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Re: [OM] [Way OT] Pedantry

Subject: Re: [OM] [Way OT] Pedantry
From: whunter <whunterjr@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 01:23:31 -0400
I shall be pleased to respond to Mr. Norcutt's post once.
1. I doubt anyone has joined this list to provide their personal email address seeking pontificating judgmental email relevant to their persona or content of character from those pretending to derive the truth from posts regarding factual photography issues. As with prior genuine 'hate' mail posted to my personal email address by members of the list, I find Mr. Norcutt's supercilious vindictive to be unacceptable use of the list for any member. 2. Pedantry: The act, character, or manners of a pedant; vain ostentation of learning. 3. Explicit rendering of fact, especially established radiation physics, radiation biology and chemistry may be dry and lacking the "social graces" of gab, but believe ......... I can separate and engage in both. To admix snippets of fact with implied claims which are clearly misleading is true PEDANTRY. Deem me to be at one extreme or the other, but never guilty of pedantry with an admixture in the middle. Truth is not pedantic. 4. Writing style: I write about facts in the style of a lifelong academic and scientific writing. Logic and context are critical. They are no less important than the fact. Never have I impugned the integrity, or accused a member of personal deficiency. ..........nor will I. Was I pointed in a factual response relevant to Th-228 and carbon as a 'definition' of organic chemistry? YES and YES again. Anyone who heard 'haughty' failed to hear basic facts being obscured in a far too obfuscated discourse about safety and quality of Zuiko lenses deemed 'radioactive'. Scientific exchange and learning are based on questions, not misappropriation of factoids. If I have a personal assessment relevant to this list, it bespeaks respect for the remarkable intelligence and CONTEXTUAL knowledge of most members. My pointed response addressed inappropriate knowledge base statements relevant to Th-228, chemistry and organic chemistry with NO reference to the author, deliberately so. 5. Public emotion relevant to 'radioactive': I doubt that any member of the list is more sensitive to personal and public issues of radiation protection. A professional lifetime of relevant teaching and research has engendered this stance. However, as with many statements rendered in the thread re the lenses and safety, ignorance relevant to radiation protection is an even greater hazard than radioactivity in our environment. That I have a rather 'short fuse' whence ignorance is used to pervert the knowledge of others or to detrimentally effect public policy is unequivocal. Only those who fail to assimilate the facts and my time consuming effort to respond to this thread would perceive 'haughty'. Very sad....... The truth shall set you free. I know not of others, but K-I-S-S starts with my discipline. Truth will remove the harassment from my mailbox and enable those who know, to separate truth from pedantry. 6. The thread about radioactive lenses: as posted, I first tried to nudge a 'course correction' then withdraw from a thread where more was being said than read. Thomas Haegin asked me to continue. Still, I endeavored to get the basic messages across, clearly and quickly so I could return to learning more about photography. I can not teach the chemistry and radiochemistry of the actinides, a subset of rare earths in this forum. For those unwilling to read wonderful knowledge-base sites such as How Stuff Works, etc., there is no end to the thread. I asked for specific references to the composition of the glass used in the 'yellow bellies'. This simple information could be used to provide a contributing and focused response re: A. can the yellar be removed?; and, B. safety. Nothing was forthcoming. Anyone who believes I was abrupt in my factual responses above should know that they were spared even more glaring factual responses relevant to questions I asked about coatings. 6. Finally, as with my response requesting that he refrain from use of my personal email for such purpose, I have no comments re how Mr. Norcutt 'deals with his fellow man' his 'social graces', intelligence or any other personal assessment. I do not pretend to be able to evaluate or pass objective judgment regarding the persona of Mr. Norcutt in this setting. I lack the talents of Mr. Norcutt and others who sent disdainful email to my personal address.

Disdainful of ignorance? NO...... Never. Disdainful of ignorance perpetuated and espoused in a public forum? YES. Disdainful of people NO. Never. Ever wrong?? YES!!!!!! However, by design I am my most assiduous critic. Mr. Norcutt has not usurped this role.
Good night.
Bill Hunter

On Sunday, August 10, 2003, at 10:56  PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:

I sent the following message to Bill Hunter privately:
-------------------------------------------------------
I said you were approaching "haughty" before... and haughty pedantry is
what you're displaying now. I'm sure you know what it means but I doubt
that you can recognize it in yourself.  You are clearly a superbly
educated person technically but you seem to be lacking a bit of social
graces in dealing with your fellow man... er, listees.

As I said before it's not what you say but how you say it.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bill responded:
Please extend the courtesy of replying to the list, not to my personal email address for unsolicited communications.
Sincerely,
Bill Hunter
--------------------------------------------------------
It had gotten to the point that I found Bill's pedantry very trying and even insulting to long time and respected list members. I sent this message privately since I believe that's the proper forum. However, it appears that Bill wants it (and me) exposed to the list so here it is. I will post no more to the list on this subject and refrain from bothering Bill at his private address.

Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, Massachusetts, USA




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