best to show by example
b) Remind/educate others of their influence when their actions are negatively affecting others... however don't command as it's their prerogative
July 29, 2013
Not aimed at anyone in particular, but I see these kinds of statements all too often:

"Sure, I believe in free speech, but you can't let that guy say those things!"

"I'm certainly not advocating censorship, but those books don't belong in the public library!"

That said, I pay the bills for this forum, and if someone wants to be a troll, they are free to post it on their own nickel, not mine.
July 30, 2013
On Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:59:33 -0700
Walter Bright <newshound2@digitalmars.com> wrote:

> Not aimed at anyone in particular, but I see these kinds of statements all too often:
> 
> "Sure, I believe in free speech, but you can't let that guy say those things!"
> 
> "I'm certainly not advocating censorship, but those books don't belong in the public library!"
> 

<captain pedantic>
I'd happily ban a book from a public library if it was beaten, torn,
scribbled over and (most damming of all) heavily soiled. The library
should get a *fresh* copy if possible!
</captain pedantic>

Needless to say, not only do I believe in free speech, I believe in stupid groan-inducing speech :)

July 30, 2013
On 07/26/2013 06:06 PM, H. S. Teoh wrote:
> I think his dictionary should use an unsigned byte instead of a signed byte. :-P  One of the places where size_t being unsigned is important in an 8-bit environment. ;-)

You have no idea how much delight I'm getting out of imagining Billy Connolly's reaction to what you've just said here. :-)

He really did say 127, too.  Here's the clip (Not Safe For Work): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h68CfIUkPKs
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