A little understanding, please - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

08-17-2004, 01:29 PM

I've been reading this group for some time, and I've found it to be normally
friendly and informative.

Of late, however, it seems to be suffering from the attentions of a rather
troubled individual calling himself "DRS". I have avoided saying anything so
far, because I thought that the matter would die out in its own time, but I see
he is posting again, so I would like to offer a little insight into his
condition in the hope that it will enable people people to let him be. My only
qualification for offering these insights is that I work with children with
special needs, and I recognize the particular problem this poster has.

There is no way that anyone is going to make any progress, such is his
delusional mentality.

What you must realize if that he does not see the world as normal people see it.
He is quite obsessed with a relatively trivial annoyance: "top posting", and for
him it is like a holy crusade. Although he has, in this instance mistaken a
quite innocent posting of an article, it is just the same to him as if it was a
genuine top posting incident, and in his mind he sees himself as some of hero,
some crusader who must defeat a great evil. Once he has latched onto that which
he detests, he is quite immune to reason.

In his mind, all the people who read and post to rbm naturally agree with him,
and only a very few "idiots" post disputing what to him is obviously clearly
correct. He has learned the expression "argumentum ad numerum", which he uses,
completely incorrectly to support his fallacious stances. It is interesting to
note that although utterly obsessed with top posting, and the need to "obey the
rule" (even though there is no "rule" as such"), he is quite happy to post
obscenities in a ng which could very easily have an audience of minors.

Even when forced into a corner by a poster who analyses all his errors, and
explains them clearly and consisely, he is not fazed. He simply states "wrong"
after each point made, presumably in the (quite absurd) belief that this will
somehow answer logically constructed arguments, and demonstrable truths.

So, please, realize that you are not going to get anywhere with this sad and
disturbed individual. I don't doubt he'll reply to this post with his usual
spurious nonesense, and will be quite happy that in doing so he has vindicated
himself once again (which is how he sees his asinine responses).

I suggest we just leave him to it.

Andy