excel

pm-ed. goodnight.

I decided I wont post here, but I could not stop myself at reading this particular post : You have been discussing textspeak with a variety of professors in a variety of fields in a variety of places? And what's more, after writing the previous thing, you say the following? What a joke! (and in case you dont get it, how is it that you refer to something as only a molehill, and then claim that you go around discussing it with professors all over the place? )

...and I think everyone should pay close attention to pointed's last post.

@bgk From Minnesotan's first insulting post that interrupted an important discussion to his series of insults and snide remarks right upto his previous post, I do not find Minnesotan's actions to be compatible with his role as a moderator on this forum. I think it sets a bad precedent that a moderator can attack a person in such manner. I have nothing to gain from posting in this forum and will not do so until disciplinary action is taken against Minnesotan, and posters here are guaranteed some sort of protection against such insults. I think it is entirely upto you whether you choose to protect members here from such insults or not. You can be assured that I will not post further to try to convince you one way or another. The two threads are there for all to see. For myself, wasting a day responding to such posts is strong enough a lesson to avoid this forum till the situation is rectified. P.S. sash, I refrained from using "u" in this particular thread because it would have been unethical to do so- given that the use of "u" was the point under discussion here.

pointed, thanks for making the point so well.

@bgk Minnesotan started with an insult that would have sidetracked an important discussion without your intervention, and then again was condescending in his initial post of the thread. He then delivered a series of snide remarks. How can a thread thus started ever be free of acrimony? I seriously think that this thread should be locked. All I wanted to do in this forum was to discuss serious matters pertaining to the important issue of choosing a grad school offer. Unfortunately, I have been dragged into this relatively trivial argument and constantly provoked. To my discredit, I could not stop getting dragged in here. Anyway, I am deeply disappointed with this experience in this forum.

Now, you have me curious, is the field of history overcrowded? I would not know. (I am serious in asking this question). I think I will pass that offer of watching a history seminar, but you are welcome to attend one of my presentations

sorry, but I will not be participating in this debate any more...the only time this thread ever went in a proper direction was, in my opinion, from historygirls's first post till before Minnesotan posted again ...and, one side cannot have insulted the members of the opposite side and then say what you have said here... stay happy

By the way, Minnesotan, we talked a lot about me...but, how about you? Got any Ph.D. program offer yet?

No, I am going to attend grad school this fall...but, even as an undergrad, I already have significant contribution & participation in academia... now, having trouble with my ellipsis are you?

Your so-called trap...luv...had already made that point :wink: so I already knew that, but you did not see my point. This makes me happier. You will see my point only if you connect back to my point on "burden". Well, all the best...I should not leave our conversation without giving you a happy face should I?

That was the context of the use of the "u" ... Now, do you see nothing wrong with someone coming in and insulting a person who is in the process of helping someone else for no personal benefit?

aha, I am happy to hear your opinion on the shorts and T-shirt guy...because that is one of the leading experts in my field I am talking about...if you would not take him seriously, then well... now that I have put your viewpoint into proper perspective, I will happily dismiss everything you have said so far from my mind. I am glad too that you are not in my field...no offence, but we often need to cut out the frills and isolate the essence...dont think you would have been that great a fit...but I am sure you do stuff that agrees with you. Well, all the best with your applications etc.

luvalicious, and do you see nothing wrong with someone coming in and insulting a person who is in the process of helping someone else for no personal benefit?

Minnesotan, it is a waste of my time to argue with you. However, if any of you care to go back to the original thread where Minnesotan made his original insulting remark, you will see that the two main persons between whom the conversation was being held at that point were both offended by Minnesotan's post. by the way, minnesotan, regarding "not letting go"...persistence is considered one of the most important virtues in academia...at least in the scientific world...you are just displaying your ignorance of what it takes to win in research.

In fact, I feel like repeating my main point again: I will not tolerate nonsense...and being drawn out of a situation where I was trying to be of help to another member, and being targetted time and again with snide remarks over the trivial matter of use of "u" strikes me as such...

Exactly.

If you were just trying to be funny and not offensive, I dont have any problem with it. But, your posts came across as offensive, and I am not the only one who thought so. It is surprising that you do not see that even now. If you are referring to me in your 2nd point, I have had a successful start in academia. I hope you have had similar success, but I doubt it from your remarks. No, I do not think I need some random person in the street to tell me whether I am great or not. I only value the opinion of certain people, and you are not among them Minnesotan; I dont think this should come as a surprise to you at this point though. And, this is just a fact, not a jibe at you. Yes, I agree this thing has gotten out of hand.

It is true that I am very focused (ok, stressed) on selecting the best offer right now, so I probably find Minnesotan's diversion to a relatively trivial matter more annoying than I would have otherwise done. I will not try to change your opinion about my maturity and "faintness of heart" because it (your opinion) is of no consequence really. The people in my field who know me already know whether I am mature or not etc. I have already spent significant time in academia...and quite successfully, if I may add. But, thanks for your advice. Since you were nice enough to give me an advice, let me give you a couple. Here goes: 1) To be successful in academia, one needs to strive for depth in one's thinking. 2) One should not jump to conclusions. I wonder what you will think...when you see someone amble into your conference session in a short and old T-shirt (where everyone else is suited and booted), and discuss stuff with you...maybe you wont take him seriously.

Of course, if he had politely asked me I would have not taken offense at all. I already indicated so in my main reply to historygirl. Both. Right, I agreee with you. As I have repeatedly said, I have no problem with someone liking or disliking the use of "u". However, in the originial post, he clearly came across as demanding that I write in a certain way. Do you disagree? I am not saying that we have to be professional here or anything like that. It is not any lack of professionalism I am attacking...I am attacking his saying that the forum should be professional on one hand and being unprofessional on the other. Please go back and find where he talks about professionalism. As I said, I will not tolerate nonsense...and being drawn out of a situation where I was trying to be of help to another member, and being targetted time and again with snide remarks over the trivial matter of use of "u" strikes me as such... Regarding the rest of your quote, please read my original reply to historygirl again...I have made a clear point that when the writer does not have anything to benefit and is writing in a free forum, s/he need not feel obliged to take on the burden of making readers make read his/ her post. The burden is on the reader, not on the writer. Clearly, this is not the case in all communication, and I illustrated this with my example of publications. This is a fundamental point...so, am I clear? I would really urge you to carefully read my original reply to historygirl. That actually contains the gist of my position on this whole matter, and I have not really said much new since then.

"You flew off the handle because I asked why it was so hard to spell out the word "you."" You make it sound as if you had nicely asked me...and if you had done so, I would have politely agreed not to use "u"...but, how many people have to find your post offensive before you realize that the way you had raised the issue was offensive??

I had defined "such a person"...and it sure was not "someone who disagrees with me."

I think you are just thinking vulgar words while I meant vulgar in a rather broad sense. Besides, I am not reeferring to just this thread. A small miscommunication here, sorry about that. Anyway, here are your examples... from original thread: " I say screw them, if they're going to dick you around like that" ...not that I disagree with the implied content here! Following are vulgar manner of speaking, even if no vulgar word has been used: -Is it really all that difficult to spell out the word, "you?"...in response to a post aimed to be helpful on an issue highly relevant to the context of this forum. This started things off. -While I'd rather you swore than wrote in "idiotspeak", that's your call. -It's sadder when people have to be humorless "asses" to make themselves feel superior. (You keep talking of adult community and professional community as if they are the same things). Vulgar implication (and probably the worst of the lot): -It's always the people like you who leave after their first year, and go brood for a living at the trendy coffee shops, downtown. ...I mean how can someone make a statement like that against another member in a forum that is meant to be supportive of prospective grad students?? This particular statement unambiguously violates the spirit of this forum. These were entirely unprofessional statements, so I think it was hypocritical of you to talk about professionalism.

" Is that the meaning that you get from this?? I seem to have stated quite clearly that ...I do not respect people who do not consider the content of a text with seriousness because there are a few instances of the use of "u" in place of "you"...(and in light of my previous post), I do not feel obliged to care much whether they read my text or not...(text that is aimed to be helpful). So, why are you imposing this new meaning onto my quote...that people who disagree with me deserve no respect??

@ historygirl, Yes, I have decided that it is time to rip Minnesotan apart. I believe that he has crossed the line of basic courtesy far too many times and just taking advantage of the fact that I am being courteous. I usually prefer to give courtesy the first chance, but I do not tolerate nonsense, as I have said before...