I recently bowed out of a discussion, citing irritability as the reason my behavior had been out of sorts, and that I wanted to establish a more certain handle on my tone before proceeding further. While that is certainly true, and concern for my relationship with another member definitely motivated my response, that is not the entire story, either. In doing research for a signature line to use on another forum, I came across the following line from Nietzsche.
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster."
It gave me some pause to consider my own behavior, both recently, as well as in light of the recent forum drama. I certainly do not want to back down in my responsibility as an ethical person to fight for the things that I believe in, even if that means at some times I become a monster in doing so. Excess in defense of virtue is no vice, they say. I'm not sure about that, but I wonder any more if I'm the monster that I want to be or whether being the monster has in some sense taken over from other virtues and behaviors that I might be neglecting. As a consequence, though I feel it somewhat undeserved, and the person doesn't seem particularly interested in honest debate anyway, I now find myself on someone's ignore list. Perhaps that was inevitable. Perhaps not. And my irritability concerning another newer member has left me antagonizing them somewhat unnecessarily. I don't know if I want to like that person or not, but I'd rather keep that chance open for the time being, rather than close it off through sheer laziness and habit. Slamming moronic twats like Drich? Yeah, I got no problem with that. Many times I'm perfectly fine with playing the monster. However, I'm beginning to wonder if erring on the side of caution might be more prudent, and if I have not inadvertently become someone whom I'm not sure that I want to be.
What about you? If you are, likewise, occasionally the monster, are you the monster that you want to be? Or am I simply making a tempest in a teapot?
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster."
It gave me some pause to consider my own behavior, both recently, as well as in light of the recent forum drama. I certainly do not want to back down in my responsibility as an ethical person to fight for the things that I believe in, even if that means at some times I become a monster in doing so. Excess in defense of virtue is no vice, they say. I'm not sure about that, but I wonder any more if I'm the monster that I want to be or whether being the monster has in some sense taken over from other virtues and behaviors that I might be neglecting. As a consequence, though I feel it somewhat undeserved, and the person doesn't seem particularly interested in honest debate anyway, I now find myself on someone's ignore list. Perhaps that was inevitable. Perhaps not. And my irritability concerning another newer member has left me antagonizing them somewhat unnecessarily. I don't know if I want to like that person or not, but I'd rather keep that chance open for the time being, rather than close it off through sheer laziness and habit. Slamming moronic twats like Drich? Yeah, I got no problem with that. Many times I'm perfectly fine with playing the monster. However, I'm beginning to wonder if erring on the side of caution might be more prudent, and if I have not inadvertently become someone whom I'm not sure that I want to be.
What about you? If you are, likewise, occasionally the monster, are you the monster that you want to be? Or am I simply making a tempest in a teapot?
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