State of the Tribe
by Jason GodeskyReports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.
After the recent shameful thread and the callous remarks by Benjamin Shender and Miranda Belcher, two individuals who have never been members of the Tribe of Anthropik and were given contributor status pending their possible admission, Jason demanded that they prepare statements to try to rectify the enormous damage they had done to the tribe. Knowing that we would be out of contact on Monday, Benjamin chose to take that opportunity to post a 12-page rant, recapitulating the thread with quotes taken out of context to serve his own rhetorical purposes, quoting private emails out of context, attacking guests who have contributed to this website, and declaring the “death” of the Tribe of Anthropik. Since by his own admission, Benjamin was never privy to the internal life of the tribe (as one would expect of someone who was never a member), it’s hard to tell why anyone would bother listening to his account. Being out of communication, it was left to Mike to handle this situation. Miranda and Benjamin sent messages in both public and private, hoping to divide us on this matter. Their attempts have failed. Neither of us could approve more, or be more proud, of the manner in which Mike has handled this situation. Deleting Ben’s tirade, and closing the infantile flame war they initiated, was the right call, made at the right time. Tonight, I could not be more proud of the Tribe of Anthropik–we truly are a tribe, and we’ve never been stronger.
That’s a clumsy word, “tribe.” It has many ambiguous meanings–ethnic groups, a level of sociopolitical organization, a deragatory ephitet, etc. It’s the word Daniel Quinn uses to describe any kind of small-scale, egalitarian society–even what anthropologists would prefer to call “bands.” Ethan Watters uses the term to refer to circles of friends in their capacity as almost a kind of family. Despite the problems with the term, it’s stuck. Surviving collapse, and taking advantage of the opportunities it represents, requires such a social structure be created now, a new kind of social variety adapted to the new pressures of a society in collapse. Whether we call it a band, a tribe, or even a rhizome, the principle remains clear: egalitarian societies will inherit the future.
The Tribe of Anthropik is attempting to create just such a society. Our model is the hunter-gatherer band. We have begun to develop our own culture to that end: our own rituals, and our own means of introducing potential new members. This is a problem extant foragers do not face: extant foragers are born into their tribes. We must face the problem of how to introduce new members.
The Tribe of Anthropik was founded with the “Tyler Durden” approach to this problem, itself taken from Zen monasteries:
All right, if the applicant is young, tell him he’s too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. If the applicant then waits for three days without food, shelter, or encouragement he may then enter and begin his training.
That’s not the actual, literal process, but the general idea is to distinguish from those hoping to join in our community who are committed to our community, from those hoping to reap the benefits and avoid its costs. “Ask not what your tribe can do for you; ask what you can do for your tribe.” Benjamin criticizes the Tribe of Anthropik for not communicating with its candidates; that is one way we weed out the unworthy. “Operating in the dark” tests whether or not the candidate can trust the tribe. He also criticizes the tribe for not allowing him any part in the life of the tribe; this, too, is by design. Despite Benjamin’s claims otherwise, the tribe does have an initiation ritual: neither he nor Miranda ever made it that far. Benjamin and Miranda never showed much interest in supporting the tribe, but they were always keen on enjoying the privelages of full membership, even though they were never actually admitted. Benjamin would like to rewrite the rules of our tribe for how candidates are evaluated, but the initiation process is determined by members, not initiates. The actual members of the tribe are fine with our process; if the initiates are not, then the initiation process gives them ample opportunity to withdraw.
In granting them contributor status, the tribe placed a certain amount of trust in Benjamin and Miranda. We trusted them to contribute to make this a better place, and not to provide vindication to our most bitter and persistent critics. That trust was betrayed, first by Miranda with her careless, callous call to “Well, come on already, Collapse Already!!!” and then by Benjamin’s tirade. It is true that defense of other tribe members takes high priority. Defense of those close to the tribe, as Ben and Miranda once were, is also significant, though less important than members. The only principle more important than this is defense of the tribe itself. Paul Radin’s Primitive Man as Philosopher stresses the importance of personal expression in primitive societies. The only limit to personal freedom that was tolerated, was when they jeopardized the tribe itself. That is precisely what Benjamin and Miranda did.
So it is true that we did not care about their feelings one whit. The Tribe of Anthropik has suffered constant attack and criticism for not caring about the destruction wrought by collapse, for being selfish and self-serving, and so on. We have been compared to Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and the Devil. We have been accused of genocide and worse. For two years, we have fought against this monstrously slanderous perception in every way we know how, spending not only vast amounts of our time, but burning our very mental conditions down with stress and anguish over this issue. All of that, all of our sacrifice and pain, all that the actual members of the tribe had worked so hard for, was undone in a single line from Miranda’s keyboard. By vindicating our enemies, they threatened the tribe itself, no less than if an intern at Planned Parenthood were to take it upon himself to issue a press release calling for every woman in America to have recreational abortions once a month–or, the example I gave to Ben and Miranda in private correspondence which Ben showed no qualms about reproducing in public, “pledges burning down the frat house.” We did not defend them; they weren’t even members, but even a member who committed so gross a betrayal would be hard to defend.
We demanded that they make some effort to repair the damage they had done, by preparing a statement. They knew we would be out of contact this week, but we did not hear any response whatsoever prior to our departure, not even so much as an acknowledgement that they had recieved the message. Instead, waiting until we were out of contact, Benjamin abused his contributor status to post a twelve-page rant to this weblog. The only actual member of the tribe present to handle the situation was Mike. Benjamin and Miranda left comments publicly, and sent emails to us privately, hoping to drive us apart.
They failed.
We stand behind Mike’s actions as an administrator 100%. He did precisely what we would have done, had Benjamin not timed his attack to exploit our absence. In fact, the very reception that his attacks received reveal how baseless they really are.
Benjamin says that the Tribe of Anthropik is being torn apart by internal divisions, that it is already dead and he’s merely offered it a swift, “compassionate,” killing stroke. He says it is hierarchical, with Jason as hierarch.
How he can admit that he has never even seen all of the tribe members together and then presume to make such grandiose statements about the tribe and his relation to it is incomprehensible. To be clear on the matter: neither Benjamin nor Miranda were ever members of the tribe. The tribe’s demise is being called by individuals who were never part of it, never privy to its goings-on, never included in its ceremonies. They were never one of us. This rant is the product of someone on the outside. An outsider says the tribe is broken and dead. An outsider who does not know us, says we are divided. This comes as a great shock to the members of the tribe. We are united.
The Tribe of Anthropik believes that a diversity of thought is a strength, not a weakness. What Benjamin calls “internal dissent,” we call our greatest asset. We are, in fact, so confident in the unity of our tribe and in the strength that such diversity offers that we are not afraid to work out those differences, even in public. Once, Steve expressed some concern for how such arguments might be seen by the outside world, suggesting that some might construe them as a weakness, as Ben has. I pitied the poor fool who would mistake disagreement for division, and set himself against the strong, thinking them weak.
According to Ben, Jason is the “leader” of the Tribe of Anthropik. Jason has often worried about being too much the “public face” of the tribe, the most common author on this blog, and the name most often associated with the tribe. Whatever doubts we might have harbored, though, melted in the face of how well the tribe reacted to Ben’s attack. A hierarchy brooks no dissent; the Tribe of Anthropik revels in its own dissent. A hierarchy would be threatened by such dissent, precisely as Ben says the tribe is; instead, it has always been our greatest asset. Most importantly, in a hierarchy, underlings require orders from their superiors. In this particular case, only the supposed “underling” was on hand; the alleged “superior” was in communicado. Yet, Mike acted precisely as either of us would have in his position. We stand completely, unwaveringly behind Mike’s decisions as administrator. We could not have asked for better.
In fact, this has all left us with a great swell of pride in our tribe. The ideal is something akin to the human body itself: each of your cells contains the full genome of the human body, and though it may be best adapted to this role or that, no cell is higher or lower than any other, and each cell understands the whole. In this case, the response to this betrayal has shown that each member of the Tribe of Anthropik shares the basic ideas and understanding of our tribe so flawlessly, that when only one of us is on hand, he can be counted on to do precisely as any of the rest of us would in the same place. The response to Ben’s betrayal should, in itself, be sufficient evidence that his attack is baseless–we are united, we are strong, and we have no need of leaders here, because each of us can confidently say, “I am Anthropik!”
27 August 2006: This article closed to comments because it’s old and attracting a lot of spam.
I’ve been following this for a while.
And honestly, I gotta say, it’s amusing.
Why?
Okay, let me tell you. I have seen several arguments, not debates, arguments, come up between “tribe” members. I’m not talking just about the last one. I have seen your excuses for why those two should be treated however you feel like it. They aren’t actually in the tribe, am I right? Wow, you talked of compassion before and it’s great to have compassion for six billion. Greater than that, though, is having compassion for your own. yes yes, they weren’t actually IN the tribe yet.
All of these “No worries, there is nothing wrong with the tribe, nothing to see here, it was all lies” reminds me of some sort of pathetic government trying to stear it’s people from the truth, and I’m sorry, seeing essentially the same thing posted twice certainly doesn’t make me believe.
Clearly you and your tribe have some work to do, and I’m sure it will not be easy. As I said, I’ve read through this whole thing, including links, and what I see is shameful.
If you can believe that your tribe can be so hurt by one sentence, a misunderstood one at that, then your tribe isn’t very strong at all.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 11:29 AM
Misunderstood sentences are no more or less harmful than understood ones. Her intent was meaningless; the internet is not a telepathic medium. What she said is what matters–and what she said was monstrous.
You’re right, we argue. A lot. I think that’s a good thing. The only limit to that arguing is when it jeopardizes the tribe itself. Ben and Miranda crossed the one and only line we have. And you’re right; our loyalty to the tribe exceeds our loyalty to the leeches whov’e abused our trust, our friendship, and answered our kindness with betrayal and attack.
Getting rid of them is really one of the best things we could have hoped for.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 11:44 AM
monstrous.
Ha, with the statement above combined with so many other things over the past week show me monstrous.
I still say, this past the previous one reminds me a corrupt government in ownership of the media, trying to make everything seem OKAY.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 11:47 AM
However we feel like it? Cindy… let me tell you a little something about how we treated Ben and Miranda. We gave them a place to stay whenever they were travelling to IshCon gatherings - even ones we ourselves could not go to. We fed them. We introduced them to the primitive skills classes at Racoon Creek State Park. When we all went to one such class, we paid $70, in full, for use of a cabin. I asked Miranda to be a bridesmaid at my wedding.
The worst thing we ever did to them was tell them to remedy an incredibly damaging situation that THEY created. An apology, a retraction, a simple, “I didn’t mean to imply that and I’m sorry that anyone got that impression” - ANY indication that they understood the magnitude of this would have been perfectly acceptable.
They responded by waiting until we were exhausted, depressed, and without an internet connection, then launching a full-scale flame war using the very privileges we had trusted them with here. Furthermore, they sent e-mails to Jason and Mike, trying to drive them apart. Like you said, shameful.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 11 April 2006 @ 11:51 AM
Whatever. There’s only one salient fact in all this: Ben and Miranda waited until our backs were turned, and stabbed them. Period. End of story. There’s nothing else to say.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 11 April 2006 @ 11:52 AM
So I’m a fan of the anthropik blogs, and a bit of a lurker on the forums, both here and at ishcon. I enoy the posts and everything, and finally read most of this business you are referring to (I originally skipped it all because I don’t care — show me another complexity vs. benefits graph or a global climate change model, that’s what I say!) In any case, you don’t give a crap what I think, but I’m goona tell ya for giggles anyway.
First off, I’ve met you guys. Not Mike, but Jason and Ben. And one thing I know for sure when I met ya, you guys talk a lot, probably too much. It makes for great website discussion, but it can lead to crap like pointless internet fights. I think we all know face-to-face communication is better than internet blockposting. Even better, you guys shoulda fought it out, (with boxing gloves — 1 minute rounds, 30 second rest, 3 rounds or until someone says stop — because lets face it, nerds like us can get hurt easily). It doesn’t matter who wins, it makes the group stronger (tougher) and after getting punched in the face a few times your egos are nice and deflated. My boyos and me do it all the time in the park (once in the woods, but you have to drive 20 minutes to get to the woods around here). I’m not kidding. After a nice box people can look at thier own behavior and recognize what they are saying from the point of view of another. I don’t know why it works, but it works. Maybe its just cause you’re really winded and don’t feel like arguing.
Secondly, your tribe is strong in that the three remaining members are solid in their agreement, which is awesome, but I have to point out that you are all family. Like real family. Mike and Jason are brothers, and so of course are going to think alike, and Guili and Jason are getting married, so its a foregone conclusion that you’re solid (congrats again, btw). You don’t have any members anymore that aren’t related. It doesn’t really matter, it just makes it look like that what you have is a family, not a tribe. Just thought I’d point it out from a readers point of view. Do you need anyone else in the tribe to call it a tribe? No, you don’t, but I think there’s more to your solidarity than purely a common philosphical thread, whether you see it or not.
To reiterate, I know what went down with the timing of the rants while folks are away and whatnot, and I’m not saying thier ain’t blame to be had, but maybe you guys should look into working it out in a more physical way than a cerebral battle. You might find out something about yourselves and whats worth forgiving, and finally get to punch the other guy in the face once or twice.
Thats all. I don’t mean to insult the tribe if thats what it looks like, you guys rule and I’ll continue to look forward to reading your thoughts on collapse.
PS: As an aside, I haven’t been able to read Mizanthropik comics for some time (like, since the website re-vamp), is that gone or is firefox giving me trouble or something?
Comment by valhallan — 11 April 2006 @ 12:06 PM
Geek 16 oz Boxing club sounds like a fun show?
Having it take place in the woods sounds even better.
When your physically exhausted and your breath seems to have escaped you, everything else become secondary during those moments. Experience trumps cognitive/reflective interpretations.
As a former kickboxer, I suggest some boxing (only with mimimal sparring to protect the brain!) Tis good fun, burns cals, and makes you feel ALIVE.
In response to the the tribe is a family only–
My group of like minded folks, has now dropped again to 4 (all family), although I have a friend whose materialistic side, has made him believe that he has much more time 10years or so, before he needs to really do anything.
Who knows, but if things continue for 10 more years, the fall will probably be harsher, even if we have a few more windmills, ethanol cars etc.
Comment by Bubba — 11 April 2006 @ 12:17 PM
Um, you left out Steve, who isn’t related to any of us. Not even by marriage.
Mizanthropik has been on a sort of hiatus for the last few months. But we do have plans for its return. That’s actually one of a lot of exciting changes coming to Anthropik. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make an official announcement within the next month or two.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 12:25 PM
FWIW — I just would like to let the Anthropik folks know that I personally am grateful that you all would share all of this with the general public. I agree that community-building or tribe-building is a gargantuan hurdle right now, and the kinds of issues coming up here have also come up in recent weeks among other communities/tribes with which I am familiar. sharing your trials-and-errors is an enormous contribution to the larger body of collapse knowledge. Many thanks for your willingness to put all this on public display.
Comment by Paula — 11 April 2006 @ 12:36 PM
valhallan,
Excellent points…although arm-wresslin’ could be substituted for fisticuffs to avoid unpleasant stares at work the next day.
This brings up the topic I have been patiently waiting to be covered since last fall. How do we modern types start building a tribe that will actually function as a cohesive unit when we need it?
In the movie Cold Mountain, Nicolle Kidman’s character Ada lives the life of the mind and as a result everything in her physical world begins to fall apart after the death of her father. Although she’s well-read and can play the piano, she has no idea of how to run her small farm or even grow a turnip. Just as Ada’s on the verge of starvation, Rene Zellwegger’s character Ruby shows up and begins to teach her how to get things done and grow food.
Ruby, who is a doer not a thinker, has a great line about having “no time for wimble-wobble”.
Well folks, we have had enough wimble-wobble (however top notch) about collapse, oxygen holocausts, as well as handwringing over “gender roles” after reversion to hunter-gatherer life, for a lifetime.
This week’s tempest in a teapot has served to illustrate just how weak virtual ties are in the real world.
So how about it, gang?
How does one begin to build a tribe with staying power for the real world?
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 12:38 PM
So I did. Sorry Steve.
Well, you still need more members if you’re going to be able to beat my tribe’s team in the Great Annual Tribe Soccer and Axe-Throwing Competition in 2023. We’re meeting at Khaokia that year.
Glad to see Mizanthropik coming back, I liked it a lot.
Comment by valhallan — 11 April 2006 @ 12:40 PM
What can I say? We’re better at winter sports.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 12:49 PM
Why not a curling duel then?
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 1:21 PM
“How does one begin to build a tribe with staying power for the real world?”
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but it seems to me that this question is the elephant in the living room we are all choosing to ignore. We are most likely avoiding it because deep down we fear that there is no answer.
I don’t know anything about Ishcon but have the vague suspicion, based on commentary read here, that all attempts at building tribes to date have ended in arguments, feuds, and fatal splintering.
Which reminds me of a great old joke by Emo Phillips:
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said “Stop! don’t do it!” “Why shouldn’t I?” he said. I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!” He said, “Like what?” I said, “Well…are you religious or atheist?” He said, “Religious.” I said, “Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?” He said, “Christian.” I said, “Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?” He said, “Baptist!” I said,”Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?” He said, “Baptist church of god!” I said, “Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?” He said,”Reformed Baptist church of god!” I said, “Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?” He said, “Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!” I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off.
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 2:09 PM
Our tribe here in Minneapolis has had it’s fair share of problems…We number over a dozen poor urban hunter-gatherers now. We’ve dealt with chemical dependancy, street violence, petty power games, and near-fatal accidents. The only way we’ve found it to actually work is real, honest, face-to-face conversation. Just my two cents.
Comment by M. David Bailey — 11 April 2006 @ 2:10 PM
Being actual rather than virtual makes abig difference.
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 2:15 PM
Wow, you asked her to be your bridesmaid when it’s clear that you had no clue who she really was. If you did, there wouldn’t be this whole ridiculous blow up. You invited them into your home without knowing who they really were.
Your reaction to it are showing. They are showing that you all care more about your image to the world, but all the while, you are shattering your image by being what you claim is monstrous.
Cold, callous, and cruel.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 3:39 PM
Maybe you guys could partition off a special thread for those who can’t stop bickering? This place is degenerating into a day time soap opera.
Now what about that elephant in the living room, folks?
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 3:49 PM
You can’t build a tribe with staying power in this world.
all you hope to do is form groups, be honest with members in the groups, be open with members in the groups (including potential members), and hope that when the crash comes you can work together and live together to someday actually form the tribe.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 3:55 PM
I agree with Peter. Bickering forum area, please.
Comment by Bubba — 11 April 2006 @ 3:55 PM
You could try looking at the ecovillage movement to see how people go about making their tribes work. I know they’re an ‘agricultural’ tribe but after a couple of generations of trying to form tight communities out of civilised people they’re starting to figure a few things out.
Essentially though what’s needed is “honest face to face conversation” like David says. Plus committment to not walking away from problems - something we civilised types have real difficulty with.
Comment by Aaron — 11 April 2006 @ 3:59 PM
Not easily ‘walking away from problems’ is one of the nice things about the more primitive/simplistic lifestyles.
In civlization, there are govt’ groups, laws, etc. etc. that allow people to walk away from so many responsibilities.
In the wilds, walking away–burns more calories, and what’s important starts to more & more look like, yep you guessed it—food! Boy oh boy, Maslow would probably be suprised how often his stuff come’s up, in everyday Post-peak oil/collapse dialogues.
Comment by Bubba — 11 April 2006 @ 4:03 PM
Well, the bickering should have been there in the first place, shouldn’t have it?
But now that it has started, how is it finished, I’ll tell you how.
Jason and his band need to stop talking about it.
Stop complaining about it. Because honestly they are starting to sound like spoiled children.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 4:03 PM
This incident as it relates to forming actual communities is sort of what I was trying to talk about in my post on the matter. But I don’t think you can simply say, “How does one begin to build a tribe with staying power for the real world?” because that’s a very complex issue. It’s pretty much what this entire website is about. So for me to attempt to give any sort of definitive answer in a single comment I think would be somewhat disingenuous.
Especially since it’s likely to be different for any given group. It really depends a lot on what kind of group you’re trying to form and what kinds of personalities are involved.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 4:04 PM
Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re really the only one still talking about it.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 4:06 PM
Look around you Mike, it’s all over your little board.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 4:07 PM
Look around you, Cindy. The last post any member of Anthropik made about it was at least four hours ago. And those were the ones who came in late because they didn’t have internet access.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 4:11 PM
Oh Mike, but in every single post anyone in anthropik has made about it, there has been whining, complaining and bitchiness.
Four hours ago!
That’s so long ago!!
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 4:12 PM
Mike said: It really depends a lot on what kind of group you’re trying to form and what kinds of personalities are involved.
Thank you.
Finally something on actual tribe formation.
I’ll have to give this issue some serious thought. All that I know right now is that my tribe will be a non-smoking one.
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 4:18 PM
And no baggie pants that expose your underwear!
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 4:20 PM
And yet she’s still talking about it.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 4:27 PM
yes, you are right, I am.
do you have a problem with that?
perhaps you should respond to what I’m saying rather than complain about it. Or be sarcastic about it.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 4:32 PM
Okay everyone, we are taking a time out.
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 4:41 PM
I’m kinda hungry, anyone know of any good Rabbitt-Burger joints?
Comment by Bubba — 11 April 2006 @ 5:05 PM
Yeah, Cindy. We all got what you’re saying. We’re children. What are you? Ben’s mom? Let it go.
Careful with those rabbit burgers, man. Those bunnies can be pretty hardcore.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 5:13 PM
whoa whoa whoa.
No I’m not Ben’s mom, but damn.
that just sealed my opinion of you and the rest of your little band.
Comment by cindy — 11 April 2006 @ 6:21 PM
Cindy
Is there a cash prize for whoever gets the last word in here?
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 7:04 PM
Cindy is just “Al” using a new name
Comment by rob — 11 April 2006 @ 7:50 PM
Mike,
BRING OUT THE KITTIES!
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 7:58 PM
I’m here to serve…
Comment by Mike Godesky — 11 April 2006 @ 8:14 PM
Hey Peter, I’ve started a discussion over on Ishcon about the forming tribe thing.
Comment by Urban Scout — 11 April 2006 @ 10:45 PM
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
In the meantime, maybe Mike should unleash the kitties on DC and Tehran?
Comment by Peter — 11 April 2006 @ 10:56 PM
Peter,
you left the UNited Nations Headquarters off the list.
Mike,
Unleash those bad pussies ASAP!!1
Comment by Rory — 12 April 2006 @ 10:28 AM
There’s something that’s just wrong about that statement.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 12 April 2006 @ 10:39 AM
Now she can have him all to herself. B has been played.
Comment by Desmond Morris — 12 April 2006 @ 6:39 PM
Actually, Rob, Cindy already tried to spam my blog with this crap but she found out that comments on my blog are moderated by default and I don’t feel a need to post her stuff in my space, but thanks.
Considering that Cindy and I are arguing opposite viewpoints, your comment was unnecessary but I’ve kind of given up on maturity from most of the participants in this space outside of the actual Anthropik members. But I watch and feel free to surprise me.
Comment by Al — 13 April 2006 @ 1:49 AM
Well, I think most of our visitors are pretty good. Cindy isn’t really representative of the whole group.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 13 April 2006 @ 9:06 AM
Huh, interesting Al, I’ve never been on your blog. Are you just throwing out random misinformation or is this perhaps a midunderstanding?
I know I do not appreciate wrong information being given about me.
And thus far, comments teasing me, and not in a good way, have been prevalent among members.
Is that honestly a good way to treat guests on your site?
Comment by cindy — 13 April 2006 @ 12:21 PM
Ah, excuse me then. It is hard to keep all of the different “Cindy” people separate. Maybe if you guys used last names or something. A “Cindy” which you say isn’t you left several comments on my own blog in regards to the thread here that were in line with the comments that you are making. It is an easy confusion to make.
I do have her IP address and such but it isn’t really necessary to post it here.
Comment by Al — 13 April 2006 @ 3:44 PM
no, it would not be necessary.you are probably referring to me. i attempted to leave one comment on your blog, and then another “testing” comment. not spam, i might add. i was quite surprised that comments are screened. although i suppose it’s useful to micromanage the image you project…..like, “no one disagrees with me :-)”
Comment by kate — 13 April 2006 @ 4:14 PM
Or to keep unwelcome people off of my blog. If you want a bully pulpit, feel free to start your own blog. My house, my rules.
Besides, if I wanted that image, I wouldn’t have posted Mike’s comments or those of others. Yours simply added no value to what I was saying.
Comment by Al — 14 April 2006 @ 5:19 PM
Besides, on most sites, if you don’t screen comments, you get spammed for viagra. I’m not sure how Anthropik.com gets around that.
Comment by Al — 14 April 2006 @ 5:20 PM
We use a spam filter that catches most of that. A few comments sometimes get caught in there by mistake, and someone has to go in and approve it. But for the most part, it does a pretty good job.
You’d be amazed at how much spam we get here.
Comment by Mike Godesky — 14 April 2006 @ 7:35 PM