The following message is fundamentally ironic.

[umbran]

Are you among those who are surprised at how hard it is to get people to not be jerks? Well, consider this: When your dog poops in the living room, does shouting at him, whacking him with a rolled up newspaper, and rubbing his nose in it actually help train him to not poop indoors in the future? No! Animals, including humans, do not respond well

Comments

[vettecat]

Very good point.

[umbran]

I (obviously) think there's some truth here. But while it might be a good point, it is not perfectly said. Some folks have given me some kindly pointers on how some of this comes off wrong. I am not going to revise it here - no revisionist history! But if anyone else was thinking that - I'm aware of some flaws here, and will try to correct them if I address the topic another time.