sick

I'm bored. Not my usual level of boredom. I'm even bored with the CE board; I keep getting bogged down in trivialities that I really couldn't care less about. It's hurting my hard-earned credibility or something.

And apparently people have a number of misconceptions about me. If you've ever thought any of the following about be, please allow me to set you straight.

1. That I won't question poor data and arguments, no matter how trivial, irrelevant, or off-topic they might be. It's a compulsion, or an ethical obligation, depending on your viewpoint. Said data and arguments include, but are not limited to: citing data that doesn't actually support the claim you're trying to make; citing raw data without providing explanation, interpretation, or other commentary as to how the data supports your claim, and supporting claims on the basis they are "self-evident."

2. That my questioning of the above is in any way personal.

3. That because I question whether a claim is true, that I must necessarily believe it is false. In actuality, my default position is agnosticism. If I ask you to show that something is true, that's all I'm asking; I'm under no obligation to show it's false, particularly since I probably don't believe it is.

4. That many of the things I write are anything other than me thinking aloud, and that I will refuse to change my mind or otherwise alter my opinions when presented with reasonable arguments for me to do so.

5. That I will respond to rudeness with anything other than rudeness.

6. That I am your friend or otherwise like you, despite my never having explicitly said so or behaved toward you in a way except that demanded by courtesy.

I find it odd that anyone might hold these misconceptions, since in the many years I've been here I've never presented myself in a way that could lead people to believe I'm anything other than what I am.

Anyway, whatever. I need a break. I'm more pissed off at the world and less patient with people than usual.