Hostility and Hope

Hey ATSers,
This message probably belongs some place else but this is the board I most frequent and as it is the most popular board I figured "why not?" I've been here for a while now and I've noticed that there is some grand hostility flowing through this place - especially the UFO and Alien board. Some of you are rolling your eyes now and maybe it is you who should read further.
Now, I won't guess as to the reasons for this as they are many and varied. However, what I want to stress is that it absolutely helps nothing and you all know this. We're here in the pursuit of an utterly amazing truth, yet we can barely glimmer it though the aggression and anger that pervades this place. I find it very distressing and I know I'm not the only one who does.
So, I encourage you all to pause before you respond hatefully to someone's message. Be patient with them if they're wrong and encourage them on the right track. Know that not everyone has the same values and belief systems as you do and respect them for their differences. If our world is truly changing in the ways that have been suggested here for years, we should be more mindful of ourselves. Try to bring as much happiness and hope as we can into our world and into ATS. We’d all be so much better for it.

Beauty Above All,
WickedStar

Mostly this board works as a filter.

A kind of battlefield.

We all know the common-knowlegde thing - that sourounds us. This common knowlegde works in a place where not many NEW thoughts spring from.
We see cars and people in the morning going to work - making this machine rolling making money and providing food for billions of people.
The common knowlegde is about the milk you can buy in your local super-market.
The water we tap from our kitchens. The rain that falls from the skies and the weather. Sun cloudy windy.

On this board we go a step further - We mostly don't write about these common things here.

In my opinion - that is where the hostility rise to hights - above Common knowlegde.

Yes - This board could actually be called - ABOVE COMMON KNOWLEGDE - instead of Above Top Secret.

We have alot of thinkers and people who wonder how this world functions - And we often meet in a battle. But your right about the thing that it has risen the last couple of years.
That is also due to all the frustration build up inside the human mind.

Our body don't know how to handle it at first - it have to adapt to knowlegde so far out that we have to discuss it.
Usually we find a way out of frustrations - but in this field of UFO's 911 and common corruption among our leaders - there seems to be no way out - other than take a break from it.
When it enters our brain in the beginning - All the common knowlegde we have build up for a very long time will need either to step aside or throw away all the talk about Aliens and UFO's - 911 and corrupt leaders - Or take it in and try and addapt your brain to all the new levels of conspiracy.

And on this board we kinda connect our brains - human to human communication - and this is a procces.
It takes eons - a very long time before a human being accept and starts to just try and understand these new sides of reality.

And that connection between us creates hostility.

please continue.
just my opinion.

Well put! Clap! Clap! Clap!

I think a little bit of patience goes a long way..and I'm guilty of it too, so this goes for me as much as anyone

"Where is the love"

The hostility put me off posting for quite some time, but now I've come to accept it and actually see some of it as quite positive as it does keep some of the idiots who seem to rule the Internet in check. It's taken me a while to come to this conclusion and now there's no looking back.

I also think that the fear of a hostile reaction can stop people posting absolute rubbish. It makes people do their homework. It can go too far, yes, but in general, I feel that people respect one another. As previous posters have said, this subject area can be a battlefield of minds and ideas. In my view that is a positve thing as it keeps people on their toes.

Hw many people really want to visit a board where everyone agrees and is all loved up constantly? Well, not me for one.

The hostility only seems to come up when someone steps out of line or attempts a glaring hoax, which, as long as it stays within T&C's can onl benefit the community.

It's taken me a while to get to gripswith ATS, if I was younger, I may have given up. I haven't, I've learned how things work here and found it incredibly positive.

If I say something dumb. Tell me clearly and loudly. It sinks in that way.

I know I can rely on ATS'ers to do that, while realisng that everyone has different subject knowledge levels.

That's my view, for what it's worth folks.

Peace.

[edit on 4-8-2007 by more_serotonin_pls]

When coming ATS you need to be open minded and also tolerant...
I believe in the UFO phenomenon...I don't believe in Religion....I think there mad for believing in God ......Some of them think I'm mad for believing in other ET'S............It's all about tolerance and being open to new ideas....If somebody put a thread up...With some good ideas about religion, then my mind set could possibly change about religion. Same as if somebody proved UFO's didn't exist...I wouldn't close my eyes and ignore the evidence, because thats not what i wanted to hear...I think there are some members who have made there mind up....And it's like a personal battle to dismiss all evidence and to get there point across...There is nothing wrong with this....Apart the skeptic dismissing important evidence which could have some reference in the future. I like skeptics....They are important to keep the more outlandish threads in check.
But as i stated above...It's always healthy to keep your options open.

There's hostility here because, IMO, what's being discussed here usually shakes your beliefs to the core. For example, God? ETs? Conspiracies? Governments actually NOT helping the people they lead?To the common man, its goes against to what they always thought and believed. They become hostile towards new ideas, which brings me to the next point.

Open mindedness. How many people here are actually open to new ideas, seeing things in a different way from the norm, actually viewing at the situation from both sides of the story?A good example is the hostility between the Democrats and Republicans here...if they think about it either one is the same...well its that to me, lol..

Another reason is skepticism. ATSers are, by and large, skeptic people. A new UFO photo?The most common reaction would be "Photoshopped" and "fake". While this is good (it helps weed out the poor fakes from the real deal), sometimes skepticism, added with some strong feelings, will just personally turn me off this site.

What about me, you may ask. Me, i'm just happy to be open to the truth, happy to lurk and read and be entertained by debates here. A knowledge leecher, perhaps. All and all i'm happy with strong responses, from people who only see in black and white...well, except when the hostility is towards me...

Cheers!

Originally posted by cheesepie
There's hostility here because, IMO, what's being discussed here usually shakes your beliefs to the core.

I agree. I believe that a lot of the times, what we are hearing here on ATS is nothing more than misguided passion. I also believe that since it is impossible to hear the inflections of one's tone when typing, that there is muscommunication as well. Overall thougth I would say that after being here for few weeks, people get the general feel for how things work here. Based on that they either adjust or leave. I'm here for good.

As some one who has had my own unexplainable UFO sighting I'd like to share how it feels to try to share something that you know for certain can't be explained with man-made technology or capabilities and isn't a natural phenomenon.

To sum up - it's one of the most exasperating and infuriating experiences I've ever endured.

Having an aerospace engineering degree doesn't help any either...it just makes the attempt to get some one to understand you've seen something unexplainable MORE frustrating. Because then you have what I want to call the "insta-skeptics" (not logical skeptics but knee-jerk skeptics) who want to insult your intelligence by stating the obvious as a possible explanation - as if you didn't have the brain matter to have already considered that and either left it as a possibility or dismissed it.

I think it's the combination of the total inability of an eye witness to 100% share the reality they witnessed with some one who didn't see it, and the "insta-skeptic" knee-jerk dismissal of what the eye witness is attempting to convey, that causes the hostility in the UFO forum. Throw on top of that the occasional charletan who tries to blow smoke up every one's kilt for the hope of fame and glory (and money) and you get a steaming pot of virulence. (By the way, I become hostile when some one lies...I probably won't change. Liars just really piss me off.)

[edit on 8-4-2007 by Valhall]

Originally posted by Valhall
Throw on top of that the occasional charletan who tries to blow smoke up every one's kilt for the hope of fame and glory (and money) and you get a steaming pot of virulence. (By the way, I become hostile when some one lies...I probably won't change. Liars just really piss me off.)

Amen. We won't mention names though Although it doesn't take much "brain matter" to figure out who they are. Just try correcting them on hypocricy and watch the feathers fly. Oh by the way, Valhal, are you going to the convention in San Jose?

Originally posted by WickedStar
We're here in the pursuit of an utterly amazing truth, yet we can barely glimmer it though the aggression and anger that pervades this place. I find it very distressing and I know I'm not the only one who does.

First of all, WickedStar, not everyone here is in the pursuit of 'an utterly amazing truth'.

There are people who have other interests in mind, some for their personal gain (to sell some book/dvd/etc) and others most likely for the gain of some hidden government/private corporation agenda.

Taking that into account, in the interest of the UFO community, it's reputation and integrity, and therefor in the interest of the 'pursuit of an utterly amazing truth' it is important that people DO NOT jump to conclusions and immediately believe everything they are told or being shown.

Jumping to conclusions and believing everything is just gonna hurt us and our interests, in the end.
The hoaxes and frauds only hurt the credibility of the UFO community. We've seen this happen a million times and continue to currently.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't believe anything, but at least try to apply some scientific inquisitive thinking to it and not blindly accepting something just because it 'feels' or 'looks' real.

If everyone in the UFO community would apply this sort of thinking and methods to try to get to the bottom of things, it would be a lot more respected, even by 'non-believers' who had to at least respect our methods, approach and integrity, and that, in my opinion, is the way to make everyone (mainstream scientific and otherwise communities) interested and curious, in a serious way, about the UFO phenomena.

We know there will always be people interested in derailing the UFO research field and hurt it's credibility, so let's not add fuel to the fire.

I also understand that there's a lot of people with a 'need' to believe or are willing to believing more 'easily' about things than others.
To those people I say: just because you believe you know the truth, don't act like everyone else should accept it like you do. Especially if you don't provide anything concrete or apply a scientific reasoning to the issue, and that's when you're going to encounter resistance and in some cases, hostility.

Therefor I disagree with kleverone and cheesepie. I don't think there's hostility because the issues shake our beliefs, but instead, because of these two types of people that I have described, that don't seem to (be able to) set a common ground for discussion.

Nope, not going. We're about 3 months behind on this years major remodeling efforts on our house because Oklahoma had some bizarro India-type monsoon season where we got rain for almost 6 months straight. I'll be hanging back and keeping the construction going while Springer and company lead the rock-star life...lol.

I'm real excited for all the guys going because I think they will have a great time together and meet a lot of interesting people. I can't wait to keep up with their adventures here on the site with the rest of us mullet-heads.

Originally posted by Valhall
Nope, not going. We're about 3 months behind on this years major remodeling efforts on our house because Oklahoma had some bizarro India-type monsoon season where we got rain for almost 6 months straight.

That's right!!! I heard about that! Meanwhile here in LA we are having our driest year on record!

I'll be hanging back and keeping the construction going while Springer and company lead the rock-star life...lol.

Not sure how much of a Rock Star life you can lead in San Jose? joke.

I'm real excited for all the guys going because I think they will have a great time together and meet a lot of interesting people. I can't wait to keep up with their adventures here on the site with the rest of us mullet-heads.

I agree. I really want to go, but I'm leaving town the next weekend. I just want to put some voices and personality with the faces. I feel like I'm meeting family for the first time! Sorry way off topic!! Back on topic starting........................................Now!

Originally posted by WickedStar
So, I encourage you all to pause before you respond hatefully to someone's message. Be patient with them if they're wrong and encourage them on the right track. Know that not everyone has the same values and belief systems as you do and respect them for their differences. If our world is truly changing in the ways that have been suggested here for years, we should be more mindful of ourselves. Try to bring as much happiness and hope as we can into our world and into ATS. We’d all be so much better for it.

I agree with most everything you say but the problem is there tends to be 3 sides to UFO debaters. The Believers, the Non Believers, and the Fence sitters.
Due to the subject and esoteric nature of USO's and aliens there tend to be more 'Believers' than the other two groups. Hence anyone disagreeing with a 'Believer' no matter how flimsy and untenable their evidence is, will be immediatley pounced upon and attacked by lots of believers which is why many threads are now totally ignored simply due to the amount of abuse and ridicule thrown out at anyone disagreeing with the OPs original statements.
However, thats life. A Sceptics life is not a happy one

There are no UFOs, no little green men, no annunaki, no illuminati, the freemasons, no Majestic 12, No UFO on the moon, in fact we didn't go to the moon. No NWO, no 911 conspiracy, the whole scientific community has been feeding us lies, and most importantly, NO GOD or His stupid hate mongering prophets. These are all a figment of the fearful and hateful human imagination. Humans like to blame things they cannot see.

Now I bet a lot of people will be angry at me. Weeeeeee..







[edit on 4-8-2007 by omnicron]

I really appreciate the attention that you guys are giving to this thread. I think it shows that for the most part, we're on the right track.
Beauty Above All,
WickedStar

Originally posted by omnicron
There are no UFOs, no little green men, no annunaki, no illuminati, the freemasons, no Majestic 12, No UFO on the moon, in fact we didn't go to the moon. No NWO, no 911 conspiracy, the whole scientific community has been feeding us lies, and most importantly, NO GOD or His stupid hate mongering prophets. These are all a figment of the fearful and hateful human imagination. Humans like to blame things they cannot see.

Now I bet a lot of people will be angry at me. Weeeeeee..

Not angry....i feel sorry for you...........


[edit on 4-8-2007 by omnicron]