brucie-pie, with poetry some readings are more defendable than others. Some opinions are "more correct" (HA!) Ya know?:cool:

You had to have been there. ;)

These are "parody threads", not clones, which would be identical.

There's nothing downright wrong with them, but most of the time they go over flatly. "Hey guys I just thought of a pun!" "Right."

However it is most revealing that this parody thread got more and smarter attention than the original. It speaks to what we pay attention to and how you build your reputation here.

"Here" or in any situation with human beings?

People are people, no matter "where" you are.

But you have to build your reputation separately in every new environment.

Yes, you have to build your reputation "here" or anywhere else, I just said that.

That's such a wonderful point, Flint, I can almost hear your reputation growing now. It's posts like that which really bring your thinking out in a way which people respect. People will surely read your threads now, it is obvious that they are not a waste of everyone's time. Good work man.

Could you put a SMILIE on that post?

I don't know what people mean without an animated cartoon face to explain it.

Advanced irony - the hits just keep on comin'. This is clearly what drives traffic to a message board: dynamic personality by the boatload! It's all about the Flinter! I want to party with you man!

Feed him an unplucked goose.

Some folks are so obsessed with "humanity" as a repository of all good and desirable traits (and apparently subject to conveniently variable definition) that I'm beginning to suspect they may be alien fanboys sent here in a vain attempt to discover what humanity actually is. Somehow, whatever they do is offered as evidence of their humanity, and whatever they don't like about you is clear evidence that you aren't human.

People are still just people, for better or worse, when they log on to the internet. Whatever you've learned in your life which applies to human nature is perfectly applicable on any website. There aren't any special exceptions on the internet for typical bad human behavior such as conclusion-jumping. There aren't any special rewards on the internet for typical good human behavior such as treating people with respect. Humanity isn't "good" or "bad" - it simply is what it is. Each human being is equally as valid as any other.

What on earth could the attribute "valid" possibly mean when applied to a person? If it makes you feel good to be "valid", go right ahead, but...

@Maggie: You're really reaching for that appearance of disagreement there. It's clear that our posts actually state the same concept, IE every person is valid - It is a baseline quality, therefore it doesn't "mean" anything in relative terms.

@UT: We really do need a dead horse emoticon!