On the one hand, any intelligent person should realize that anything they post on the web under their real name could be read by anyone, even those to whom the remarks/arguments were not addressed.
On the other hand, if I made a reasonable and rational set of statements, such as those made by Purdue University grad student Paul Deignan made in a thread about confirming Judge Alito, and the result was that another commenter decided to throw his educational weight around and contact my dissertation advisor with a great deal of defamatory words, I'd be pretty ticked.
You'll need to follow this link to read Paul's statements, because the site on which he posted decided, after nastily calling him names, to delete the whole thread. If that's what bitchPHD considers "trolling", I find it hard to understand how she functions in the real world, unless she's managed to create one where everyone worships her perfect little self. Here's hoping Paul's advisor will be smart enough to call everyone involved in this little brouhaha - except Paul himself - an idiot.
Dean's World calls the Professor Hettle "vicious and childish." My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy uses stronger language. Considering how quick Professor Hettle was to resort to insults, I hope he can take them as well. I also hope he's ready for the legal and verbal onslaught that's coming from Paul, who's a student of game theory and doesn't back down easily.
Posted by kswygert at November 7, 2005 05:36 PM