Sharing wisdom gained through experience in the spirit of cooperation and harmony is relentlessly punished by people attempting to be relevant by bashing every single new thing. Forums are filled with it. The art of respectful criticism is gone from the earth. Every new thing I've announced on forums in the last decade has been relentlessly attacked by arrogant skeptics. Enough to cause me to constantly second guess my presence within the communities I've participated in over the years. It's
so much easier to just not participate.
Most of my peers in the industry
actively avoid forums. They'd rather catch covid, twice, than come to a forum and participate. This thread is yet another perfect example of why they feel that way. The mob mentality can wear a guy out quite quickly. With so many posters being entirely incompetent, it's an easy mistake to think that every poster is incompetent. There are always members that spend significantly more time on their keyboards than they do their rifles. It shows too. They are quite skilled at assaulting other members contributions to this discipline.
We are witnessing the systematic silencing of experts in every discipline. Experts are simply looking on and saying, "very well, I'll leave you where I found you." We are all created equal, yet we do not long remain so after our birth. The power of individual achievement should be celebrated and encouraged, not scowled at. Shouldn't someone attempting to advance the discipline be granted some latitude in their presentation? Shouldn't they be questioned in such a way that would allow them to discuss their contribution without feeling attacked? The simple fact is that not all men can do what another man can do. Great strides forward will come from individual achievement. The mere attempt should be applauded, not discouraged.
Honorable dialogue and self discipline is not something practiced frequently enough. Everything new, is attacked on forums. I've not seen but a precious few innovations that were not. Then, should the innovation succeed in spite of those years of ruthless attacks... those same people can then be seen recommending it
as if it was their idea to begin with. In no instance do they credit the innovator, either.
I have only spoken with Rich Sherman on one occasion a few weeks ago. He was nothing but accommodating, knowledgeable, and professional. I've elected to go a different direction for my project, but that decision was in no way due to any treatment I received. I hold my own opinions regarding advertised capabilities of cartridges versus their real world performance, yet I feel no burning desire to bludgeon any person or organization with that. Every single company that has released a cartridge in my entire life has always advertised the maximum capability. If they do not, then they will likely not achieve success. The reality of that cartridges final performance in the hands of a skilled handloader that is an expert at finding forgiving nodes will discover soon enough its true capabilities. That has suited everyone well enough to this point. It is not likely to change. Rich is playing by the rules the industry has set, rightly or wrongly. He should be encouraged to succeed. It will be hard enough for him to do so even with our encouragement... but if he can, we will all be better for it. If he doesn't succeed, then time will reveal that defeat well enough on its own. Defeat is a powerful enough foe to not need anyone's help.
I still remember being an advocate of 6BR, 6BRX, 6BRA, 6Dasher... during a time when everyone was running big 6mm's and 6.5's in PRS. The venom filled vitriolic statements I endured from people during that time was almost unbearable. Fast forward to today, and time has proven me correct and them incorrect. Yet I don't dwell on the victory, instead I dwell on the fact that men largely have not changed. They approach what they do not know as if they have the certainty of knowing it.
Dunning-Kruger effect, in psychology, a cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of...
www.britannica.com
Is it really so difficult to simply say; "I'm skeptical of your performance claims, but I eagerly await such a time when you can convincingly demonstrate my skepticism is misplaced. Please do perform actual pressure testing and provide those data points so that I may give you the best possible chance at winning my support. I wish you success in your endeavor and if you are indeed successful, we'll all benefit and recognize you for it!" You can even provide feedback respectfully. "I've not seen compelling evidence to support your claims thus far. Is there any other evidence or data you can provide which you feel would more adequately demonstrate your position? It's entirely possible I'm missing something..."
I can be respectful, and remain skeptical, while also providing encouragement... all at the same time. This is a skill that many of you would do well to learn. Stand upright, and stop abusing your self worth by falling victim to vitriolic behaviors toward others. It makes you lesser, and that effect is inescapable.
@elkaholic I've reached the point of throwing in the towel and refusing to participate many times before. My desire to share what I've learned eventually overpowers my fear of wrongful persecution. I've found that I had to set down quite a lot of anger, resentment, and frankly my expectations of others in order to continue. I've had to forgive people for allowing themselves to be debased by their ridiculous and illogical behavior. This is not to say that I'm always successful. Reading idiotic recommendations given by wholly inexperienced people still causes me to get upset often times. It's a struggle, but none the less its also very rewarding to persevere in the face of such a seemingly unstoppable flood of vitriolic inexperienced people. I understand this can be difficult, and I hope that you can reconcile that in your mind and your heart. If you feel like I can help you with it in any way, feel free to call me up anytime. That invite is extended to any of you that find yourselves struggling with maintaining your integrity as well. Hardening your resolve in the position of inexperience is a very dangerous thing. If you think I can help provide perspective to get you out of that rut, please do give me a call. Maybe I can help.
