Do You Welcome Conversation from Rude People?

Last night, I wrote here on my blog about people interrupting conversations, and asked for comments as to how to filter out “noise”. I’ve received several follow-up comments and emails today, and I appreciate them. I want to use some of them to facilitate even more discussion, so keep your eyes open for that in the coming days.

Kevin was one person who wrote in, talking about his disgust with people who are rude, and who try to force their opinions on him. He makes several very good points, and I wanted to share them with the community.

I read your recent article on how people often get involved in flaming other people’s online discussions, and thought about that for awhile.

On one hand, I am on your side totally because I like healthy debate and I respect that any other person has a right to an opinion. What I object to is when a person is influential in some way, and figures they can command changes that many of us mere mortals do not support or like.

When this happens, who is right… and who is wrong? The answer is that both camps are, because whatever they are discussing and supporting matters to them. One is not “wrong” because of something they believe in. Just because it is different than what I think or believe, does not mean that I feel a person is wrong.

People who add to discussions online often need to remember that much of what they say is a matter of personal opinion. So often, I don’t even see people bother to try and back up what they claim with any type of cold, hard facts or evidence. Unfortunately a lot of modern day computing is personal taste and I resent someone else trying to force their idea of what works for them down my throat.

I have made significant effort to try and work with Windows 7. I don’t like it very well, but I expect I will have little choice going forward. Sadly, the Windows 7 lovers are too busy trying to shove the product down my throat to stop and listen to what I have to say about the operating system. I am 58 years old, and have worked in IT for more than 30 years. I may be a plodder, but am also a survivor. I value the views and opinions I make through proper testing, solid analysis and a bit of “personal taste” thrown in for good measure.

The fact is that I don’t really like Windows 7. I find a few very large flaws with it for people who are used to XP. There is a problem with not properly upgrading from XP to Windows 7 that is not being addressed as far as I can see. There is no classic start bar feature as we would expect. There is also no repair/restore feature like XP had. These things are killer omissions for die-hard XP users.

When I attempt to talk to people who are touting Windows 7 as the next great product of all time, they don’t want to hear what I have to say. They don’t want any opinion that differs from their own. I get flamed for daring to speak out against the o/s in any way. It’s very annoying to have made an informed opinion, based on facts and evidence, only to be told to basically shut up and go away. My opinion doesn’t count to many people, simply because they feel they are right.

When will people wake up, and remember to respect other people’s views, and take the time to learn more themselves by welcoming opinions that are different than theirs?

Kevin is right. Too often these days, people don’t like to listen to things that are outside of their comfort zone. They don’t want to hear anything that goes against what they think is “right”.

What are your thoughts on this? Are you finding yourself up against a seemingly endless stream of negativity at every turn, or are there only a handful of us experiencing this?