[WikiEN-l] Freedom of Speech in WP

[Andrew Cady]

On Sat, Mar 03, 2007 at 05:20:58PM -0800, Ray Saintonge wrote:
> andrew.cady at gmail.com wrote:
> 
> >Besides their relative rudeness as rebukes, there is a substantial
> >difference between the *meaning* of the two phrases.  "Don't be a
> >dick" is a far more broad concept, and makes greater reference to
> >motives and meaning; "civility" is more about style and form.
>
> Quite the contrary.  If you're telling someone to not be a dick that
> presumes that he was being one in the first place.

Hmm.  That is not contrary to what I said.

> >For example, a dismissive, one-line response to a carefully
> >considered five paragraph argument is a "dick move" even if perfectly
> >civil.
>
> Not always.

Of course, not always.  It seems like a good example to me, though.
There are, in any case, others.

> Sometimes it just keeps the heat from being cranked up.

Perhaps.  In the majority of cases, it should be expected to have the
opposite effect.