[PLUG-TALK] [PLUG] PLUG-talk is not a community list...

[glen e. p. ropella]

Russell Senior wrote circa 11-02-16 12:40 PM:
> I do not want to stigmatize "help vampires".  The last thing we need
> is incompetent (in the non-pejorative sense) people feeling they need
> to try to give advice back before they are really ready, simply in
> order to deserve help.

Great point!  I'm not sure I agree with it, though.  First off, the help
vampire isn't well described as a person seeking help (even an
incompetent person like myself).  It's a particular type of help seeker,
one that isn't really interested in the community or the people who
provide the help.  They are willing to sacrifice the wants and needs of
the other members of the community in order to satisfy their own wants
and needs.  Hence, the "vampire" qualifier.  (I trust we can ignore the
modern touchy feely, compassionate, and "vegan" vampire of today's
youth, eh?  I'm talking real vampires... the ones that will suck you dry
with no remorse, not nice vampires like Count Duckula
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088500/.)

But going back to the _economy_ of community forums, I really do think
you have to give in order to get.  I'm not saying you _should_  have to
give in order to get.  I'm saying you _do_ have to give in order to get.
 My rhetoric will be weak for this first stab, though. 8^)  I'm going to
rely on the existence of the old aphorism: "you get what you put in".
The aphorism exists because it's true, at least in part (even in
communism).  There are exploiters (defectors in game theory), true; and
there's plenty of evidence that some individuals in some contexts can
get away with being exploiters without suffering the consequences (even
in microorganisms).  But most steady-state models show that the benefits
of exploitation are limited and it's, overall, a suboptimal strategy.

Now, perhaps Michael is not a vampire, only a help seeker that seems
like a vampire.  That's a different argument and I actually believe
that's the case.  He simply isn't aware of his vampire-like behaviors
and it's up to the PLUG population to help him over the hurdle.  How
does one help a pseudo-vampire realize he's behaving like a vampire?
One way is to identify and talk about vampires. QED! ;-)

-- 
glen