RE: [Leica] UV filters - and other one-sided "holy wars"

["Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter)" <peterk@lucent.com>]

Doug, 

Well said.  I only wish you said this when the AF v. MF thread was hot as
was the request for qualifications.

Peter K

- -----Original Message-----
From: Doug Richardson [mailto:doug@meditor.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 5:55 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] UV filters - and other one-sided "holy wars"


Reading some of the forcefully-expressed opinions of the anti-filter
brigade, I'm slightly mystified by the one-sided nature of the
discussion - the pro-filter zealots doesn't seem to suffer the same
urge to express themselves so hotly.

Similarly, whenever a long thread of interest to collectors starts to
strain the patience of the users, the latter start calling the
collectors "geeks", telling them to get a life and start taking
pictures - you rarely see attacks on users by collectors.

Why do we have these one-sided non-debates where one faction seems
determined that its opinion must prevail? Can't we all respect the
other guy's viewpoint a bit more?

After all, much of what is being discussed on the LUG is a matter not
of fact but of opinion - but seems only too often to take the form of
opinions being presented as "facts" or even as dogma. If someone
disagrees with an opinion, this hardly seems grounds for calling them
a "geek" or "hard-of-thinking".

The LUG is a valuable resource for Leica users and collectors - I can
think of few questions I have posed over the last few years which have
not resulted in useful responses, and in many cases the information I
needed. But it saddens me to see the growing level of squabbling and
quarrelling in our on-line exchanges.

If one guy lovingly wraps his red & white box in bubble wrap while
another leaves his on the camera store counter does that make either
of them a better or poorer photographer, Leica lover, or LUG member?

Although some people may have taken the discussion of scratchy
pressure plates long past the point where others considered the
information content of the postings to be near zero, did this really
justify the number of hostile postings we saw? ( ... what someone
amusingly dubbed the "Whiners about the Whiners".)

When someone asked a question concerning Erwin Putz's relationship (if
any) to Leica, why did this rapidly degenerate into a "flame war"
before Erwin had been given a chance to reply? Erwin didn't seem at
all upset by the question, and posted a reply, only to find himself
the target of several hostile postings.

I suspect we can all think of other recent examples of discussions
which degenerated into undignified squabbles, or lengthy and
relatively unproductive exchanges which triggered the fuzes of some
LUGnuts.

Could we not do more to recognise that many of our strongly-held
opinions are just that  - opinions - and post them in less inflamatory
style? ... then be more tolerant of dissenting views?

(I realise that there are times when I've added my own share to the
angry exchanges, but would plead that in at least some cases I'd been
responding to original postings which had seemed to me to be
intolerant of alternative views.)

Regards,

Doug Richardson