Why?

From: Scott Walde <scott_at_saskatoon.com>
Date: Sat Jun 21 14:50:58 1997

Okay, I've been watching this thread with some disgust for a while now.
I'm not really sure if i should even bother replying, but i guess i will
anyway.

It seems to me that the root of this whole thread is that some people
don't agree with other people. Is this stating the obvious? Maybe, but
it hasn't been addressed. It's a fact in a world as big as ours, with
people as diverse as they are, that not everybody is going to agree with
everything you think or believe. This in and of itself is not a problem.
What is a problem is when I start thinking less of another person because
they don't believe the same as I do. I think an example is in order. I
have strong religious beliefs. Most of the people I work with don't have
the same beliefs that I do. This doesn't mean that they are any less
valuable as humans. It doesn't mean that I am superior to them. It
doesn't mean that I should respect them less because they think
differently than I do. I might even try to convince another person to
join my religion/sect/denomination/whatever. If he/she joins me, great.
If he/she doesn't, it doesn't mean that he/she is any less of a person or
deserves any less respect because of it. Okay, the example is long-winded
but I think it applies directly to Classic Computer Collecting. Most of
us have political, religous, or moral beliefs. Most of the people on this
list have beliefs about Classic Computer Collecting as well. I'm sure for
many on this list, computer beliefs rank right up there with the others.
It's only natural that a person who believes a classic computer should be
kept in operational condition will react negatively to a another wishing
to remove the CPU from a functional computer, rendering it non-functional.
This person may even try to convince the other to not do it. Does this
mean that either of these people is superior to the other? No. They
simply believe different things.
Back to the religion thing again... If I was giving something away, and a
person wanted it to use it for some purpose which I am 'religiously'
opposed to (I can't think of a good example off hand) I would probably try
to find someone else to take the item. I think that this should be my
right. (I do have the right to practice my religion, don't I?) I hope
you can see how this applies directly to the computer issue.
This is getting to be a much longer email than I had intended, and I could
keep going on, but the short of it is: We all have our reasons for
collecting (I think someone already said that in this thread) and we
shouldn't think we are superior to another because they think differently.
This also goes the other way. We shouldn't feel attacked just because
someone else doesn't believe the same as we do and maybe even tries to
convince us to believe the same as them.
I just deleted another three lines... I really should stop here.

This mailling list is supposed to be fun. Let's keep it that way.

ttfn
srw

(Sorry about using 'they' and 'them' in singular context. I'm choosing
politically correct over grammatically correct :-)
Received on Sat Jun 21 1997 - 14:50:58 BST