I'm breaking my own rules here, but I want to respond to what the Guest said and not specifically to the Guest.
The juvenile and whacko guest postings that have literally taken over the whole forum several days recently are not coming from people who:
" ... aren't brave enough at the beginning to even have a name. Maybe they are too fragile. Maybe they are voiceless AND nameless. They'll find a name through posting. Maybe they need to try out different voices before they can find the real one."
Surely you know that is not the type poster we are talking about. These (if there is more than one) whackos have lots of nerve (no bravery though I will admit) and they are not interested in helping anyone or being helped, nor are they interested in learning anything. They are just trouble-makers who waste more of our time.
Yes, anyone can have as many registered names as they want I suppose, but we cannot police every post to see if it's someone with multi-identities. It's just the guest postings on one index option that I would like to see prohibited.
Yes, some guest postings have been very insightful and provided food for thought, but it's the same old cliché "a few bad apples spoil the whole basket."
I would think anyone with a "history" who comes back with a different name would soon exhibit their old trademarks. It has happened many times on here. Some who left never went any further than another name. There is nothing to be done about that. It's the anonymous trolls and trouble-makers that are ruining it for the rest of us. They are running around posting right and left and using this forum as a teenager's chat room, filling up page after page with nonsense.
Yes, it is true that:
"People who have names and are registered have sure expressed vicious, mean, spiteful, targetted opinions. So registration doesn't protect the board from meanness. Registration makes it even easier for the meanies to target individuals if the individual has a name."
But at least you know who it is. I'm not talking about eradicating "vicious, mean, spiteful, targeted opinions" -- we have to take care of ourselves and be responsible in our replies to jerks. I'm talking about these time and space wasters with their silly little games. How did they ever find this place anyhow? I wonder if they found some history links on someone else's computer (like their parents?).
I don't agree with:
" ... loyalty as well as fear prevents us from being honest. If we are honest as anon, we can learn to put a name to our voices. Maybe sticking with one name stops us growing!!! ... Anon brings out confusion and paranoia for the rest of us; anon allows growth for anon. Which is more important?"
What good are your opinions if you are afraid someone will know they are yours. We're not talking about the next-door neighbor reading what we say here. This is a forum created in cyber-space and nobody knows who you are even with your registered name. Registering your name and being responsible for what you say is just another outward testimony of your ethics, integrity and character. I will save my anonymity for the voting booth. The childish guest postings we have been inundated with do not confuse and create paranoia, and I doubt they hold a growth factor for the author -- they have however, IMO, caused the forum to lose some of its effectiveness.
