Why would people do that ?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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PeterB
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Why would people do that ?

Post by PeterB »

I sometimes think the older I get the less I understand.
Why would someone repeatedly crash a site they are banned from ( two sites in fact ) ?
Why would they adopt a range of nics and re-enter a site just to cause problems for that site ?
I can understand getting banned , and then slipping under the radar and continuing to post while keeping your nose clean.
I am baffled by those who rejoin a forum in order simply to pick fights....While still professing an interest in Dhamma... :thinking:
Jhana4
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Jhana4 »

PeterB wrote:I sometimes think the older I get the less I understand.
Why would someone repeatedly crash a site they are banned from ( two sites in fact ) ?
Why would they adopt a range of nics and re-enter a site just to cause problems for that site ?
I can understand getting banned , and then slipping under the radar and continuing to post while keeping your nose clean.
I am baffled by those who rejoin a forum in order simply to pick fights....While still professing an interest in Dhamma... :thinking:

I brought up a similar issue several months ago. A long thread was getting longer between a disgruntled poster, the mods and other board members. Nothing was being resolved, the arguments were getting worse and more pointless.

I think that situation was driven by two things. One was the normal human interaction/offense/ego thing made worse by the internet. The other is a blind spot many good people have in forgetting to apply skillfull means and other parts of the dhamma to internet reactions. In a number ways it is more needed on the internet and at the same time it is less likely to occur to people to apply detachment from views, right speech, skillfull means and restraint on the internet.
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
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Goofaholix
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Goofaholix »

I think some people think the internet is some kind of alternate reality where the normal standards by which we conduct human interaction and morality don't apply.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
PeterB
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by PeterB »

Goofaholix wrote:I think some people think the internet is some kind of alternate reality where the normal standards by which we conduct human interaction and morality don't apply.
Maybe Goofaholix....I assume that the same people would not go uninvited to someones house get asked to leave and then keep sneaking back in wearing a selection of disguises... :shrug:
beeblebrox
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by beeblebrox »

I think it's ironic because it's easier for me to be good online (not that I'm perfect) than it is for me in real life. I've had some people tell me that I'm the nicest person they've ever met online (on yahoo, not here) and I tell them that they'll probably be disappointed in real life. (Not that I don't still try my best in real life.)

:anjali:
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tiltbillings
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by tiltbillings »

PeterB wrote:I sometimes think the older I get the less I understand.
Why would someone repeatedly crash a site they are banned from ( two sites in fact ) ?
Why would they adopt a range of nics and re-enter a site just to cause problems for that site ?
I can understand getting banned , and then slipping under the radar and continuing to post while keeping your nose clean.
I am baffled by those who rejoin a forum in order simply to pick fights....While still professing an interest in Dhamma... :thinking:
In the case of element/nick, our worse offender who claims to be sotapanna, it could be very simple: he is a immature jerk who likes jerking around others, not just the forum staff, but also the users of this forum by his lying deceptions, which he has done repeatedly. He was initially banned for repeatedly ignoring Dhamma Wheel's Terms Of Service and for nasty behavior towards other members. both on the forumsd and via PMs. He was issued warnings, given temporary suspensions before a full ban was issued, and from that time onwards he has been repeatedly logging on under various guises, telling various lies to suck in the users of this forum into his deceptions. Why would anybody act in such an immature, stupid manner? His actions likely speak to his character. It is an ongoing thing, which is part of the cost of making this sort of service available to the Dhamma community -- which is: there are always those for their bent reasons who will abuse it.

We have spammers trying to sell their wares, a disgruntled user with an attack blog directed at Dhamma Wheel, and this sort of behaviour by element, as well as other things occasionally erupting. Dhamma Wheel may not be perfect, but we try to make this a welcoming and safe place for discussion and learning, and in the meantime the staff here will run interference with those who are trying to be disruptive.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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kirk5a
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by kirk5a »

tiltbillings wrote: Dhamma Wheel may not be perfect, but we try to make this a welcoming and safe place for discussion and learning, and in the meantime the staff here will run interference with those who are trying to be disruptive.
Well, thank you Tilt, and thank you to the rest of the staff, for taking the time and effort to make Dhamma Wheel what it is - you're performing a great service. :namaste:
"When one thing is practiced & pursued, ignorance is abandoned, clear knowing arises, the conceit 'I am' is abandoned, latent tendencies are uprooted, fetters are abandoned. Which one thing? Mindfulness immersed in the body." -AN 1.230
PeterB
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by PeterB »

Seconded.
I admire the patience of all the mods...and apologise for the times I try that patience.
:anjali:
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Ytrog
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Ytrog »

I completely missed the above mentioned events apparently :o

I wonder why someone would want to be trolling on a forum like this or on any forum for that matter. :shrug:
Suffering is asking from life what it can never give you.
mindfulness, bliss and beyond (page 8) wrote:Do not linger on the past. Do not keep carrying around coffins full of dead moments
If you see any unskillful speech (or other action) from me let me know, so I can learn from it.
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Goofaholix
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Goofaholix »

PeterB wrote:Maybe Goofaholix....I assume that the same people would not go uninvited to someones house get asked to leave and then keep sneaking back in wearing a selection of disguises... :shrug:
No, and if they did we'd probably call such a person a psycopath.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
Jhana4
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Jhana4 »

Sneaking back onto a web board after it was made clear that you weren't wanted is not healthy, but it is different from physically entering someone's home uninvited.
In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:
One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.
The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.
daverupa
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by daverupa »

Perhaps this is (another?) reason actual sotapanna stay quiet about such a thing; there's simply nothing to be gained by such an utterance; wholesome Q&A over Dhamma does not require such a thing.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Ben
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by Ben »

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the fantastic contribution you have made to this site. Its through your efforts and discussions that have made Dhamma Wheel what it is - the largest and most active English-language Buddhist discussion forum on the Internet.
Despite the high visibility of spammers, trolls, and various troublemakers they only represent a tiny fraction of activity here.
Thanks again for being here and for making Dhamma Wheel what it is!
kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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retrofuturist
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Ben,
Ben wrote:Despite the high visibility of spammers, trolls, and various troublemakers they only represent a tiny fraction of activity here.
I was actually pleased to see that whilst it's high visibility to us as staff, that members aren't being overly impacted by it in their interactions on the site... and in fact some are oblivious to it unless attention is specifically drawn to the issues.

I also wanted to second your thanks to our members for being cool. 8-)

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
chownah
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Re: Why would people do that ?

Post by chownah »

Why would people do that?

Sometimes people think that their message is urgently needed and they see attempts to censor them as just one more obstacle in the path of them delivering this urgent message. Perhaps sometimes these people are correct and they are actually doing their best to deliver a message that we could benefit from reading.....probably this is not usually the case. I know that in the past it has happened that my attempts at creating serious dialogue have been censored...and it is my view that if the dialogue had been allowed then people would have benefitted....
chownah
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