View Poll Results: I read between the lines ....
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I tend to trust the poster
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16 |
19.51% |
I read between the lines, try to toe the neutral line.
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15 |
18.29% |
I tend to be skeptical
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9 |
10.98% |
Depends on poster, post, mood of the day, how many coffee I had, ...
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42 |
51.22% |
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The art of reading between the lines
12-31-2014, 11:03 AM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 2,745
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The art of reading between the lines
When someone posts a thread about a conflict, confrontation, he-said-she-said tales, do you trust everything the member wrote and come to his/her aid, read between the lines and look at things from opposite side, or become skeptical and questions his/her claim?
If you read between the lines, what kind of things do you notice? What are things you look for to validate his/her story? What do you typically "see" between the lines?
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12-31-2014, 11:09 AM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Bernalillo, NM
Posts: 2,717
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I'm trying to figure out what you really mean in your post
__________________
"We live the lives we lead because of the thoughts we think" ...Michael O’Neill
"We can cannot compel others to do our will" ....Norman Goldman
"There never is shortage of the gullible to accept the illogical"...Anonymous
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12-31-2014, 11:28 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,420
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Depends on the poster. Most of the regulars seem to have a pretty straight forward approach to their questions and are at least consistent in their positions.
I have seen a few less regular posters that sometimes require suspension of disbelief (I'm 27 years old, have $7 million that I've earned myself etc....yes, I know there are people like that but....)
A red light goes off when the words and music don't go together like when folks claim to have very large portfolios but ask quite naive investing questions. (If you're so rich, how come you're not smart? ...and where is your financial advisor?)
Or (this might be the New England elitist in me...forgive me!) when the sentence structure/grammar doesn't suggest the mental wherewithal to support the "$7 million I made on my own" claim.
I could be wrong...DW reminds me that I'm wrong every few hours, but I was brought up to be skeptical and have developed a fairly accurate bu##s@*t meter.
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-31-2014, 11:37 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 4,337
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marko
Depends on the poster. Most of the regulars seem to have a pretty straight forward approach to their questions and are at least consistent in their positions.
I have seen a few less regular posters that sometimes require suspension of disbelief (I'm 27 years old, have $7 million that I've earned myself etc....yes, I know there are people like that but....)
A red light goes off when the words and music don't go together like when folks claim to have very large portfolios but ask quite naive investing questions. (If you're so rich, how come you're not smart? ...and where is your financial advisor?)
Or (this might be the New England elitist in me...forgive me!) when the sentence structure/grammar doesn't suggest the mental wherewithal to support the "$7 million I made on my own" claim.
I could be wrong...DW reminds me that I'm wrong every few hours, but I was brought up to be skeptical and have developed a fairly accurate bu##s@*t meter.
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My first go on any post it to take it at face value but I agree with you that we periodically get new posters that clearly strain any credibility I might typically give them.
Outrageous amounts of assets, income and expenses immediately make me suspicious especially when coupled with profound ignorance of most any subject involved with amassing obscene levels of assets and not being able to demonstrate any of the necessary skills to obtain the horrendous income.
__________________
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane -- Marcus Aurelius
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12-31-2014, 11:46 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,420
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2B
Outrageous amounts of assets, income and expenses immediately make me suspicious especially when coupled with profound ignorance of most any subject involved with amassing obscene levels of assets and not being able to demonstrate any of the necessary skills to obtain the horrendous income.
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Sheesh! You said what I said, but soooo much more eloquently!
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-31-2014, 12:03 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2B
My first go on any post it to take it at face value but I agree with you that we periodically get new posters that clearly strain any credibility I might typically give them.
Outrageous amounts of assets, income and expenses immediately make me suspicious especially when coupled with profound ignorance of most any subject involved with amassing obscene levels of assets and not being able to demonstrate any of the necessary skills to obtain the horrendous income.
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Well, I just figure that they are either trust fund babies or major drug dealers....
I get a little skeptical about the ones who say that "a friend" is having a marital, parenting, home repair, or financial problem. So, I then wonder if it is the person posting who has that problem, and maybe he/she doesn't want to say that. A scenario goes through my mind, where the friend has asked the person posting what to do. The person posting then says, "Wait a minute, and I'll ask all my wise friends on this forum that you never read". Doesn't make sense to me but maybe that is what is happening.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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12-31-2014, 12:29 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,420
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Trust funders usually don't have to ask for investment advice; at least on forums.
Drug dealers...maybe more so, but the "retired early" might mean something more sinister.
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-31-2014, 12:30 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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My friend is so attractive that women keep throwing themselves at him. He asked me if I could tell him how to handle this. I told him that I have no experience of this sort (pity!) but my wise friends on a message board have experience with everything and always know how to handle tricky situations.
Suggestions for him?
Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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12-31-2014, 12:52 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,145
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Quote:
LOL
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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12-31-2014, 01:05 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 2,745
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Quote:
You need to click on the "skeptical" line. Trust me.
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12-31-2014, 01:10 PM
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#11
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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It's way too much work first, to misrepresent yourself and then, to remember the misrepresentation.
__________________
“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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12-31-2014, 01:13 PM
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#12
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,358
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marko
Most of the regulars seem to have a pretty straight forward approach to their questions and are at least consistent in their positions.
I have seen a few less regular posters that sometimes require suspension of disbelief.
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Even some of the regulars are pretty suspect IMHO.
For example, I am a completely fictitious persona that was created as a project in social engineering by a group of college students at an undisclosed location.
Year after year, each new class has taken "me" on as their project (the handoff from the previous class happens just after graduation each summer), and one of the objects is to see how well the fiction can be maintained without the rest of the forum catching on that they are actually dealing with a committee.
"I" am a regular member of a great many online forums, under various usernames, and so far we have managed fairly well. Oh, there is the occasional slip-up, but in general you folks have been gracious enough to pretend not to notice.
Just thought you should know.
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12-31-2014, 01:15 PM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 2,745
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Quote:
Originally Posted by braumeister
Even some of the regulars are pretty suspect IMHO.
For example, I am a completely fictitious persona that was created as a project in social engineering by a group of college students at an undisclosed location.
Year after year, each new class has taken "me" on as their project (the handoff from the previous class happens just after graduation each summer), and one of the objects is to see how well the fiction can be maintained without the rest of the forum catching on that they are actually dealing with a committee.
"I" am a regular member of a great many online forums, under various usernames, and so far we have managed fairly well. Oh, there is the occasional slip-up, but in general you folks have been gracious enough to pretend not to notice.
Just thought you should know.
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I read this as "You shouldn't drink too much of the stuff you make. "
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12-31-2014, 01:18 PM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
My friend is so attractive that women keep throwing themselves at him. He asked me if I could tell him how to handle this. I told him that I have no experience of this sort (pity!) but my wise friends on a message board have experience with everything and always know how to handle tricky situations.
Suggestions for him?
Ha
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A Teflon suit ?
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
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12-31-2014, 01:46 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,150
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I try to take folks at face value, so I put down tend to trust the poster. Note the words "try" and "tend"
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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12-31-2014, 02:06 PM
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#16
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,345
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
It's way too much work first, to misrepresent yourself and then, to remember the misrepresentation.
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Exactly, or as my mother put it "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive".
Since I'm not smart enough to keep all my lies straight it all eventually falls apart so I don't try anymore.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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12-31-2014, 02:30 PM
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#17
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Minneapolis 'burbs
Posts: 382
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robnplunder
I read this as "You shouldn't drink too much of the stuff you make. "
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Or he's escalated from brewing to distilling.
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12-31-2014, 03:51 PM
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#18
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 23,041
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I don't really care if people here are telling the truth or not. Even if we sometimes end up responding to an entirely fictitious scenario, we can still learn from each other's responses. I also have observed people who ask a question but already know the answer they want and seem merely to be seeking validation. I don't view it as a waste of time to answer, for even if the OP doesn't want to hear it, others might legitimately have that same question but have not yet gotten to the point of asking.
And, Ha, I think your friend should share the wealth.
__________________
Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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12-31-2014, 03:54 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,420
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby
I don't really care if people here are telling the truth or not. Even if we sometimes end up responding to an entirely fictitious scenario, we can still learn from each other's responses. I also have observed people who ask a question but already know the answer they want and seem merely to be seeking validation. I don't view it as a waste of time to answer, for even if the OP doesn't want to hear it, others might legitimately have that same question but have not yet gotten to the point of asking.
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This is a very good point. I've learned a lot from this site, often from answers to what could've been a fictitious posting/question.
__________________
Living well is the best revenge!
Retired @ 52 in 2005
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12-31-2014, 04:02 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gumby
And, Ha, I think your friend should share the wealth.
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James Garner had a good line for this in the film Murphy's Romance (probably good for New Year's Eve, too):
"Next time someone asks, just say 'yes'".
__________________
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