Message-ID: <002701c171b6$735c4d20$049e7ad5@kevin>
From: "Kevin Ravenhill" <hdq@btinternet.com>
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
Subject: LF: "Discussion" and the amateur radio spirit
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 11:28:00 -0000
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Greetings all,

Sorry if this post is a little off-topic for the list but I felt something
needed to be said. Apologies if it sounds like a lecture, my intention was
simply to offer some constructive criticism on the subject of list postings
and I hope it will be seen as such.

I rejoined this list very recently, after deciding to leave it many months
ago due to what I saw as an unacceptably high level of "flaming" by one or
two people in particular. This, coupled with an apparent reluctance on the
part of some to accept that others may have different technical opinions to
their own.

Having received a couple of days postings since I rejoined, it has, sadly,
become all too apparent that nothing has changed. I see that the sniping is
still going on, and that some are still having to justify themselves in the
face of the technical bigotry / pedantry / apparent unfriendliness of
others. Unfortunately, this phenomenon does seem to be increasingly
prevalent within the amateur radio "community" (I now use that term
advisedly) in the UK in particular.

Technology marches on, and with it the number of different avenues for
exploration - all of which are equally valid, since this is meant to be a
hobby. As such, individuals should be free to explore whatever takes their
fancy without having to endure censure, disapproval or constraint from
anyone else. Indeed, anyone who would seek to discourage such self-training
and investigation does not deserve the privilege of a radio amateur licence,
IMHO. There are many aspects of the hobby which do not interest me at all,
but I would never seek to dissuade others from taking them up.

My impression (somewhat reinforced by talking to one or two acquaintances
who happen to be professional psychologists) is that this apparent penchant
for sniping at others is a particularly British "disease". Our American
friends in particular seem to suffer from it to a much lesser extent. This
seems to be borne out by the nature of the postings to various US-based
lists of which I am a member - even when discussions become heated, they are
almost always carried on in a spirit of friendliness and good humour. Or
perhaps it is just that I have missed something, or have simply failed to
appreciate the subtleties of wit and "drier" humour in this list?

Whatever happened to the spirit of amateur radio and the principle of
accepting someone else's viewpoint or interest as valid even if not
necessarily agreeing with it? IMO, if you can't offer constructive input to
a particular discussion then you should not post at all. Of course, I
realise that this post in itself may be seen as not very constructive, and
that I have therefore immediately broken my own rule - fair enough. I did
have reservations about posting it. Also, for that reason it will be my one
and only post on this subject. I am happy to reply to direct emails (so long
as they are reasonably constructive!) if anyone wants to continue this.

I fully expect to get flamed by somebody for daring to say something. In
such case it will simply reinforce my view and I will feel obliged to leave
this list for good. Some may see this as advantageous, of course....:-)

By way of some light relief, the following page is quite interesting:

http://www.qsl.net/vk2zto/ExpModes/beware.htm

(I put myself very definitely in the "Dreamer" category...)

Best regards to all in the spirit of amateur radio,

Kevin, G1HDQ.