Pessimism

[Kirby]

Anyone that's been around the forums for awhile probably has realized some of the pessimism I exhibit toward... maybe it's authority(?)... when it comes to go.

I get into arguments about trivial matters, and criticize go establishments - KGS, the AGA, maybe even some forum contributers (if you'd consider them establishments).

I don't know why this is, exactly... Maybe I have a problem with authority. Maybe it makes me feel more insignificant...

Whatever the reason, I was wrong.

I just watched the trailer for "The Surrounding Game," which by the way, seems to be put together quite nicely. Maybe I'm just feeling emotional right now, but I think at least for this transient moment, I realize that my attitude has been completely wrong.

Sure give me any topic, any person, or any organization... And I can probably find something negative to say about them.

But e fact is, they are there. And nothing can ever be refined if nothing is ever started.

So I would like to apologize. I want to apologize to KGS, to the AGA, to Mr. Fairbairn, and anyone else I may have offended along the way.

I'm nothing but a mere player of this game. And it is those authorities that I have criticized that really deserve my praise.

So cheers to all of you that have supported go, no matter to what degree. You're making the world a better place. I just hope that someday I can do a fraction of the same.

[Joaz Banbeck]

WTF?? "I want to apologize to everybody." First Araban, now Kirby. Is it contagious?

Guys, we make mistakes. We're human. Just resolve to do better and put away the lashes.

[Bonobo]

What Joaz says.

That said, I feel great respect and sympathy for anybody who has the courage to say they were wrong (regarding whatever) and the greatness to apologize to somebody. And I dearly hope that you, Kirby, are staying here—every community needs people with such courage and greatness.

So, what’s the opposite of the Dunning-Kruger Effect? Methinks we need a word for this.

[ez4u]

"If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking."
- Lyndon Baines Johnson

"Those who enter to buy, support me. Those who come to flatter, please me. Those who complain, teach me how I may please others so that more will come. Only those hurt me who are displeased but do not complain. They refuse me permission to correct my errors and thus improve my service."
- Marshall Field

"The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards."
- Alexander Jablokov, _The Place of No Shadows_

[Kirby]

I'm not saying I'm going to leave the forums, and I don't really intend to have a huge tone of regret. The main thing I want to say is that, in the past, I have focused on the negative. I have criticised because it is easy to do so. I have missed looking at the good aspects of contributors to the go community.

Those contributors are not perfect, but they are contributors for a game that I like.

I think that "The Surrounding Game" maybe reawoke a vision of go that I had a long time ago, but that has since been buried by a negative attitude.

For sure, things can still improve, but I hope to retain a positive vision for the go community moving forward. That is, behind whatever complaints I have, I hope to remember the good parts of these institutions.

Either way, I'm sure that I can fill the "annoying bastard" role in some people's hearts...

[ez4u]

"I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet."
- Rodney Dangerfield

[Mivo]

We're human.

You should really apologise for that!

[judicata]

We're human.

You should really apologise for that!

Yet humans created go. Sorry, I don't ascribe to the alien/deity invention theories.

on topic:
I too* have a rebellious/independent/anti-authority bent. My tendency is to challenge everything and everyone. In itself, it is not a weakness--the community needs people to challenge assumptions and ideas. But the key is to raise issues in a constructive/productive way. And perhaps deciding when silence is the best course (a decision I make only begrudgingly). Maybe this relates in some way to a difference between pessimism and criticism (in the positive sense).

Anyhow, good thoughts.

*Based on your post, I'm inferring that you would describe yourself as having such a tendency, but correct me if I'm wrong.