| > What you call a jerk is what i see as a interesting person. There's no accounting for taste, so you're welcome to find verbal abuse interesting. But the overwhelming majority of people do not like being treated with disrespect. > People have cultures and personalities, many which are not understood by other cultures and personalities. This isn't a cultural issue. Linus is from Finland. In Finnish culture, it's rude to imply your coworker an idiot. It's rude in most cultures to do so. Linus is a fluent English speaker. He knows what "idiocy" means, and he knows that it's disrespectful to Andy. That's why he's saying it. > Carefully measured polite language is absolutely exhausting for many of us. Nobody is suggesting we use carefully measured language. That is exhausting. What I'm suggesting is, just don't be a jerk. Watch how easy it is: "Andy, what is the background for trying to push this idiocy?" vs "Andy, what is the background for trying to push this?" The second statement isn't cluttered by polite language. And it actually takes less effort to say than the first. Yet it's far less Jerky. > I prefer us to exist side by side instead of banning one in favour of the other. In general, people should learn to work with people who are different from them. I work with people who have a different religion from me, speak with a different accent, or have different interests from me. And we put aside our differences to work together. It works well. But there is one kind of person you can't work with, no matter how many differences you put aside, and that's a bully. |