boatdesign.net people should behave!

[BriggsMonteith]

I've seen some in-fighting on these forums by people who portray themselves as professionals. I really value these peoples opinions but don't want to get in there crossfire or viewed as taking sides. I have great respect for all the talent on these forums but I do not want to feel uncomfortable. Please (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) be considerate and keep this as cordial as possible.

[hoytedow]

It is like roller derby. Wear your helmet. Welcome to the forum.

[Briggsm]

Thanks Howtedow,
You're probably right. I'll just have to dodge the mud being thrown....
-Briggs

[hoytedow]

You are right. It is less like roller derby and more like mud-blogging.

[bearflag]

"Iiiiiiii drink your milkshake! sthllooooooooooooooooooo [protracted slurp] I drink it up!"

[bearflag]

In all seriousness the "rancor" on the forum...

Imagine for a moment you are a professional (you very well could be)...

And then suppose someone came along who claimed to be a professional as well; however, they made claims that in your opinion were dangerous and even potentially deadly to the other professional's clients.

I would make the claim that for a professional to see a misrepresentation as something they would need to address as individuals and as an industry, especially if the concern was safety related and not just financial, cosmetic, functional etc. To do otherwise would not be professional at all, but that of a rank amateur. A real tradesmen has no compunction about voicing concerns related to his craft or the craftsmanship of others. Whether to sing their praises or raise concerns. You will find real craftsmen are complimentary of those they consider high quality professionals. More often than not, if their clients insist on going against their professional advice they would rather not take the money than put out a substandard product, and may even be willing to sacrifice money so that someone who is not capable would put out something dangerous.

After discussing with other professionals in your industry, you questioned the antagonist about their claims. And instead of articulating how their claims are in fact not dangerous. They instead attack the professionally of the others in the trade.

There have been some impolite comments, fair-enough. However, most of them have been well balanced, and supportive, offering assistance, willing to aide in engineering, offering physical testing, computer simulations, etc etc.

Frankly I am impressed by the willingness of these professionals to put in what amounts to a tremendous time effort in order to self-police their industry. it is perhaps the thing that makes this forum as valuable as it is. There are dozens of professionals who will offer their advice for free or even at their expense in order to lift their industry. BRAVO!

Imagine if we were so fortunate for there to be whistleblowers in the petroleum industry putting safety of the operations first?

[Briggsm]

I agree, but I've seen a good bit of character assasination having nothing to do with boat design, just jabs at a seeming nemesis.

[hoytedow]

It has cost us some talented people.

[jonr]

In most real world situations, you have better control over who you talk with. If you repeatably find that someone is obnoxious or not worth reading - add them to your ignore list (a nice feature of the software here).

Originally Posted by Briggsm

I agree, but I've seen a good bit of character assasination having nothing to do with boat design, just jabs at a seeming nemesis.

Once you have been here for a while, you will notice that some of us can get upset or rude quite easily. (me included)
The older members (longer on the board) know each other to some extend and more often than not, understand the reason behind a harsh comment.

When real amateurs pop up here and claim to be part of the industry, but obviously have NO clue about the matter, they usually receive a frank comment on their input.

Unfortunately that happened too often in the past 6 months. Therefore the replies get a bit nastier, because patience is not a endless property.

When the more professional crew here disagrees, the tune can get rather disharmonic as well, but then, we know each other and don´t get it wrong forever.

Become familiar with the gang here before you butcher them, most are nice, many are experts and all are lunatic..........

Regards
Richard

[bearflag]

I'd like to think that even some of us recently appearing, non boat-builder, non naval-architect/engineer types are contributing instead of being idiots. Heh, but maybe that is just wishful thinking.

::looks around::

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by bearflag

I'd like to think that even some of us recently appearing, non boat-builder, non naval-architect/engineer types are contributing instead of being idiots. Heh, but maybe that is just wishful thinking.

It is not a wishful thinking, imho. It connects to my thought on multi-disciplinary design approach, expressed in the thread "Quick note of thanks", in which I strongly believe. Copy-pasting it here:

"I'd just like to express my opinion (for those who might care) about why this forum is so instructional and formative. I believe it's main characteristics is that it is made up of people coming from nearly every technical and manufacturing field. It is highly multi-disciplinary discussion place, where every problem is analyzed from not only boatbuilder's, boat designer's or NA's point of view, but also from the point of view of guys who have made hundreds of pieces of home furniture, plumbers, electricians, mechanical, electrical, aerospace engineers, computer programmers, university professors etc. Each one has shared a tiny amount of his experience and all together have created this sort of on-line boat design/building encyclopedia.
No person or group of persons coming from a single technical field could provide such a complete coverage. The industry-driven rush towards specialistic training has fragmented our knowledge to the level that many good and innovative ideas and solutions to problems are probably available due to a research in one specialistic field, but are invisible to the people from all the other fileds. I am using the boatbuilding industry as an example, but it is valid for any other industry. I believe it is time to start inverting this process of fragmentation, and to create more melting-pot places like this forum is, in our offices, yards, research institutions etc. I'm sure we would be surprise by the amount of new old ideas which would start to pop up."

The important thing is to contribute with argumented and proven facts, not with unsupported opinions or sensations. That's how constructive discussions are created.

Partecipating to this forum is a give and take process. Each one shares 1 unit of his/her knowledge, and receives 100 units of knowledge from other 100 people. It is definitely a convenient trade-off for everyone, pros and amateurs.

[dskira]

Originally Posted by BriggsMonteith

I've seen some in-fighting on these forums by people who portray themselves as professionals. I really value these peoples opinions but don't want to get in there crossfire or viewed as taking sides. I have great respect for all the talent on these forums but I do not want to feel uncomfortable. Please (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) be considerate and keep this as cordial as possible.

It is by far the best forum around.
Did you read a lot of post before joining?
A lot of these are very informatives and interresting.
It is the best bunch of members you can find.
If you stay around enough, you will see, you will be sometime frustated. And you will share your frustation.
By the way, could you tell us a little more about you?
Just curius, if you have a boat, I don't know, just little things?
Anyway, welcome aboard
Daniel

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by apex1

Once you have been here for a while, you will notice that some of us can get upset or rude quite easily. (me included)
.... most are nice, many are experts and all are lunatic..........

Regards
Richard

That's just crazy talk!

[BriggsMonteith]

I haven't had any negativity directed at me personally, and have been reading these post for years before joining boatdesign.net. Most people here know more about yacht design than me. Daniel I'd be happy to introduce myself as another thread, thanks for the suggestion. Critisism doesn't bother me, I'd just like to feel free to be neutral on this forum.