I'm better than you.
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Yes, you read that right. I'm better than you.
Chances are that many of you were emotionally impacted by that statement. Most likely all kinds of negative emotions. Hold on to that, because I'm just getting started. I'm better than you. You're not as good as me. I can prove I'm better than you, and there's nothing you can say that will change that fact.
Upset yet?
The nerve of this guy, right? "How dare anyone proclaim such a thing!?!?!" "You don't know me and where I've been or what I've done!!!!" It's not hard to imagine what most of you are feeling. Despite what you're feeling...
I
Am
Better
Than
You
I am without a doubt better than you. Why is that such a problem? What if I were to say you're better than me? I bet you wouldn't have a problem with that. The insinuation that you're better than everyone else won't be met with much resistance, but the second someone demonstrates they are better than you... the fight is on. Why are you so afraid of the facts? Why do you expect reality to bend to your false vision of yourself?
Pissed off yet? I bet most of you have me in contempt. Those of you that don't, can probably stop reading because it's likely you don't need my help. Yet if you did get upset at all or did feel negatively toward me... I'd ask you to continue reading. You likely won't want to, but are you really OK with being so weak that you can't even read something without losing control of your emotions? Why is information that contradicts your beliefs immediately rejected? What if I can PROVE beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm better than you, just as I claimed above? Is your artificial view of yourself more important than the reality that I'm better than you? Despite being provided with concrete irrefutable evidence that I'm better than you, will you dismiss me, attack me, or deny it?
Why is it such a problem that I'm better than you? The reason this is a problem for many people is vastly complicated. Most people simply aren't very motivated in this life. The easy path is the one most commonly chosen. The view that we're all equal is a myth perpetuated without end. We aren't all equal. Not even close. This whole conversation comes down to one word, and that word is Truth. To some people, the truth is the most important thing in the world. These people seem quite rare. The vast majority of people enjoy their illusions, and will viciously defend them.
Accomplishment is where most people's sense of worth and pride is derived. They do something wonderful and they feel good about themselves. Yet that sense of accomplishment can often be misleading and lead to a false sense of worth. I've had this happen many times. I'll work hard on figuring something out, having spent a lot of time and effort... only to discover someone else has already solved the problem and did a better job than I did. The first few times I found myself in that place, it was uncomfortable. Yet even then the problem was my own. If I'd have looked for the information hard enough, I'd have found it. Could have saved myself considerable trouble.
I'll spare you the suspense and tell you my motivation for this post. I'm an expert. I know a tremendous amount of things and have an incredible amount of experience with a few very specific topics. The more I know and the more I demonstrate I know, the more people resist what I have to say. I view this to be the biggest hurdle in my life right now. It's been there, building, for almost a decade. I'm left with the question of why person "A" refuses to listen to person "B" when person B can demonstrate they have exponentially more experience than person "A?"
I mean, it makes zero sense... right? At first, it literally has no bearing in logic why someone won't listen to someone else with more experience. In a vacuum, that situation should never exist. Yet this society isn't a vacuum. It's a cesspool of liars, cheats, thieves, and other people with false senses of their own capabilities. If having a false sense of themselves isn't bad enough, the image they push out to the world is even more inflated and false! Just yesterday I spoke with someone on the phone that was told they needed a slower twist rate in their barrel if they wanted to be able to shoot heavy bullets. On a daily basis I hear from people that are mislead with terribly inaccurate information like that. So the fact that no one wants to listen to anyone else is actually quite logical when you consider what is happening in the world.
Yet why is a true expert made to suffer the inadequacies of all the jesters that came before him? This is akin to meeting a new girl and refusing to let her use a knife to cut steak in your presence because your last girl stabbed you. Your apprehension may be justified, but demanding others modify their behavior to suit your experiences is not.
I started out by saying I was better than you. In a few ways, I probably am better than most of you. Very few ways indeed, but in those few ways I can demonstrate I have more experience and more capability than the overwhelming majority of the people reading this. If you still get upset by that statement, that's unfortunate, but it doesn't make it less true. Let me explain.
I live shooting. More than anyone I know, or have ever met, precision rifle shooting is my life. I can prove it. Many of you have known me for some time, and have read my many articles and reviews. You've watched my videos I've produced. You've read the magazine articles I've written and had published. You've read my countless informative forum posts. You've seen me prove what I say for over a decade. So there's what you know. Here's some things you might not know.
I live on the "range." Quite literally, I can shoot out the windows of my house. I have static targets, short range to long, all over the place. I don't have to "drive to the range" to shoot, because I live on the range. I shoot every single day. At least one purposeful precision rifle round, every... single... day. I may miss a day here and there during the year if I'm stuck in a city while travelling. Obviously it's hard to get my rounds in while I'm at SHOT show or something like that, but I almost never miss a day. My office is also on "the range." Seeing a trend here? Almost ALL of my time is spent on this. Most of you have full time jobs that are NOT related to precision rifles. You do your job all day long all week long, and then a tiny amount of your "spare time" is spent shooting, with the majority of your spare time being spent on family activities and leisure... right? Right.
The kind of money I spend on hardware is ridiculous. Reloading equipment, rifles, optics, components, training tools, etc. It's endless. I know I spend more money on this than most of you because almost all of you will bitch and complain about how much things cost every time I speak to you. You'll complain about the $4000 scope and then two weeks later you'll post a picture of your new $70,000 boat online. I don't have a boat. I don't have a camper. I don't have any toys that aren't shooting related. Where I live is decided by how conducive it is to shooting. When I buy a truck, the major consideration is whether or not it will fit my shooting gear and be able to get to where I want to hunt.
So you see, this isn't a hobby of mine. It's a lifestyle. A lifestyle that I've dedicated myself to in a way that almost no one dedicates themselves to anything anymore. My shooting life is factored into virtually every decision I make. I truly love it.
Though despite my love of shooting, it pales in comparison to my love for helping others excel in this lifestyle. My life is defined by helping others. Yet these days my biggest problem is not whether I can help someone, it's whether they will let me help them. You read that right. People will call me for help on a daily basis, and the number one activity on those phone calls is verbal jousting with someone trying to have their own opinions validated. Every new phone call is an interview. A person that doesn't know a damn thing about the job at hand is interviewing me to see whether I know or not. I could literally tell this person nearly anything, and they wouldn't have the foggiest clue whether I was telling the truth or not. They don't have the experience. Yet that doesn't stop almost every new customer call from going that same way. They want to ask questions, and get my answers, while trying to simultaneously convince me that they already knew the answers. They were "just checking" with me.
The same thing is commonplace on forums. Everyone wants to post as if they are at my level of experience, yet no one can prove they are. I have dedicated my life to this as entirely as someone can, and I'm expected to endure the baseless arguments and defense mechanisms of past abuses of a person that works 60hrs a week as a tax accountant? Why does this person demand my respect? Why does this person think he is justified in arguing with me? This person will make a forum post asking about brass annealing and then argue my method, despite the fact that I've annealed more cases this year than he's even seen pictures of in his entire life!?!?!? Even worse than someone without proper experience arguing with me, are those that use advice they've received from someone else to argue with me. "Well so-and-so says that this other way is the correct way." Somehow this person gets some ego boost from simply knowing what some other reputable guy has to say on a topic.
Interestingly enough, in so far as it is fact that I'm better than you at some things... it is also fact that you are better than me at some things. The real difference is that I do not take offense that you are better than me. I expect that you will be at most things. You might be better at building a house than me. You might be better at driving a race car than me. You might be better at fixing an engine than me. It's just very unlikely that you're better at teaching people things about the precision rifle sport than I am. The reasons you're better at those other things than me is the same reason I'm better at this sport than you are: Time. You simply care more about and spend more time at those things than me. You DESERVE to be better at them, and you should be. When I call a heating and cooling company to have my air conditioner repaired, I'm not offended when the guy tells me something that contradicts my beliefs. I remember when I was ordering a new AC unit... I wanted a huge one. I wanted to be able to make it 50 degrees in my house if I wanted to. The guy told me I was nuts. He explained that if I get too big a unit, it won't run correctly or enough and would actually cause the unit to go out prematurely. He explained that I needed to have the right sized one for the size of space I was cooling. I didn't get pissed off at him because he knew more than me or told me something contradictory to my previous belief. I listened to him, and as a result I live in a happily cooled home.
So why do people resist help regarding precision rifles so much? Because men are fucking stupid... that's why. Most men take extreme pride in "knowing things." If someone claims they are wrong, they get offended. They are smart, so if that other guy is saying they are wrong, then he thinks they are not smart... and if he thinks they are not smart then it's time to fight. What about the truth? Doesn't the truth of something matter at all? It seems to not matter to most people. When I say that I have more experience with Tangent Theta optics than anyone else in this country... it seems that no one really cares whether that is true or not. Instead, they are only concerned with how that statement makes them feel... and it makes them feel like I'm an asshole. So that's how they proceed. What if I am actually the most experienced? If that is true, then wouldn't that make me the very best person to get information from?
Those of you that are used to my articles are no doubt anxiously awaiting all kinds of ideas and solutions. I hate to disappoint you, but I'm left with more questions than answers.
Why are truly excellent experts in their fields persecuted without end?
Why are people so quick to dismiss truth, no matter the evidence provided?
Why do people punch, kick, scream, and fight to stay in the darkness while simultaneously begging to be brought into the light?
I've only found one solution to all of this, and that solution is what I've come to be known for: My aggressive and blunt approach with people. I started out in this business well over a decade ago and had a very appealing personality. I was quite agreeable with folks. In time, I learned that there were more people with false information being extremely loud with their opinions than I could have ever imagined. It was clear that in order to keep my time from being consumed by those idiots, I had to have a mechanism to find the people that truly and genuinely wanted my help. That principle is what has guided the tone of my responses ever since. Those people are sincerely appreciative of my experience. Often they tell me that I'm the only person they've ever spoken to who truly tells them how it is without trying to sugar coat things and confuse them. It may be uncomfortable at first, but they ALWAYS come to find that what I was saying was the truth. Were it not truth, hard indisputable truth, I would not be presenting it as such. It takes great time and effort to find the truth and prove it... but it can be done and I do it on a regular basis.
Yet there is a large part of me that is sad that so many people will ignore truth and logic for the sake of artificially inflating their own ego's. I'm left to wonder just how much more good I could do for people if only they'd let me. Real talk is just too scary for most. People want to be made to feel good. People want to be respected, even if they don't deserve it. People want their opinions supported, even if they are wrong. I can't abide this, and as a result, I seem to get along with about 1% of the human population. That's enough for me. Though I do wish there were more.
I'm better than you. You're better than me. I embrace and respect those that are better than me. I wonder why most people don't? I wonder why most people attack those that are better than them?
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Um. Duh?
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I was fortunate to hear David Horsager speak a few years ago on the 8 Pillars of Trust They are Commitment, Clarity, Concise, Character, Compassion, Contribution, Competency, Connection.
When I do business with people I look for TRUST. I will say when you look at all eight of those pillars you have them covered Greg, and that is why I do business with you and trust your opinions, suggestions and recommendations.
I was just at a week long conference with DCA. If it goes in the ground these people do it and my company does a lot of business with these contractors. I was having a conversation with my wife and another couple about dogs. My wife asked me to pull a picture of the doodles from my phone. When I went into my pics another young couple standing there saw my pics of groups and guns. He jumps right in and starts spouting off about he shoots has a spectacular savage .308 and just last week shot a 2 1/2 inch group at 1000 yards. I say huh, where you using 168 or 175's he just looked at me like a deer in headlights. I said good luck with that and walked off. My wife says you love to talk shooting why did you leave. I told her the thousand yard benchrest record is 2.6and change inches with the best equipment and top notch reloading. No reason to have a conversation with someone blowing hot air. I find a lot of people in the shooting community are full of shit and then will spend hours trying to back there shit up. I have that guy at the range I go to by the way he is a forum poster because he asked where I got my DT and TT. Needless to say Orkan came up. I should have taken a picture of the look on his face when I shut him down. Running his mouth and never did business with Greg. By the way he could not shoot worth a shit with his equipment he raved about. He walked out to the 400 yard line with me and I left my plugs in. He just had to see my targets. The sad part is this is the typical shooter I run into. I just do not get it....My goal is to be a better shooter and when I can gain knowledge and information from someone that puts in the time to prove theories with results I would be stupid to not listen. I think about the time I can save to achieve my goals.
Thank You Greg for all the time you put in and sharing that experience and knowledge.
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Thanks for the thought out and genuine response @tpk936.
It takes courage to talk genuinely, and I wish more would do it.
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@orkan said:
@tackyp said:
Um. Duh?
What motive is this post meant to serve?
To bring a little levity to an otherwise serious topic.
If you weren’t better than me I wouldn’t be here. If you hadn’t spent those thousands of hours, dollars, and rounds of ammunition I wouldn’t be here. If I didn’t respect your approach, I wouldn’t be here.
I do you think we (here) don’t respect you?
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@tackyp said:
do you think we (here) don’t respect you?
I don't think that at all. Just about everyone here has demonstrated they respect me. Most are here because this is a place where respectable people hang out and discuss things. A place where facts lead the way and opinions must be backed up with proof of experience. The things we discuss are often extremely complicated, yet all tend to demonstrate they are grown enough to handle the discussion. This thread is meant as a discussion, not a lesson. A discussion of wider issues. ... perhaps a discussion that would lead to answers for us all. Most of my posts are structured as lessons. I don't have the answer here, so I can't speak from the authority you're accustomed to.
I sincerely doubt I'm the only one that has issues with all I mentioned above. I understand the desire for levity, however I do believe it's a serious problem. The lack of honesty among people in their dealings with others is one of the most grave problems we face. That's why I gave you an opportunity to clarify your participation by asking a question regarding your original post, rather than simply showed you out the door of this thread.
Initially I was offended that I could make such a lengthy post, speaking as genuinely about the topic as I could... only to have a response of two words with an ambiguous tone. Rather than automatically assuming you were trying to get a rise out of me, or automatically assuming you were agreeing with me... I genuinely wanted to know. That's how it's suppose to work. Now it may be my fault for feeling your original post was lacking in sincerity, or it may be your fault for not producing a sincere response. Either way, I think we both understand each other now after speaking genuinely about it.
Imagine if everyone was this forthright in their dealings with others? I'd like it to be important enough to everyone that they have more than a couple words to say about it. This thread isn't me looking for validation. This thread isn't me fishing for people to say nice things about me. I'm quite happy... and a LOT of people say nice things about me all the time. I don't tire of hearing that stuff, as it makes me feel good... but that isn't what this thread is about.
This is me recognizing that a lot of people probably have the same problems that I have regarding people and their inability to be honest with themselves and present themselves honestly.I also recognize that on gunhive.com, we seem to have completely solved this issue. There is more genuine fact-based experience-proven discussion that takes place on this forum than anywhere I've ever seen. So we know how to solve the issue on this venue... but how do we pass this expectation on to others in other venues?
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Your frustration simply reminds me of the old meme:
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
I have a couple of cartoons (I'd post here, but don't know how). One cartoon depicts a room with two tables and a man behind each. The sign above one table on the left says "Comforting Lies" and the sign above the table on the right says "Unpleasant Truths". A long line of people shown standing to get at the table on the left and non for the table on the right.
The other cartoon shows people coming down a path and at a junction where it splits in two is a standing book shelf with a sign over it, "Answers". Just below that sign, are two other signs, one pointing left where the path leads to a cliff saying and says "Simple But Wrong"; the other is pointing to the right where the path is long and crooked saying "Complex But Right". Hordes of people are shown following the path to the left and only a scant few going to the right. I feel this little cartoon sums the state of humanity pretty accurately.
Being that I AM an "old man" I identify with another cartoon:
Old man sitting down for a job interview with an HR manager in her office and one of the questions she asks him:
What do you think your biggest weakness is?
The old man quickly response:
Honesty.The HR Manager looks at him saying:
I don’t think honesty is a weakness.Old man responses quickly again:
I don’t give a shit what you think.
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Well written. It doesn’t matter the topic of discussion...this principle holds true.
One thing that annoys me more than most things is when someone calls something my opinion because they disagree with it. Disagreeing with truth does not make that truth become opinion. It simply makes you wrong.
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"It's not what you know or who you know. It's who you know, that knows what you know. Well, now you know."
I needed to have something in front of me when I retired and chose marksmanship. Knowing less than nothing I hit the forums and soon found the mountain of bullshit to sort through. Layered deep in Sniper Central were a few individuals that were the real deal. Humble and helpful. The right of passage brought me here.
Greg, someone must lead. That someone is you. Yes, there is a hierarchy of others that understand your struggle. It's not easy for me to be green and ask questions. The Gunhive allows me to get the right answers. It's right up there with rocket science.
Teach us to be competent and confident. Challenge us as you have challenged yourself. Help us understand how demanding it is to be better than we were yesterday. Guide us with your endurance for precision. You are the only guy I know who fills a .338 cartridge to the top and beats the bolt open with a fence post.
Don't get dragged in. Take the high road. Practice wisdom in the face of those who long to say, "look at me I'm the monkey with the big red butt."
Yeah, you'll always be a better shot than me.
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I think Matthew 7:6 covers it.
No need to sweat talk the Sanhedrin.
That is what those people are like.
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@orkan said:
how do we pass this expectation on to others in other venues?
I'm not sure I want those other places to be civil like this one. I think its the reason why this place has a higher level of skill (for lack of better word) than those places. This place attracts the people who are willing to admit they don't know something, and accept help. In this manner, the good people get driven out by the dickheads and wind up here. In the end we accumulate more skill and better people here. I think we want that.
Ultimately, that's the reason I chose to join here. I could have gone to SF or the hide, and dealt with the constant pissing match and misinformation there, or I could have joined ARFcom and dealt with the dick measuring, but I didn't, I came here looking for the right answers to the questions we have. I think that's what we want.
Maybe I'm to competitive in this manner, but I think we're able to say "we're better than you" when speaking to other forums.
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This goes far beyond forums. This is a societal problem. Deeply entrenched in the psychology of how people operate. Forums are just an easy place to look for a demonstration of that fact.
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People are, and have been told for awhile that their opinion matters.
It doesn’t, especially when it’s wrong.
But it’s helped lead us to this place where everyone thinks their opinion not only matters but is right, and anyone who disagrees with it is an asshole.
Greg I don’t think I’ve ever seen you post where you cannot back up what you say with evidence or experience. And yet I know at the same time if someone disproves you verifiably you’ll change what your saying. I’ve seen that as well, usually it’s you doing it simply because you want to know as close to 100% certanty if possible. And add onto that I know that if you don’t have the knowledge but know someone who does you’ll recommend them instead of saying something that’s wrong.
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@rhyno said:
People are, and have been told for awhile that their opinion matters.
It doesn’t, especially when it’s wrong.
But it’s helped lead us to this place where everyone thinks their opinion not only matters but is right, and anyone who disagrees with it is an asshole.
Greg I don’t think I’ve ever seen you post where you cannot back up what you say with evidence or experience. And yet I know at the same time if someone disproves you verifiably you’ll change what your saying. I’ve seen that as well, usually it’s you doing it simply because you want to know as close to 100% certanty if possible. And add onto that I know that if you don’t have the knowledge but know someone who does you’ll recommend them instead of saying something that’s wrong.
I don't believe that people knowingly proclaim falsehoods unless they're just A$$6i38s, that said sometimes you simply don't know what you don't know. I thought custom barrels were a sales ploy until I got one now I'm a believer. As sportsmen, we have been targeted by a number of snake oil salesmen who may be well spoken but short on knowledge and ever shorter on integrity. Realize that it takes a while to get customers to trust when there is so much dis-information out there especially when it involves big $. It's hard to know who to trust. When I find someone I can trust I ask for less backup supporting their conclusions.
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@martino1 said:
@rhyno said:
People are, and have been told for awhile that their opinion matters.
It doesn’t, especially when it’s wrong.
But it’s helped lead us to this place where everyone thinks their opinion not only matters but is right, and anyone who disagrees with it is an asshole.
Greg I don’t think I’ve ever seen you post where you cannot back up what you say with evidence or experience. And yet I know at the same time if someone disproves you verifiably you’ll change what your saying. I’ve seen that as well, usually it’s you doing it simply because you want to know as close to 100% certanty if possible. And add onto that I know that if you don’t have the knowledge but know someone who does you’ll recommend them instead of saying something that’s wrong.
I don't believe that people knowingly proclaim falsehoods unless they're just A$$6i38s, that said sometimes you simply don't know what you don't know. I thought custom barrels were a sales ploy until I got one now I'm a believer. As sportsmen, we have been targeted by a number of snake oil salesmen who may be well spoken but short on knowledge and ever shorter on integrity. Realize that it takes a while to get customers to trust when there is so much dis-information out there especially when it involves big $. It's hard to know who to trust. When I find someone I can trust I ask for less backup supporting their conclusions.
There’s no doubt people have to be weary of snake oil and the people that peddle it. The thread that cause Orkan to post this provides an example.
There are optic dealers (and gun dealers) that sell you everything from a Barska to a Tangent Theta (or a savage axis to a AI) and proclaim that everything is great and all of the items in their lineup. Everyone should know that’s BS, and no one should be buying from them.
Yet you tell someone that and they get upset.
If someone posts a thread like “Should I buy X product” and someone else posts “well I have never used X product but I have run Y product and you should get it” (I’ll be very blunt) your opinion does not matter, and you should not be posting.
And I say this to myself yet, I have written stuff, lengthy posts, only to say “what the hell am I doing I haven’t used that product this is all hearsay, I’m not going to help anyone here” then delete the post. I use to be very very very bad at that in fact, it’s something I’ve worked on after being called out on it.
I know, for me it was I want to help people, but in the end I’m not helping people. Potentially I’m guiding them down a path that upsets them and turns them off of the sport.
Or worse, when people who do know post their experience, those same guys jump on them, and bash them, despite having no knowledge.
Forums can be great, but anymore on the vast majority you have to weed through so much BS to get to anything substantive.
Theory can be fun, it’s fun to explore it for some, but others just want answers they can trust. And the people exploring those theories can get in the way, or even turn people away from the people that actually know because they don’t like that person. I know I have received PMs from people telling me to stay away from Orkan because they think he’s an ass, and I’m glad I knew better then to trust those people and told them off in more then one instance. If I would listen to him more often I would be in a better place today, but I’m hard headed and like experiencing things for myself, even though financially it hurts and slows me down.
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I wonder if anyone has given any thought to what you make another person endure to earn that trust? How are you able to determine whether you trust them or not when you yourself lack the experience to determine whether they are trust worthy? What is your trust worth to them when that expert knows you lack the experience to know, but force them to try to prove it to you anyway every time you speak? Why does everyone try to gain trust, or give trust, within the course of a phone call... when everyone knows that real trust takes a long time to develop?
This is at the very heart of this discussion. This is why I say we are witnessing the death of the experts, in every field. The demand that experts must pay for the sins of charlatans that came before them is unreasonable, and unwanted. There comes a time when the expert will simply refuse to joust with you any longer. They will simply refuse the expectation to pay penance for transgressions of those before them. At that time the expert will simply return to the solace of their work, in silence. They'll leave you to your defense mechanisms and assumptions to wander around a blind idiot rather than endure one more singular second of your "testing."
Today I had a gentleman in his 50's or 60's come by. Possibly even older. I am terrible at judging age, because it's largely inconsequential... but its a given that older men tend to be easier to talk facts with. It was refreshing. Plain talk, at a gentle pace... neither of us awaiting the end of the other person's speech so we could jam our own words in. Comfortable silences amidst sincere discussion and at no time was I bludgeoned with the unreasonable expectation of having to answer for the misdeeds of my peers in this industry. It reminded me of how simply and effortlessly it is to share my experience with another person. It made my day. Possibly my week. I didn't sell a thing. The hour and half of intelligent meaningful discussion with a genuinely interested person was priceless. The man left with a lot to think on, and my invitation to return anytime he wanted. It was nice to have my faith in humanity restored a bit. A refreshing departure from my normal day to day discussions where I endure people fixated on price and how quickly said product can be put in their hands or being grilled about what I think about something so-and-so said.
A resurgence of civilized discussion, combined with a distinct personal accountability and refusal to perpetuate myth... would seem to be heading toward a solution to all of this.
Regarding civilized discussion, if people could learn to speak plainly again, it would go a long way. Ask a question without simultaneously trying to convince the other party you already know the answer. Make a statement of fact only if you can prove the fact simply and readily. Don't speak at all if you lack the experience to even have intelligently formed an opinion.
Personal accountability would help because then you wouldn't be trying to hold person B accountable for the actions of person A.
To me this is all very simple, and I live my life according to these and other principles. Each time I'm expected to pay for the misdeeds of someone else, I'm quite confused by it. Yet not a single day goes by in which someone doesn't force that upon me. I'm quite certain others here have experienced that as well.
