Thread: Are there things about which you will not talk?

I'm thinking on the internet, specifically. Are there subjects on which you just totally avoid engaging?

I avoid:
Circumcision
Breastfeeding
Immunizations (any of these especially on parenting boards. Holy moly.)
Grammar fights
Bristol Palin


There are some subjects I will read about, but not add to.

The only reason I refrain from talking about some things are because this is a "gentlemanly" forum and because I'm too lazy to get into a back and forth typing debate. So anything too inappropriate or that's too much of a "hot topic" would be on my do not contribute list.

I try to stick with topics that I came here for,i.e. straight razor related. I sometimes fail and enter into controversial topics that can get me angry. Then I try to remember what poet Carl Sandburg said here . I also try and avoid posting too much about my personal life. I come from a couple of generations before it became fashionable to trot out the skeletons in the family closet as in Oprah type stuff.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I try to stick with topics that I came here for,i.e. straight razor related. I sometimes fail and enter into controversial topics that can get me angry. Then I try to remember what poet Carl Sandburg said here . I also try and avoid posting too much about my personal life. I come from a couple of generations before it became fashionable to trot out the skeletons in the family closet as in Oprah type stuff.

I think I am of the first generation of internet "trotters", but I hear you there. Thanks for the Sandburg! One of the best.

My family, personal stuff, and views on certain hot button topics.

I often find it hard to make a statement on certain subjects because a simple statement cannot express the depth of my understanding on these issues and people tend to take offense.

for example

I was talking to Xman the other night about women, wives specifically, and how the tendency to make choices based on emotion rather than reason can be a hindrance to the relationship.
this was in chat
I'll forgo the details because it would make me sound like a real jerk.


now there were a couple of other members there listening and eventually one came forward to make a comment on what was supposed to be a conversation between two people
I didn't know anyone was listening or I wouldn't have been so blunt
not because I don't believe everything I said, but because it's hard to qualify such statements

an example would be one of those statements that has to start with
"I'm not racist BUT"

you may have spent an incredible amount of time and energy coming to your conclusions, you may know infinitely more than the person listening, but whatever you say they interpreted through their level of knowledge filter
if they are a dumbass then you sound racist, no matter how well grounded in fact your statement is.

these are the statements I won't make
the ones that could not possibly be understood by their intended audience

you either look stupid
(because they have no idea what you are talking about)
or they feel stupid
(because they have no idea what you are talking about)
or they want to argue with you on a fourth grade level
(because they have no idea what you are talking about)
but either way it is a waste of my time


I will not throw pearls before swine, literally or figuratively.
I may however throw them AT the swine, but only if I expect them to squeal loudly

i am not certain i have a taboo topics. it's not the topic that i object, but the type of conversation on it. but i haven't taken the time to consider this and make rules to which i can refer to in future. i think my immediate judgment whether to get involved or not works better for me than following premeditated rules.

Originally Posted by Elliette

Circumcision - check, thread starter here
Breastfeeding - don't feel i should bring it up but no objection
Immunizations (any of these especially on parenting boards. Holy moly.) - no issues discussing them
Grammar fights - english being my second language and me being lazy when it was time to learn it i'm not too qualified
Bristol Palin - I could talk about her, although it'd be just my perception on the topic which may be quite far from the reality

For me it sorta' depends on the peolple I'd have to be involved with. Some are completly incapable of having a civil discussion no matter what the topic. Of course, as far as vaccinations go, I find that (in general) the people who would argue against me don't have enough critical thinking skills to engage in intelligent discourse. At least, I haven't met one yet. I suppose it's possible.

One issue I tend to steer clear of is abortion. I have a very confused set of ethical issues in regards to that entire debate, and I find plenty to dislike from people on both sides of the argument.

There are times (and this is on other furums, not here) where the people I would be arguing against are so ill-informed, so incapable of understanding logic, and in general so friggin' stoopid that I just cant be bothered to respond, even if it's something I feel strongly about, because it would be a total waste of time.

Lynn's mustache.

/me runs for the hills

If I spoke of the things of which I don't speak, I would have spoken of them and it wouldn't be a thing of which I don't speak