(Cobra)Sometimes I think there is little more that can be done than to lay the truth in hard hitting words. I know that is what ticks off Burgbud,...

You know very little about what ticks me off, unless "hard hitting" is the same to you as "condescending", "patronizing" or "insulting". To me, "hard hitting" is much different as I've stated several times now.


When you say you do not believe, you are taking the exact same position as someone who does believe. You have taken the leap of faith and made a conscious decision to not believe, just as other make a decision to believe.

As a Believer I can assure you that's not the case. A leap of faith is required to believe in something without proof of its existence. Not to believe in something whose existence isn't proven requires no such leap.


It is up to the communicator to get the message across.

Not true. Communication requires active participation by both parties.


It is very difficult for the listener to infer a cryptic message. Perhaps Burgbud thinks this approach is better, but I have found myself wasting a lot of time with that method, both as sender and receiver.

I'd be very interested to learn how you formulated the opinion that I'm in favor of cryptic communication. It seems to me you find yourself wasting a lot of time constructing and destroying straw men.

For your benefit Cobra, I will state again the approach to communication I prefer. If you have issues with what follows I'd be happy to discuss them with you. If you prefer to misrepresent my position and you have issues with whatever beliefs you mistakenly ascribe to me, I'll leave you to it.

I think communication should be direct and unadorned by sarcasm, insult or hyperbole. I think indirect communication is patronizing and rarely has a place among virtual strangers. I think communication that is plain and direct can be hard hitting and is often the *most* hard hitting.

Indirect communication is what's cryptic. This web page outlines why I believe that. Among other things, it points out five effects of indirect communication:
  • Guesswork
  • Inaccuracy
  • Inference of motives
  • Game playing behavior
  • Defensiveness



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