Herd behaviour
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TheOldReb
Nov 18, 2007
0
#21
D I X I E F O R E V E R !!!
Nov 18, 2007
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#24
well, if they're from up North, they're called Yankees; if they're from down here, they're called critters.
I like this topic , very interesting reading . and i must say there are alot of you who are insulting and ridiculing him , but put your highly trained minds to this thought , are we ,chess players not people who go against the flow , not follow the crowd because we dont care what people think of us , but now that we have started swiming upstream , we go into the herd of the chess players who stick together . i mean honeslty , what are you afraid of to stand alone and think with your own chess playing mind , are people going to say haha your a geek cause you play chess , ummm wait everyone else here does too ! you're just a new breed of followers who stick out, to fit in ...........
I dont fit the geek nor nerd mold....I grew up huntin and fishin and fightin in Dixie in the 60s and got crazy about chess in the early 70s. My closest friends and family thought I had taken ill when I started missing huntin or fishin trips to play in chess events! I had many opponents over the years tell me "you don't look like a chess player". I was never sure what they meant exactly....what does a chess player "look like" ? I guess they meant I was obviously not the "runt" among chess players?
From my own standpoint, i like to enter into arguments/debates, these kind of things interest me. Not that i would consider my self a shepherd though, my flock of sheep would've long gone looking for pastures new.
Apologies for the slightly agressive rhetoric, i tend to fight fire with fire, when perhaps water would be more suitable. I suppose that needless sychophancy (and i don't care if i've mispelled it!!) has always irritated me immensely, and that was ( in a rather confusing and long-winded way) was the main point i was trying to make. As chess players we are all individually minded and hopefully intelligent enough to form our own opinions, justify them, and shouldn't have to bask in the reflected glory of our peers.
Further to the rather obscure frenchmen, what the hell have the McCanns got do with this thread??? The phrase "clutching at straws" seems particularly apt!!!!
Nov 18, 2007
0
#29
I'm not sure if sycophancy irritates me, even if the sycophants are the back-up group to a lead singer whose song is to put me in my place. I think, right or wrong, my reaction tends to be more judgemental, as I rule them intellectually stunted, and I simply dismiss their choral efforts as too insignificant to matter. What stikes me as really odd is how some people, many of whom appear both intelligent and literate, seem to actually need those sycofantic voices, as if they are some sort of empathic audience who applaud on cue to their little performances. So, in a sense, their relationship is symbiotic. The sycophants feed off their leader's mind and the leader feeds of their attention. I started to say I find it all amusing, but I really don't. I think I find it a mildly absurd social interaction... and I tend to like absurdities.
Wow batgirl you are describing FICS ch39 exactly. The behaviour there could be likened to pack mentality rather than herd mentality. Some of the rather politically savvy members have their little sidekicks who echo their masters sentiments whenever they are opposed. If it becomes evident that someone is predominately disagreed with, they can be like vultures upon a carcass, their search engines humming to throw in refutations with links at lightning speed.
I avoid that channel like the plague now, as I prefer to enjoy my recreation time.
Nov 19, 2007
0
#31
"The behaviour there could be likened to pack mentality rather than herd mentality."
That a good distinction, one I hadn't really thought of. Very similar, yet very different. hmmm.... it seems like the same type of leader/follower relationship but different relationships of the group to the whole. I have to think this over. Thanks.
These forums are almost like a bad hip-hop album. I see a lot of 'quote' posting and back patting. It's just like sample biting and shout-outs. People need affirmation though, because we are simple animals. You'd think chess people would be more inclined toward independant thought, being the egotistical bunch we are. One of the things I try to do on these forums is to drop little packages of chess wisdom for people to find. It would be nice to get some sort of response to know that people saw my posts, but my ego is no better or worse just because of the way people react or don't react to my postings. I my personal best chess game in a forum, and out of like 200+ hits I've had like 4 people say anything. This was a game that I put some good annotations in and one I thought would be appreciated on a site like this. So I don't really care anymore about response, I'll just post, and if people learn something from my success or failures, all the better for the chess community.
I love Batgirl's responses. Always keeps me in a good mood. Chessroshi made a pretty good analogy to hip-hop also. I hope me liking these posts doesn't upset anyone.
Hey Reb, I have heard of a camp of bats. I know for a fact that scientists refer to them as 'colonies' just like ants. I have no idea how I know this.
spair75 wrote:
'Laissez faire' - monty , 'Laissez faire' is the phrase ; you seem chronically poor at english, let alone french phrases. Of course anything you'll say will be seconded by your english 'tamworth' pal. This is normal. Similar attitude is seen with the mcCanns problem - whom the Portuguese suspect are involved with their 'missing' daughter. Many english take this as an affront and turn on the Portuguese as a whole calling them all names under the sun. Forgetting there is a girl probably killed. Then they go off and accuse the poor but innocent Moroccans, simply because they are 'foreign' enough. Even in their own country mind. Even if they themselves have blonde haired little girls. Yet the english go to portugal for their 'joyous' holidays to escape their drab rainy porridge-laden fields. I am truly sorry for arguing with you monty - but you did say that we needed to find something to disagree on before we can decide to write in forums.
You realise it's not me you're arguing with there? The different username should be a dead giveaway.
Why not answer my message? I'll be happy to educate you a little.
Bats are often found together in the thousands.....I am not sure what they are called, I would just call em a shitload of bats but I am sure they have some fancy name for that many bats together that isnt so crude! 
a colony of bats
Nov 19, 2007
0
#38
nah, that's just where bats hang out, like the local bat street corner, only it's in a bell tower.
AlecKeen wrote: Pimpingpawnage wrote: spair75 wrote:
Independantly? Does not exist chess forum pal.
Independently yes!
Are you saying that we sit back and do not post any message on any forum? Or are you saying that we only can disagree before doing so and until then we don't converse on any forum? Would you then disagree that forums are also meant to simply have fun. Just to carry on someone else posting means that we are being sociable. And humans are sociable beings. Unless you are martian you must agree. It is not a pathetic thing to have fun and toi be sociable. No matter how trite the postings are. But then i get your point - you are simply having your own fun yourself and being miserly and provocative is your way of having fun!!! I am sure you do not take yourself seriously!! Surely you do not think that you are a great philosopher for example? lol!!!
oh the pedantry, dear me , did i forget to do a spellcheck, what a worthy opening reposte!!!
So.. so far, i'm pretentious, and "surely don't think that i'm a great philsopher"
Humans are social beings, that is exactly my point!, They rely on social interaction to validate their own sense of self-worth, i am arrogant enough to forgoe such validation. What is pathetic is those who can only point out the obvious, who are unable to countenance the bigger picture, or rely on minor issue s(such as spellingg) to get into a conversation.
Its easier to critise, than to be constructive, why create when you can react,
why be different, when you can conform, why take risks, when you can play it safe.
Baaaaaaaaaaa (thats the noise a sheep makes for the less imaginative of you)
xx nighty nighy, its 3:30am here so i'm off to bed to get sleep off my crack comedown,so you have a few hours to launch your outraged tirades, before i awake with renewed vigour to tackle the vultures circling the solitary mammal (mammal..has backbone)on the great plains of this wonderful cyberworld
Sorry, mate, you forgot the spellcheck (ugly word!) again. No reposte; maybe riposte.
Viva Ireland
