Post by Marsrocks on Aug 7, 2012 12:46:12 GMT -5
I first started looking at Mars images on a lark. I had a very stressful job, where I had to deal with some very serious issues with big impacts. I thought it would be nice to look into a topic of lesser concern kind of as an escape - like reading the comics, or watching a funny show on TV.
I was certain that there would be some odd looking rock found on Mars - even if it was entirely geologically formed. I thought it would be fun to search the net to see the odd rocks people were finding. I really thought I'd check in every few months and see the weirdest oddities people were finding.
So, I searched the net and finally found a message board where occasionally there would be an image of an odd object posted for people to discuss. To my surprise, there was such a major hostile reaction to those images, that the people who posted those images were driven off of the main board. Oddities were being forcefully suppressed by what seemed like a majority of people - there was a huge group of trolls that kind of drove that type of thinking.
I should have left the subject right then, and looked for something less controversial. Unfortunately, the push back against the people posting these odd little shapes piqued my curiosity. If they are geological oddities wouldn't it be a simple matter just to post comparison examples of known geological analogs - and actually educate people who know nothing about geology - like me? Surely, I wasn't the only person in the world who knew nothing about rocks. And what was so bad about looking at odd shaped rocks, and asking how it formed that way?
I'm still trying to figure that out.
I've made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I've learned a few things the hard way. It would have been easier for me, if the people who had the expertise took a teaching approach rather than an arrogant and often angry attitude toward my early questions - and the questions of others. I'll probably make lots more mistakes as long as I stay at this. None of this is in my field of training. Not geology, not imaging, not remote sensing, not engineering... and certainly not how to identify an artificially suggestive shape.
After several years into this hobby, I created this board, to give people a safe place to post images of the weird things they find. Some of the earliest members of this board were people who had been chased away from mainstream boards, and many had actually been banned for posting images and asking questions.
It frightens me a little bit that people can be so controlling of others that they can not entertain this subject being communicated from one person to another.
I'm not going to agree with everything that everyone says, but I do want people to feel free to explore odd subjects here.
Over time, I hope we will all learn new things. As time goes on, maybe more people who have expertise in a number of subjects that touch on these topics will feel the freedom to discuss oddities anonymously on this board.
I was certain that there would be some odd looking rock found on Mars - even if it was entirely geologically formed. I thought it would be fun to search the net to see the odd rocks people were finding. I really thought I'd check in every few months and see the weirdest oddities people were finding.
So, I searched the net and finally found a message board where occasionally there would be an image of an odd object posted for people to discuss. To my surprise, there was such a major hostile reaction to those images, that the people who posted those images were driven off of the main board. Oddities were being forcefully suppressed by what seemed like a majority of people - there was a huge group of trolls that kind of drove that type of thinking.
I should have left the subject right then, and looked for something less controversial. Unfortunately, the push back against the people posting these odd little shapes piqued my curiosity. If they are geological oddities wouldn't it be a simple matter just to post comparison examples of known geological analogs - and actually educate people who know nothing about geology - like me? Surely, I wasn't the only person in the world who knew nothing about rocks. And what was so bad about looking at odd shaped rocks, and asking how it formed that way?
I'm still trying to figure that out.
I've made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I've learned a few things the hard way. It would have been easier for me, if the people who had the expertise took a teaching approach rather than an arrogant and often angry attitude toward my early questions - and the questions of others. I'll probably make lots more mistakes as long as I stay at this. None of this is in my field of training. Not geology, not imaging, not remote sensing, not engineering... and certainly not how to identify an artificially suggestive shape.
After several years into this hobby, I created this board, to give people a safe place to post images of the weird things they find. Some of the earliest members of this board were people who had been chased away from mainstream boards, and many had actually been banned for posting images and asking questions.
It frightens me a little bit that people can be so controlling of others that they can not entertain this subject being communicated from one person to another.
I'm not going to agree with everything that everyone says, but I do want people to feel free to explore odd subjects here.
Over time, I hope we will all learn new things. As time goes on, maybe more people who have expertise in a number of subjects that touch on these topics will feel the freedom to discuss oddities anonymously on this board.
