> Lloyd, where did you learn your group participation skills? The IETF! Lloyd Wood http://about.me/lloydwood ________________________________________ From: Dave Crocker [dcrocker@xxxxxxxx] Sent: 25 February 2014 05:39 To: Wood L Dr (Electronic Eng) Cc: ietf@xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ad hominems On 2/24/2014 9:31 PM, l.wood@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > This ongoing discussion of what constitutes an ad hominem argument is all very well, > but I'd like to point out that I didn't make an ad hominem argument or assertion. > > I simply asked a question. The form of your note was not the issue. It was the substance. The substance was directed at a person and was /about/ that person. It's the 'about' that made it ad hominem. By way of example... If I responded to your note by "just asking a question" such as: So, Lloyd, did you ever go to school? or Didn't your school ever teach you about semantics? or Lloyd, where did you learn your group participation skills? I'd simply be asking a question. But I'd also be making a pointed ad hominem attack and no reader will miss that fact. By contrast, if I sent a note that only contained the above first paragraph, I'd be focusing on the substance of the issue and would not be asking or commenting about you as a person. (Yes, my first paragraph has the word "your" in it. The presence of the word doesn't make the text ad hominem. The semantics either do or don't. First paragraph: doesn't. Later questions: do. d/ -- Dave Crocker Brandenburg InternetWorking bbiw.net