JM <n0@spam.com> says...

>And it's only anal retentive types that can't take top postings.

It's not a question of what one can or can't "take." It's a
question of what makes it easier for us to communicate. It also
acts as a quite reliable method of self-identification; those who
start off top-posting but who change when presented with good
arguments for not doing that tend to be people who get along with
others in other areas. Those who refuse tend to be those who are
described in http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/abusive.html. When the
vast majority of a group act a certain way and ask new participants
to do the same, those who refuse usually suffer from social blindness.

Here are some web pages describing social blindness: Most sufferers
of social blindness do not exhibit the full range of symptoms
described below, but all sufferers of social blindness exhibit some
of them.

Antisocial Personality
http://www.millon.net/Taxonomy/ANT.htm

-Failing to heed consequences

-Actively intrudes upon and violates the rights of others,
as well as transgresses established social codes.

-Cognitively Deviant (e.g., construes events and relationships
in accord with socially unorthodox beliefs and morals; fails
to conform to social norms)

-Autonomous Self-Image (e.g., sees self as unfettered by the
restrictions of social customs)

-Internalized representations comprise degraded and corrupt
relationships that spur revengeful attitudes and restive
impulses

-Acting-Out Mechanism (e.g., inner tensions that might accrue
by postponing the expression of offensive thoughts and malevolent
actions are rarely constrained; socially repugnant impulses are
not refashioned in sublimated forms, but are discharged directly
in precipitous ways, usually without guilt or remorse).

-Callous Mood (e.g., is insensitive, irritable and aggressive,
as expressed in a wide-ranging deficit in social charitableness,
human compassion or personal remorse; exhibits a coarse
incivility, as well as an offensive disregard for others.


Antisocial Personality Disorder
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-pe04.html
http://www.bconnex.net/~cspcc/psychopathy/diag.htm

-Pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights
of others

-Failure to conform to social norms

-Irritability and aggressiveness

-Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or
rationalizing having hurt or mistreated others

-Harassment of others

-Blames the victim for being foolish, helpless, or deserving
their fate, minimizes the harmful consequences of actions
or indicates complete indifference.

-Fails to compensate or make amends for their behavior.

-Lacks empathy and tend to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous
of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others

-Inflated and arrogant self-appraisal

-Excessively opinionated, self-assured, or cocky

-Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder are more
likely than people in the general population to die prematurely
by violent means (e.g., suicide, accidents, and homicides).

Borderline Personality Disorder
http://www.mentalhealth.com/icd/p22-pe05.html

-"behavioral explosions"; are easily precipitated when impulsive
acts are criticized or thwarted by others.

-Markedly disharmonious attitudes and behavior involving ways of
perceiving and thinking and style of relating to others

-Maladaptive to a broad range of personal and social situations

Conduct Disorder
http://www.mentalhealth.com/icd/p22-ch02.html
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-ch02.html

-Repetitive and persistent pattern of dissocial, aggressive, or
defiant conduct.

-Major violations of age-appropriate social expectations

-Excessive levels of fighting or bullying; cruelty to others

-Defiant provocative behavior

-Persistent dissocial or aggressive behavior

-Lack of effective integration into a peer group

-Isolation from and/or rejection by or unpopularity with others

-Lack of lasting empathic, reciprocal relationships with others

-Relationships tend to be marked by discord, hostility, and
resentment

-Rudeness, uncooperativeness


Oppositional Defiant Disorder
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-ch05.html

-A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior

-Actively defies or refuses to comply with requests

-Deliberately annoys people

-Blames others for his or her misbehavior

-Touchy or easily annoyed by others

-Spiteful or vindictive


If multiple participants in a newsgroup tell you that you
exhibit the above behaviors, please consider the high
probability that you have one of the above disorders and
that your disorder is blinding you to it's existence.

"We have more reason to fear the hollow man than the poor
neurotic who is tormented by his own conscience. As long
as man is capable of moral conflicts - even if they lead
to neurosis - there is hope for him. But what shall we
do with a man who has no attachments? Who can breathe
humanity into his emptiness?"
-Selma Fraiberg



--
Guy Macon, Electronics Engineer & Project Manager for hire.
Remember Doc Brown from the _Back to the Future_ movies? Do you
have an "impossible" engineering project that only someone like
Doc Brown can solve? My resume is at http://www.guymacon.com/