I've taken the identity "Shakes" in response to two posts about confusion due to my anonymous posting. My first post began "I'm no great shakes as a singer." I've made 11 posts since then, generally in reply to Don Firth's insults and instructions on what to do with my opinions. This is my twelfth post. The brief post made 25 minutes ago is not mine.

Haruo: You've raised an interesting point about anonymous guest posting. It's off topic, but if you don't mind I'd like to pursue it anyway. There hasn't been much progress in the original topic, probably because Don Firth's courageous role as annoying curmudgeon/bridge troll has scared off people who would otherwise like to cross the bridge and finish the OP's title sentence.

In pointing out that I could be mistaken for other anonymous guests, I assume you were giving me a heads up, like saying my fly is open. If so, thanks for the consideration. But although I wouldn't want to go around in public with my fly open, I really don't have any misgivings about being mistaken for other anonymous guests. So now I'm curious as to whether most people do have misgivings about that, and if so, why they do. And I pose this question not just to Haruo, but also to anyone else; if indeed anyone else is reading this long and tedious thread.

When I read an internet forum, I'm only interested in the ideas presented. I read each post to see if it has any ideas I'm interested in, but usually without being aware of who made the post. If I post, I think of it as just adding another idea to the discussion. I don't see why it matters whose idea it is. Can anyone explain that?

I also believe that internet forums would be more productive if everyone took the same approach. I think the need to protect the virtual ego of a user ID leads to a lot of ridiculous bickering. The same would be true with real-world identities and egos, except that in the real world I think people are more careful about what they say and don't as often get into a position of needing to defend an ego. Just as some very polite and considerate people turn into homicidal maniacs when they get behind the wheel of a car, it seems to me that many people who would not reply to an opinion expressed in a normal conversation with an ad hominem attack or insult directed against the speaker will nevertheless respond in exactly that way on an internet forum. And I suspect that many forum users react viscerally to each new user ID that appears on the forum in the same way that the males in a wolf pack or chimpanzee community react to a new lone male that appears near their circle, i.e. as another potential challenge to their authority.

Also, Haruo: Your description of listening to PHC sounds just like my experience with the show in the past, beginning in the late 70's (I also share your feelings about church services; in my church we sing the entire service, and in theory at least everyone joins in). So I'm curious as to how long you've been listening to it and how often or how many shows you've heard.