Caring/Compassion/Sensitivity/Tact vs Lying/Faking

[yossarian]

ummmmmm ok. i never noticed Unity didn't cap his posts.

It's like marketing. People don't consciously notice the tiny details but there are hordes of strong science studies indicating that unconsciously they do.

These kinds of subtle messages are actually communicated MORE strongly when they aren't consciously noticed. The unconscious just slurps them up without opposition.

I'm actually really pleased with this conversation because I feel like I finally am understanding unity. For me the burning question has been "why is a guy that seems so devoted to the LOO and seems really intellectually smart such a jerk?"

And the answer is that he's probably not really a jerk, it's purely and totally a language barrier issue which is exacerbated by the fact that he's trying to criticize people's ideas while using English phrases that are considered insulting. He gave up on learning polite English and just decided that all Americans use subjective reality -- I can understand why he doesn't bother because it's not at all obvious how to say it politely.

Unity is right -- it's really hard to express disagreement in the Anglosphere without being impolite. It takes all kinds of boilerplate and stuff to avoid appearing arrogant and rude. Not an easy job for ESLs.