On Sun, Aug 5, 2012 at 6:49 PM, Thomas Jones <tajone02@syr.edu> wrote:
Calcanis doesn't need to pass muster as "research", nor was his observation about such behavior referenced as such. You act as if only researchers are privy to make socio-technological observations. That is disappointing.
I expect better, and more solid thinking, from people who are professionally engaged in research. This is quite normative. Some of the folks who one can expect reasonable positions from are in academia, though many are not. Calcanis in particular has said enough annoying things in the past that he's gotten my personal 'pass' - I discount things he says just because he says them. I do not do that lightly.
You say that: "Having one person with a loud-ish voice compare internet behavior to Aspergers syndrome is highly obnoxious. Having people who should know better repeat the statement is just unconscionable and bordering on 'vile'."
Interesting... Researchers been doing this since the the dawn of time, and too, have been labeled as "obnoxious", "unconscionable", and "borderline vile". Though such assertions have usually come from the ignorant and close-minded, more telling of yourself than of me, or Calcanis.
You're awfully quick to descend to assuming that it's the individuals on this list who're closed-minded and selling others short. It seems unlikely that this is going to be a productive community for you. Perhaps you should just write AoIR off completely.
No one has "flattened / construed" the issue down to trolling as being "Aspergers-driven". Such a lack of attention to detail is concerning from a researcher, especially when conveyed in such a condescending tone. Had you bothered to not only read, but attempt to understand the basic premise of Calcanis' assertion, you would have understood what he was saying - a tragic misstep in your response.
I don't want spend too much time on what Calcanis claims, because the vaguest outline of what has been mentioned so far is an affront to my understanding of what it means to be a human being, and how decent human beings should treat and interact with others. best, --e