How well do we know each other?

Recently there were questions about how well one member knowing who another was.  Really, how well do any of us know each other?  I for example have met 2 board members, but do they really know me?  I have 177 friends on the board, do they know me?  Some better than others, but who really knows another member.  Even in the “real” world people can be close to someone for years, but not know them.  You read about people getting divorced after 20 years because the wife discovers the husband is gay.  People discover for that they don’t know themselves, how can you know another. 

A few years ago our good friend IMP discovered how to change his name to match another member.  Now he did it just to be funny, I remember reading an exchange between DF and “DF” which was funny as all get out.  Now we have JD. and J.D. which is not so funny, but at least it’s identifiable.  People use different names to act like scumbags, but we can usually figure scumbags out.  But even those we “know”, do we really know them?  I have made over 20,000 posts on these boards, and god help you if you had to read them all, but does that lead you to know me?  Ask 10 different members, you would get 10 different versions.  You could hear that I am a nice guy, a hateful capitalistic bastard, a nature lover or an enviro hater who wants to pave the world, a family man, or some pervert posting in the thong thread.  Which is right?  None of them.  Want to simplify it more?  I could be a good person or a bad person.  Which is it?  Neither!  I am who I am, nothing more.

The people we “know” are colored by our experiences.  What can we do?  Well, once we recognize that we cant “know” people here, our only option is to do the best we can.  Which of course is what we were doing before.  But the real question is, not who am I, but who are you?

How well do we know each other?

Recently there were questions about how well one member knowing who another was.  Really, how well do any of us know each other?  I for example have met 2 board members, but do they really know me?  I have 177 friends on the board, do they know me?  Some better than others, but who really knows another member.  Even in the “real” world people can be close to someone for years, but not know them.  You read about people getting divorced after 20 years because the wife discovers the husband is gay.  People discover for that they don’t know themselves, how can you know another. 

A few years ago our good friend IMP discovered how to change his name to match another member.  Now he did it just to be funny, I remember reading an exchange between DF and “DF” which was funny as all get out.  Now we have JD. and J.D. which is not so funny, but at least it’s identifiable.  People use different names to act like scumbags, but we can usually figure scumbags out.  But even those we “know”, do we really know them?  I have made over 20,000 posts on these boards, and god help you if you had to read them all, but does that lead you to know me?  Ask 10 different members, you would get 10 different versions.  You could hear that I am a nice guy, a hateful capitalistic bastard, a nature lover or an enviro hater who wants to pave the world, a family man, or some pervert posting in the thong thread.  Which is right?  None of them.  Want to simplify it more?  I could be a good person or a bad person.  Which is it?  Neither!  I am who I am, nothing more.

The people we “know” are colored by our experiences.  What can we do?  Well, once we recognize that we cant “know” people here, our only option is to do the best we can.  Which of course is what we were doing before.  But the real question is, not who am I, but who are you?