I haven't changed Heineken. Your PERCEPTION of me has changed.

Reverse Engineer

Hello Heineken,

I've come into this thread a bit late, you're all better.
Glad to hear it mate. I thought I'd share with you a piece of music that always helps me through dispassionate times, it is Tool- Parabol.

Keep on truckin

Love that song thanks for the link

Yes, my perception of you, as shaped by what you write.

Can't say I'm ALL better, but I heartily thank you for your kind words.

Without doubt, because I have an outrageously dramatic style of writing, quite a few people here misperceive what I write, but as time goes by, more and more people here on Peak Oil have come to understand it. I am greatful that I have been able to achieve that now. So was the case on my own board, it took me quite some time to get people to understand the meaning behind the drama.

You know, I can write plain prose, but its not an accurate reflection of how I think. I do perceive life as a grand drama, and so I write to reflect that. Read for the underlying meaning, as you would seek the meaning in Shakespeare, its all couched in Comedy or Tragedy. I am no Shakespeare, but I do my best to evoke emotion and to ferret out the deeper truth that lies beyond the plain prose, the facts and the figures of depleting oil supplies and a shrinking Dow Jones Industrial Average.

I write to satisfy mainly my own muse, the reactions I get sometimes can be incredibly vitriolic, I am used to it. Read for the meaning, enjoy the entertainment value of it. Or if you disagree, take me on. Its what I live for.

Reverse Engineer

RE, some of your commentary has a bombastic air that I think turns many off, because it is perceived as egotistical. Perhaps you don't intend that, but that is how it comes off---less frequently now than formerly, perhaps, which is what I was getting at in my earlier post.

Consider writing with your audience more strongly in mind.

I'm quite aware the style is bombastic Its over the top in some cases, periodically I get reprimands for going too far. Thing is, it gets people's emotions riled up when you do this, and that gets you to underlying truth. You do not get this if you write to appeal to the masses or "make friends".

I DO consider the audience when I write Heineken. I often write with the specific goal of pissing off people Its the only way you get responses out of people that come from deep inside, from the soul. You write plain prose, you get a lot of boring platitudes. I'm not interested in that stuff.

Anyhow, I try to make it entertaining and I try to make it informative, or at least question well the information before me since I don't know near as much about some of these topics as others here do. As to the style it comes off my keyboard with, well you can love it or hate it, but about nobody would say its boring stuff

Reverse Engineer

RE, I don't agree with the reasoning behind your communication strategy, but I respect you for standing by it. Be who you are.

I believe in the power of humility, restraint, and brevity. For me, language framed in that way communicates with more force than your preferred approach.

I submit that exaggeration and excess weaken rather than strengthen communication. This is an irony perhaps, but it is ineradicably true and is the path of our greatest writers, such as Hemingway.

That works best for me as an audience. As soon as I lose rapport with the writer/speaker, I turn off their message. I think RE can influence a different audience with more humility--an audience that may actually have a more constructive reaction to his message. I think why Heineken's, as well as my, impression of RE's writings has improved is because we have made the effort to see the wisdom in much of what he writes and have been willing to let the egotism flow by the wayside. Others may not have as much time or patience.

I'm not a big fan of Hemingway. I take most of my inspiration from Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the King of Gonzo.

I understand your perspective, I just don't agree with it. Anyhow, it appears to me that despite what problems you have with the style, you have come to understand the underlying meaning, so perhaps now you can just enjoy the paint job for its entertainment value

Reverse Engineer

Just so I know, are we talking about Heine's or RE's thoughts now?

Not sure what you are asking here, but I *think* we are now debating the relative merits of a demure and compact writing style versus an over the top and bombastic one. Somewhat removed discussion from the OP, but since Heineken has recovered from his brief resignation phase, this is a worthwhile discussion of means and methods of communication

Reverse Engineer

Everyone comes into their own style with time. Kids grow up and copy their parents and then their peers and eventually just become consciously themselves. When someone comes into a room or a new company then the atmosphere is so that people have to learn who and what this person is about. What is meant as offensive, as a joke, is he an idiot or a kindred soul, whatever. After a while most of the variations are just ignored as he/she is well known. Then Mood of the day, maintenance of relations, perseverance and courtesy becomes critical as the whole thing is a serious project(job, whatever), as in here we are having a permanent debate on our future and we are not, say, trolls, just trying to get a rise out of others then moving on to the next website under another pseudonym. Acutally that might be fun if one were totally against the POV of a certain group(Nazis, Satanists, etc.), but I am no warrior.

As Pops implied, I think the discussion of writing style merits a thread of its own. I am principally to blame for this thread going off track.

What Forum would you put such a discussion in? Could be an entertaining thread. At any rate, I'll share the blame with you for getting off track here.

And now, a word from our sponsor...The Times get Stranger Every Day.

Reverse Engineer

Try this, Define your writing style...

With that kind of empathetic post, you'll soon be losing your cred.

Ah, one of those buried "Open Forum" threads that nobody reads because they don't appear in the Last 24 Hours listing

Reverse Engineer

I'm doing an "image makeover". LOL.

Reverse Engineer

Dropped my style definition in the Define Your Writing Style thread

Reverse Engineer