I have received the following viscous fraudulent and unethical private message, sent on behalf of the forum by the nutcase “MagsJ” (in appearance [so far as anyone can ascertain]: hired without meeting the unknown owners):
Objection, your honor. The defense was not informed of the evidence prior to the trial. Motion to strike the evidence from the record and select a new jury.
The hypocritical “defense” produced the “evidence”. Which was sent by private message (in order to hide it from the general awareness). Here the deranged character of the censors is made available to all.
Objection, your honor. The prosecution presents inculpatory evidence. Request to cross-examine the witness.
You’re claiming that it is not a real private message? Not sure how any proof could be offered. Ergo: the contemporary circumstances of civilization holus-bolus in magna-mini!
I find the communication on both sides utterly confusing. I am surprised either one of you can consider it a disagreement or fight or whatever you both seem to think it is.
But the ‘whatever it is’ is easy to avoid. So if you are not enjoying it or finding value in your tilting with Mags, just end it.
It’s easy. And no loss of honor or cowtowing involved.
youtube.com/watch?v=ZXvzzTICvJs
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution,[1] the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature—all components of modernity.[2] It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography,[3] education,[4] the social sciences, and the natural sciences.[5][not in citation given] It had a significant and complex effect on politics, with romantic thinkers influencing liberalism, radicalism, conservatism and nationalism.[6]
The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, but also spontaneity as a desirable characteristic (as in the musical impromptu). In contrast to the Rationalism and Classicism of the Enlightenment, Romanticism revived medievalism[7] and elements of art and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to escape population growth, early urban sprawl, and industrialism.
Although the movement was rooted in the German Sturm und Drang movement, which preferred intuition and emotion to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, the events and ideologies of the French Revolution were also proximate factors. Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of “heroic” individualists and artists, whose examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society. It also promoted the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art. There was a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability, a Zeitgeist, in the representation of its ideas. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism.[8] The decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism.[9]Basic characteristics[edit]
The nature of Romanticism may be approached from the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich, “the artist’s feeling is his law”.[10] To William Wordsworth, poetry should begin as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, which the poet then “recollect[s] in tranquility”, evoking a new but corresponding emotion the poet can then mold into art.[11]
To express these feelings, it was considered the content of art had to come from the imagination of the artist, with as little interference as possible from “artificial” rules dictating what a work should consist of. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were natural laws the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone.[12] As well as rules, the influence of models from other works was considered to impede the creator’s own imagination, so that originality was essential. The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own original work through this process of creation from nothingness, is key to Romanticism, and to be derivative was the worst sin.[13][14][15] This idea is often called “romantic originality”.[16] Translator and prominent Romantic August Wilhelm Schlegel argued in his Lectures on Dramatic Arts and Letters that the most phenomenal power of human nature is its capacity to divide and diverge into opposite directions.[17]
You are obviously not a fan of Art… recoil from it all you want because it grates on your sensibilities, so much so that you continued on in your same blinkered path to…? god knows where… Not a fan of being called out are you…
I never liked Realism… I must say, as I found it rather dull and uninspiring, as we are already drenched in reality, so why have it in our art, when it is already in our lives. That is not to say that there are not a few pieces/artworks that I like, but on the whole, no.
Moved to Meta. This, like the original removed thread, is not the grist of the Philosophy forum. It’s a complaint about board moderation practices, i.e. a post about the board, i.e. the grist of Meta.
To the complaint: Mags’ PM appears to have been sent in her capacity as a member, to discuss the ideas expressed elsewhere. There does not seem to be an express threat or warning of any moderator action (though of course everything a moderator does carries an implied threat).
The original thread was properly removed from Philosophy. It might have been better to move it to Meta, since here were are in any case, but a similar thread in response to a PM from another user would have been appropriately removed. The original thread, after all, was a complaint about a PM sent as user, so the thread airing distaste for such a PM was just taking a private disagreement public through personal attacks.
The dual role of moderators as both cops and citizens is complicating, and seems to explain a lot. Guide’s reaction was likely partly to the implicit threat of punishment, and Mags reaction in turn was likely partly driven by her role in policing abuse. Thus, a philosophical disagreement seems to have escalated unnecessarily.
Karpel Tunnel’s suggestion here is a wise one: if normal member-member interactions are impossible without escalating, avoid interactions. Don’t initiate interaction, and don’t respond to interactions. That should include indirect reference (e.g. preambles to threads which purport to exclude the other without naming but through clear implication), and also interaction in the course of duties.