The Skeptiko post-trauma thread

Hi, Doppleganger. I think like you (and most others I guess) that Alex did a great job previous to all this. But I noticed a change in him perhaps 2-3 years ago when he started composing his posts in a stylised way missing out lots of letters and using odd abbreviations which sometimes were hard to decipher (in meaning). He also started talking in a different way, stylised, using inscrutable sentences (for me anyway ) ...which I couldn't easily follow, couldn't grasp what he was getting at.  

I might be wrong but for me that can often signify that someone is getting big headed, arrogant or uncaring. What are your thoughts because I might have it all wrong. Is any of that fair ?

I find it bizarre that someone who consistently comments about how it all comes down to "love" can behave so callously to the community that he was responsible for building. Maybe "tough love"?

I'm sorry about my ignorance but am I understanding correctly that website 'Skeptico' is no longer operational / in existence?

No, it's still operational, Leadville. It's just that not many of the previous "inhabitants" are left.

I find it bizarre that someone who consistently comments about how it all comes down to "love" can behave so callously to the community that he was responsible for building. Maybe "tough love"?

Callous for me, Chuck is too strong but I know what you're getting at. I felt almost like he'd driven/taken us on a nice long ride to some place of real promise and then stopped the bus and told us to get off.

Hi, Doppleganger. I think like you (and most others I guess) that Alex did a great job previous to all this. But I noticed a change in him perhaps 2-3 years ago when he started composing his posts in a stylised way missing out lots of letters and using odd abbreviations which sometimes were hard to decipher (in meaning). He also started talking in a different way, stylised, using inscrutable sentences (for me anyway ) ...which I couldn't easily follow, couldn't grasp what he was getting at.  

I might be wrong but for me that can often signify that someone is getting big headed, arrogant or uncaring. What are your thoughts because I might have it all wrong. Is any of that fair ?

Yeah, his use of language did change, leaving out vowels, such as saying yr for "your." I found it strange, too! Glad I'm not the only one to notice that! His abbreviations like that are not conductive for a conversation and can be confusing. I always noticed he liked to use one-liners a lot, but the weird abbreviations threw me off. That's why I started to not participate in the show forums as much. He didn't seem like he wanted a real convo? I mean, there is accepted internet-type speech and abbreviations, but damn... that was confusing.

But, it's probably not our place to speculate too much. It is what it is.

Callous for me, Chuck is too strong but I know what you're getting at. I felt almost like he'd driven/taken us on a nice long ride to some place of real promise and then stopped the bus and told us to get off.

People change. And interests change over time. I can understand why someone might not want to jockey a forum forever. But there could have been some discussion and then portions of the forum could have been handed off to a group similar to the folks who started this forum. That he seemed oblivious to the fact that people had poured hundreds of hours into the parts of the forum that weren't related to the podcast seems odd. And that he would think that no one else really cared about them. Just kind of clueless in a strange way.

It's like some weird kind of breakdown.  Do you think he might have an alien walk-in or something?

Well I don't want to be accused of making an unsubstantiated allegation that may be defamation, so I won't comment.

Well I don't want to be accused of making an unsubstantiated allegation that may be defamation, so I won't comment.

I thought we'd hashed out the defamation issue, no?

While we are doing at least a minor dissection. I always got the feeling that Alex felt he was at the top of the pack. He felt he was the leader and everyone else was somehow a kind of follower. His handing out little bites of humble pie is but one example among some large and small.

I always found that unsettling, but I just kind of ignored it. Funny because Andy gives off that same kind of vibe. Touch of the holier than thou.