No I meant bullying, I don't see a difference, to me, bullying is bullying; plus, I think you will find that different people have different bench-marks for this, no matter what the dictionary says. But if you want we can develop this:

My hypothesis: cyber-bullying can be equally as damaging as bullying outside of the net:

I thought teaching was a possibility but that's just got a lot harder since funding for training has been cut. hhmmm more debt if do that...

Ok new topic:

What is bullying?

I say bullying is repeated behaviour which is percieved as such by the recipient of it: if the recipient has told the bully they feel this way, then the bully is, indeed, a bully because they are repeating a behaviour in the knowledge that it hurts another person, either without concern for the damage they are causing, or because they enjoy the feeling of hurting someone.

As for motive: I think bullies are attention seekers who are not socially adept enough in their normal day to day life to get their human contact needs met, so they seek to produce extreme reactions in others in order to feel affirmed.

Hey Pam, congratulations on your interview. And, yes, this thread is a great idea - I've had two interviews in the last year for which I was told came very close, but an internal candidate that had been in the role for a longer time than me won out both times.

This whole issue was on my mind a lot this morning and I am pretty worried about the cuts and how that will affect my job prospects - I am starting to feel a bit hopeless about getting an academic post - even though I have loads of experience and my research is going well. I've been wondering about alternatives - plan bs, I suppose.


Keep us posted on how hings are going with the job interview x

Actually I disagree! Keep yorkshires for roast beef only, it's our heritage as Brits - don't sully our culinary identity!

Anything but read the essay I've just picked up which is in pt. 9 font: 2000 words of it :-(

Yes, us roast beefs enjoy yorkshire pud with other things sometimes too, we even have it as a dessert... so please do not fret about your chicken and yorkshire pud combo.

The 41 thing, it was just my way of saying that I don't consider myself to be particularly limited in experience. Don't worry about it...

Oh well, I'm 41 and have seen quite a lot if the world and am happy with my own assessment, and intelligent as you sound, I still trust my own judgement over yours - as I expect you to trust yours over mine. I'm sorry if you find that objectionable in any way.

You say discrimination 'due to the colour of someone's skin': that is racism, there's no way around that!

I think you are trolling again and I'm going out for a break from marking. Play nicely now (that was a humorous comment - just teasing, so please don't be offended).

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In those particular cases I'd say fine, have a go, and I would also say you have to for your viva, so no you wouldn't be controlling then! However, your examiners do not have to agree with you, they just have to think that you have presented a good solid argument, there is a big difference. Your viva is not a debate anyow...

If you were to debate against a race issue (we are discussing debate I presume because that is what this thread is all about), then you would be in opposition to someone who was in favour of racism: a racist. And in my experience debating with such people is a complete and utter waste of time because their views are not based on reason - which is what debate is all about - but irrational knee jerk reactions and desperate scape-goating. It takes much more than debate to shift that.

I did say that persuaion is 'generally' about control and we are discussing this in the context of the merits of 'debate'

Oh also, I do have first hand experience of the racism thing: a friend and an ex-boyfriend and I used to argue about it (I find it amazing how many people are racist) - I wouldn't call it debate because there is no logic to the opposition. All it did was end both relationships. Sometimes people pretend for a while bcause they want you to like them, but you don't oust an emotional defence mechanism like that with debate, or argument.

I wouldn't say minute Bug, I'd say it's a good way to get to know the opposition's view and hone one's own argument.

To me persuasion is, generally, just trying to control what people think, and make them like you, or do/think what you want them to - not a healthy or realistic approach in my view.

People can come to consensus, but that comes from discussion and compromise, not debate.

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Great! For me, the purpose of debate is to expand one's understanding of the particular issue at hand and, in many cases, also to develop one's critical thinking and skills in verbal expression - debating societies and debates that take place in an educational setting (like I run with my studes) are typical examples of the latter purposes. I, personally, don't think anyone outside of societies and education seriously believes they will change their opponent's mind - possibly that of any onlookers, but not their opponents.   

this is a great idea... I will be back!

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btw, I did send a message to the mods about this as I always do when someone is being bullied on here, and how do you know others didn't? The public messaging is a way of showing support to someone who is clearly in distress, and a way of discussing this as a community, the thread dedicated to it a usual way of getting the mods attention quickly for urgent matters, it's standard practice on this forum. Just because you cannot see the resaon for something or it isn't the way you would do it doesn't give you the right to tell people what to do and how. I do not have to justify my actions to you.

This may be a weekend for you, but for me it is a pile of essays that I barely have the energy to lift, and certainly not the umph to address properly. I came here hoping for a lift and some support, and found my friend being bullied. Yes, you enjoy your weekend.


I'm afraid CC's original comments were not dry analysis calculated from facts, rather fabrication and conjecture about the suffering of KB's supervisor and the rest of KB's department and an attack on KB's character, who we know from previous posts is being bullied by her sup, this was accompanied by a gushing of sympathy and empathy for the shouting supervisor: does demonsing individuals who are already feeling vulnerable while displaying gushing empathy based on conjecture and fabrication really fit with a condition of emotional by-pass due to disabilities? Maybe, but as a lay person on this topic I sincerely doubt it, and if CC knows he has this problem and that it can hurt people, then why respond to posts asking for emotional support, and why persistently and almost exclusively choose KB as a respondee?


Also, just so it's on the record: I have never suggested anyone should be banned from the forum, only that this situation would benefit greatly from some moderation from the moderators. It worked in the past and I'm sure it would have worked this time too.

I too am a human being with my own free will, and this is my point. You follow your free will, and I and everyone else around here will follow theirs.

Irony eh...

Does it really matter to your whether or not I see what you see?

Calling for some moderation when a poster is being bullied when already in distress due to a bullying supervisor (there is also a hstory there) along with other serious health difficulties is not 'ganging up' on someone. In the past this matter would have been cleared up by the moderators a long while ago, CC has a history of bullying people on here.

Are you a sock; not CC's sock by any chance?

OK Pierre, I'm sorry that the way my posts are written have offended you. Yes I am angry about this, someone I care about has been hurt, and not for the first time. I will not repeat what has already been said by myself and others, we clearly have very different views about what is offensive: you find me asking if you have read the post offensive... while you also seem to be offended on behalf of Stressed - perhaps you have a loyalty or some other interest in that situation.

I won't defend my words in response to you or Stressed, mainly because I can't see the point - and I'm really busy: 37 essays to mark by Monday (I was going to post for support about that because I don't feel up to it due to my nan's funeral having taken place on Wednesday, but judging by many of the comments here this doesn't seem to be the place for seeking such support any longer), but I wish you a good evening and hope that this situation is resolved as soon as possible.