I make poem. You die.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Entropy S

Uhm, doesn't matter if it's pretentious or not. Nor does it matter if he did it anonymous. It's not about him, it's about his poem. They are his feelings and private thoughts that he tried to express in a personal and aesthetic way. Something he is most likely proud of, and he put it on display to be shot down hard. He must have known he took a big risk at negative criticism, though evidently he didn't estimate the risk well enough. But he still took that change in the hope of appreciation. That takes balls.

I'll take it the part about him being female was an attempt at humor, so I'll leave it. Though I will say from what I have previously seen of badtangent I have no reason to suspect he is a she.

I can appreciate where you are coming from but I still can't agree that it takes "balls" to do what TS did, given the anonymity of the internet. There is nothing to lose when your audience has no clue who you are. TS isn't even using his real name, and even if he did that would still give us no insight into who he is (I'll take your word for it that he is a male). He is playing a character named BadTangent.

I am often blown away by how many people take "personal" internet forum threads seriously. I am especially highly suspicious of people on Sherdog starting threads discussing the amount of "pussy" they get every night. Or what is even more puzzling is how people will talk about how drunk and stoned they are while having coherent thread discussions.

I am often skeptical when I know someone and they are claiming something. I am extremely suspect of what people do and say when it comes to an internet forum. I am sure that you are well aware that most people are playing characters on the internet.

Its all about presentation. Each person has their forum name, signature, and AV that they specifically chose to create an identity. Then they play off of that identity.

There are posters that are more genuine than others when it comes to posting but as Marshall Mcluhan writes, "the medium is the message" and in the context of a forum the medium is an online stage where the actor creates the character and writes their own script. They get to play their part without much risk because nobody is going to get a look behind their mask.

[Joe McPherson]

So the poem in the OP . . .

The first bit sounded like a prisoner writing from prison. After that I was completely lost. No idea what the rest or any of it was about. Cool, unique words though and I never knew what was coming next. It was like flipping quickly through the channels you never watch on TV.

[Joe McPherson]

Originally Posted by SafyreSchool

I hate fucking poetry that doesn't rhyme.
Where's the talent in that?
It's just a bunch of words now.

That's how I see it too. Modern poetry or prose or whatever it is, is too abstract and ultimately meaningless - or has whatever meaning you attach to it. It's like modern art that way. Blobs of paint on a canvas are either a mistake and thrown away or brilliant and sold for millions. Completely random, subjective, elitist, smug . . . Foolish in many ways.

[Entropy S]

Originally Posted by Atheist

I can appreciate where you are coming from but I still can't agree that it takes "balls" to do what TS did, given the anonymity of the internet. There is nothing to lose when your audience has no clue who you are. TS isn't even using his real name, and even if he did that would still give us no insight into who he is (I'll take your word for it that he is a male).

I am often blown away by how many people take "personal" internet forum threads seriously. I am especially highly suspicious of people on Sherdog starting threads discussing the amount of "pussy" they get every night. Or what is even more puzzling is how people will talk about how drunk and stoned they are while having coherent thread discussions.

I am often skeptical when I know someone and they are claiming something. I am extremely suspect of what people do and say when it comes to an internet forum. I am sure that you are well aware that most people are playing characters on the internet.

Its all about presentation. Each person has their forum name, signature, and AV that they specifically chose to create an identity. Then they play off of that identity.

There are posters that are more genuine than others when it comes to posting but as Marshall Mcluhan writes, "the medium is the message" and in the context of a forum the medium is an online stage where the actor creates the character and writes their own script.

I appreciate the effort you put in your response. But I am going to keep this short about badtangent because you basically say you think people on a forum shouldn't be trusted, so anything I say about badtagent you will simply not believe.

I do have to say that you are too untrusting, i suspect it is because internet communication gives too little feedback for you to determine wether someone is sincere or not. With this little feedback you take a pessimistic stance and say you just don't believe them. But think about this. While I do agree that some people use the internet to create a pretend live, others that don't have the need herefor, because they either have a good real offline life or are just not that insecure that they need to lie to make them feel better, in other words have sufficient self esteem.

For the group of posters that don't need a pretend online life there is less reason to lie because of the anonymity. Because if people don't like it what they say, they won't get confronted with it irlf and it won't have any serious consequences. There is a saying that goes: the truth will set you free. Which basically comes down that telling the truth has a positive effect on you, it makes you feel good. Most of all if other people will validate your truthful opinion. And all potential rejecting responses do minimal damage, because of the anonymity.

So in conclusion, there is reason to doubt and believe people online. You just got to know how to spot either and keep an clear unbiased mind.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Entropy S

I appreciate the effort you put in your response. But I am going to keep this short about badtangent because you basically say you think people on a forum shouldn't be trusted, so anything I say about badtagent you will simply not believe.

I do have to say that you are too untrusting, i suspect it is because internet communication gives too little feedback for you to determine wether someone is sincere or not. With this little feedback you take a pessimistic stance and say you just don't believe them. But think about this. While I do agree that some people use the internet to create a pretend live, others that don't have the need herefor, because they either have a good real offline life or are just not that insecure that they need to lie to make them feel better, in other words have sufficient self esteem.

For the group of posters that don't need a pretend online life there is less reason to lie because of the anonymity. Because if people don't like it what they say, they won't get confronted with it irlf and it won't have any serious consequences. There is a saying that goes: the truth will set you free. Which basically comes down that telling the truth has a positive effect on you, it makes you feel good. Most of all if other people will validate your truthful opinion. And all potential rejecting responses do minimal damage, because of the anonymity.

So in conclusion, there is reason to doubt and believe people online. You just got to know how to spot either and keep an clear unbiased mind.

Thanks for the positive response. I am not used to that. You may be the first person that didn't swear at me or insult me in some way.

Though the negativity I receive could have a lot to do with my initial negative responses.

[Entropy S]

Originally Posted by Atheist

Thanks for the positive response. I am not used to that. You may be the first person that didn't swear at me or insult me in some way.

Though the negativity I receive could have a lot to do with my initial negative responses.

No problem.

I think you are right.

[Badtangent]

Some might say that the point of poetry, and indeed, all art, is to express oneself while at the same time evoking feeling from the viewer. In that light, I believe this thread to be a great success, more so than I'd hoped. Had I not written those things, none of this engaging dialogue between you two would have emerged. In that respect, we've all displayed the power we have as individualized creator entities, beautiful fragments of the infinite All That Is.

I'm glad.

[Entropy S]

Originally Posted by Badtangent

Some might say that the point of poetry, and indeed, all art, is to express oneself while at the same time evoking feeling from the viewer. In that light, I believe this thread to be a great success, more so than I'd hoped. Had I not written those things, none of this engaging dialogue between you two would have emerged. In that respect, we've all displayed the power we have as individualized creator entities, beautiful fragments of the infinite All That Is.

I'm glad.

I feel good about it too, badtangent. I'm sorry I called your poem shit, but I'm just being honest, lol. Not that the contents is shit, but just that it's as unclear as could be to me.

[Badtangent]

Originally Posted by Entropy S

I feel good about it too, badtangent. I'm sorry I called your poem shit, but I'm just being honest, lol. Not that the contents is shit, but just that it's as unclear as could be to me.

Do not worry friend.

[HillRaiser]

Originally Posted by Badtangent

Some might say that the point of poetry, and indeed, all art, is to express oneself while at the same time evoking feeling from the viewer. In that light, I believe this thread to be a great success, more so than I'd hoped. Had I not written those things, none of this engaging dialogue between you two would have emerged. In that respect, we've all displayed the power we have as individualized creator entities, beautiful fragments of the infinite All That Is.

I'm glad.

You should post in my computers learning literary criticism thread.