Author Topic: Telesphorus (Read 7066 times)

Matthew · « **on:** September 14, 2013, 02:07:59 PM »

I'm part Irish (and half-Irish as far as my upbringing goes), which means I don't play games; I tell it like it is.

The Irish don't ignore the elephant in the room.

I know I haven't made a big, public post about Telesphorus' banning, but I need to. The man was a member here for 4 years and made over 13,000 posts. Am I just going to pretend he never existed? That would be ridiculous.

And obviously he "fit in here" until recently. He's not one of those "misfits" that gets banned within a week of joining.

Banning him wasn't my first choice, or my second, or my third. It wasn't something I did with any amount of glee. It gave me no pleasure, and I only resorted to that action when he started attacking me in a scattershot manner.

He seems to have a bunch of "text files" where he keeps quotes from various members, various grudges or offenses, etc. Maybe some of it is memorized. But when he started digging into his "everything Matthew has ever done wrong" text file and drawing from it willy-nilly, that was the last straw. Note that it wasn't the first time. Or the second.

I don't like to make enemies, especially ones with 16 hours of free time every day. Again, I'm not stupid! But sometimes one doesn't have a choice. How much can you let a member ruin a forum before the damage he's doing outweighs the downsides of making an enemy? Tele used to be a good poster on a great many topics, but lately his other posts (obsessiveness, harassing members, harassing the moderator, grudges, axe-grinding, etc.) were outnumbering the good ones.

He's actually not the only member that I've seen this happen to. We used to have another prolific member who wrote excellent prose and whose posts were crystal-clear to understand. Like Tele, he is very intelligent. But because of personal issues, he started coming here only for "meltdowns" and eventually stopped posting for unknown reasons. It's very sad to see such talented men be "damaged" by whatever personal issues or problems -- the modern world, injustices done to them, choices they've made, things outside their control, etc.

I tried to be friends with him, and for a while I thought I was succeeding. I even let him spend the night here once. But he is just so obsessed with what happened to him in the past, and increasingly he can't let go of anything. In my opinion, he is letting his (righteous?) anger seethe and turn into hatred. It's making him bitter.

I'm only mentioning this because it's public knowledge. You can see it in his posts.

While I'm speaking frankly about Telesphorus, I'll not neglect to include his good points. Besides being intelligent, he is very honest. On a few occasions, I saw him correcting others (both here and elsewhere) when they went too far (off the path of truth) in their criticism of my forum. He also has a good handle on what's wrong in the modern world, and is very knowledgeable about cultural issues: feminism, the American way of life, etc. He's a fellow philosopher, in a world where few people think deeply about anything.

One thing is for sure: there are some things "above the pay grade" of a forum moderator. I can't fix everything with my "edit" and "delete" buttons.

Matto · « **Reply #1 on:** September 14, 2013, 02:22:41 PM »

Is Telesphorus banned for good now? I thought he was only banned for three days.

Thorn · « **Reply #2 on:** September 14, 2013, 02:30:08 PM »

Matto, yes, he was only banned for three days, but he said on another unnameable forum that he will never come back. I believe him.

Matthew · « **Reply #3 on:** September 14, 2013, 02:34:09 PM »

While we're clearing the air about this, I have one more thing to add:

I apologize for publicly complaining about Telesphorus (in the thread: "Telesphorus and Pax Romanum have a problem"). I was wrong to complain about him in that manner. As the moderator, I should have either let it be, or banned him if I thought it was that serious.

Not that it justifies it, but my excuse is that I became angry when I saw how 2 members were critical of my wife and me, head and shoulders above anyone else's criticism. The way I saw it, even if someone wanted to be that critical of me, why were they so hard on her? Again, the whole body of CathInfo can't be wrong. Not EVERYONE is going to be a coward, afraid to critique the moderator.
Anyhow, that's what I was thinking as I made that post.

But not only was that post a mistake fundamentally, it also had a very bad outcome. No, not the 5 rep points I lost. I think I'll survive somehow :)

The real problem was this: Telesphorus, who keeps track of everything, was keen to note for weeks afterward that he "beat me" 16-14. For him, every downthumb was a vote of confidence in him over me. Not exactly logical, but it could be taken that way due to the nature of the thread. It might as well have been a poll "Him or me" with an upvote being "Matthew" and a downvote being "Telesphorus".

But I know for a fact, because I spoke with some of the down-voters in successive weeks (and my wife wanted to downthumb the post, but didn't), that not all the down-thumbers were casting a "vote" for Tele. They merely didn't want to see more threads like that one. They didn't like the thread. They thought it was a mistake, etc.

But what was the outcome of the thread? A massive ego infusion for Tele. His boldness increased about 5-fold, and never really went back down.

That's why, in the recent spat with ggreg, Tele decided he didn't have to drop it. He decided to mention ggreg in every post, like "Carthago Delenda est".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthago_delenda_est

During the Punic Wars, Roman senators (most notably Cato) would repeat this phrase in every speech, to the point of absurdity:
"I think we should vote for the increase in the garbage tax. And Carthage must be destroyed."
"I move that we call for a vote. And Carthage must be destroyed."
"I have to go to the bathroom. And Carthage must be destroyed."
"Carthage must be destroyed. And Carthage...*ahem* nevermind."

That's pretty much what Tele was doing, only replace "Carthage" with "ggreg" and "destroyed" with "banned".

Matthew · « **Reply #4 on:** September 14, 2013, 02:39:03 PM »

Quote from: Thorn

Matto, yes, he was only banned for three days, but he said on another unnameable forum that he will never come back. I believe him.

As do I.

Since I only intended for it to be a temp-ban, now that it's become permanent I need to update everyone.

Thorn · « **Reply #5 on:** September 14, 2013, 03:05:36 PM »

I believe him because he's very comfortable there with everyone slapping him on the back & high-fiveing him. He craves that attention and 'love'. He can't stand to be corrected. I'd love to know his family dynamics.

Matthew · « **Reply #6 on:** September 14, 2013, 03:17:56 PM »

To all those reading this (CathInfo members, ex-members, and "visitors"), I have some simple advice:

Try to verify any "assertions" that are made about an individual before you give them full credence.

This isn't a matter of "he said, he said" or something that can't be verified. Read Telesphorus' posts. Read my posts. Ask around for a second opinion. Think for yourself. Don't let me think for you. Don't let Telesphorus think for you. Don't let any layman think for you.

We're not talking about things that happened behind closed doors, in secret, or in someone's private life. We're discussing POSTS and ONLINE/POSTING BEHAVIOR for crying out loud. Such things are easily verifiable by anyone with Internet access.

I firmly believe that the Truth can be attained about most things, but even more so in a case like this.

Novus Weirdo · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2013, 06:15:18 PM »

Quote from: Thorn

I'd love to know his family dynamics.

You go first. Don't leave out anything.

Matthew · « **Reply #8 on:** September 14, 2013, 06:20:00 PM »

Another thing I would recommend to anyone I cared about --

When you are righteously opposing someone or some organization, PLEASE for the love of truth give some evidence or details! And don't exaggerate, even if you think you are on the right side. Truth is never served by distorting the same.

Lay it all out, be honest, TRY to be impartial, and then let the chips fall where they may. It might be "the masses" won't side with you; it might be that they will. But either way, it is for the greater good.

Even if you discover that something was "all in your head" or that you were (heaven forbid) wrong about something, you will have a wonderful chance to practice humility and you will have gained a certain measure of self-knowledge. Win-win!

Pius IX · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2013, 07:00:48 PM »

As I told him:

Looks like you're out of luck, and will have to abandon this place and your precious profile of 13,000 posts.

If Matthew is allowing such a poisonous character to post here, how can you post here every single day in good conscience?

Why don't you leave, and maybe start your own forum. If anyone refers to Cathinfo.com, you can even censor it to "c."

It reminds me of the Dark Knight Rises. People consider Cathinfo radical like the League of Shadows. Matthew is R'as al Ghul, and you, like Bane, are teetering on being excommunicated from the League of Shadows.

----------

He wanted a ban to he could cry, wherever he ended up, with "proof" that Cathinfo "sold out."

Zeitun · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2013, 07:06:33 PM »

Quote from: Thorn

I believe him because he's very comfortable there with everyone slapping him on the back & high-fiveing him. He craves that attention and 'love'. He can't stand to be corrected. I'd love to know his family dynamics.

Well he helps to take care of his elderly sick father and his brother just graduated medical school.

Yep.....that's really dysfunctional! :smoke-pot:

OHCA · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2013, 07:36:39 PM »

I hope he simmers down a little and comes back. I like him. It seems he just let the thing with ggreg get completely out of hand. Ggreg undoubtedly took some cheap shots along the way. But it seemed like Tele finally reached a point of obsession.

Frances · « **Reply #12 on:** September 14, 2013, 07:47:55 PM »

:dancing-banana:
Despite his obnoxious side, I kind of liked him. Maybe he'll come back in disguise?

Matthew · « **Reply #13 on:** September 14, 2013, 08:27:57 PM »

Quote from: Zeitun

Quote from: Thorn
I believe him because he's very comfortable there with everyone slapping him on the back & high-fiveing him. He craves that attention and 'love'. He can't stand to be corrected. I'd love to know his family dynamics.

Well he helps to take care of his elderly sick father and his brother just graduated medical school.

Yep.....that's really dysfunctional! :smoke-pot:

As an aside, not everyone can blame their family 100% for how they are. Of course one's family has an influence, but there are many other factors that influence a person's formation. Plus we all have free will.

To Zeitun --

I don't think his family is dysfunctional. But here is what we know to be true:

He is helping to take care of his elderly sick father -- true.
His brother graduated medical school -- true.
He himself is intelligent, probably on par with his brother -- true.
He himself spends a dozen hours a day (minimum) on forums -- true.
He himself doesn't have a paying job -- true.
When he thinks he's right about something, he doesn't give up. He never "backtracks" or publicly retracts anything -- true.
In my opinion, the stuff Thorn said about him is also true (based on the posts I've seen from him)

I'm sure all these things -- the good and the bad -- could be proven with a bit of research. A lot of it could be demonstrated by his posts alone.

Anyhow, all taken together, whether it adds up to Tele is a saint, monster, or somewhere in between -- I like to start with the objective facts. Truth is truth.

Matthew · « **Reply #14 on:** September 14, 2013, 08:29:42 PM »

Quote from: Frances

:dancing-banana:
Despite his obnoxious side, I kind of liked him. Maybe he'll come back in disguise?

I used to get along with him as well. I liked how he'd answer a lot of posts (some topics more than others, of course) so well that I wouldn't have to.

I really wanted to make it work.

But...well, re-read the OP for how it ended.