What we have here is a failure to communicate

andie nachgeborenen andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com
Wed Dec 4 14:14:11 PST 2002


In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman plays a prisoner who is beaten by a vicious guard who exclaims, before smashing him in the head, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." It's sort of a tag line, and a famous one to film buffs. I though you were making a conscious allusion.

No one objects to expression of certain ideas, although the content of the ideas expressed may be roundly criticized. If you are asking for comment on what makes discussion with you frustrating, I'll offer them off list. One thing is an inappropiate tendency to personalize, as noted below.

--- billbartlett at dodo.com.au wrote:
>


> OK I will. However Carrol is being quite vague about
> his actual complaint, so his comments are no help.
> As he admits, he's never been willing to actually
> engage me in debate either. So I suspect that it is
> not how I express myself, but what I say that
> alienates Carrol.
>
> Its pretty hard to escape the conclusion that he
> finds it offensive that I express certain ideas at
> all, rather than that he is offended by how I
> express them.
>
> You don't have that problem. At least not with me.
> Basically we aren't that far apart on many things.
> My perception is that you have a tendency to play
> the victim at the slightest pretext though.

This is personalization.


>
> Ignoring certain views, in an attempt to marginalise
> them, is one tactic.
>

This is imputation of bad motives. If I ignore your views because I don't find discussion with you productive,w hy assume I am trying to "amrginalize" you?


> > And btw, as to
> >"failure to communicate," I _have_ seen Cool Hand
> >Luke. So who you intend to smash in the head? jks
>
> You're being hypersensitive again. I haven't seen
> Cool Hand Luke, which I assume is a film.

See above.

jks

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