Ego, Trading and Voting

I've started this topic to address some of the comments and questions from khamore1 and will quote his comments from today's trading topic below and delete them from the trading topic.

Originally posted by khamore1

I'm all the way for it nothing will enrich this forum more than this proposal if you think about it takes only one person to vote in vindictive way to ruin this great forum

So if a person has a reason to vote down a post they should not be afraid to express their reason and thought.
I think Isaac is right with his post

2
Isaac|19-Jul-2011 at 11:50 AM|Rep: 80|Posts: 11
Anonymous avatars seem to bring out the worst in people. How many people would be willing to say face-to-face the things that they shout out anonymously in an online forum? Not too many, I don't think.

Isaac
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Originally posted by khamore1

Originally posted by chrisp

it looks like the "PLUNGE PROTECTION TEAM" has been replaced with the "movement prevention team" painful vol and movement....

In my opinion the reason for the voting system on the internet chat rooms is to reward a person for his/her effort to improve the quality and the knowledge of the other forum members

we can’t pay this person money so the only action we can take is to thank him /her by voting their post up

The vote down option is more problematic by doing so you either unthankful to that person or you think that, that person is totally wrong, I think it will be fair enough to the forum and to that person to at least give the reason(s) to the “WHY” they think the post should be voted down

By doing so we encourage an open and better discussion about the issue and better interaction between the members, doing so will prevent animosity to linger on

No other trading chat rooms allow the vote down option

As I mentioned before if there is a person(s) who has other agenda on their mind while voting down a post it can cause harm to the forum

If you think that it will happen only to the other guy than think again,

It happened even against Bruce ….

The reason that I've titled this topic Ego, Trading and Voting is because I think that there is a strong relationship here.

The biggest problem when you receive a down vote (I have received them as well) is that it hurts your ego. What? Somebody doesn't agree or like or value what I said? How can that be? Everything I say is amazing!

Really? Do you never make a mistake or say (or post) something thoughtlessly?

Have you ever had a losing trade? If so, have you noticed that negative dollar value vote in your brokerage account after you've closed the trade? Yes, the market just voted against your opinion that your trade would be profitable.

This is the way that I think about it: If I'm not big enough to be able to put aside my ego and accept that I will sometimes be wrong and say (and post) stupid and valueless posts then how will I be able to improve and grow?

Do I need to be told by the voter why they thought my post was valueless? No I don't. I shouldn't care. Should I get upset if the market goes against my position and I lose money? No I shouldn't. It's part of trading and if my ego can't handle a vote against my account on this forum then I'm not sure if I'm ready to trade live money.

No other trading chat rooms allow the vote down option

The most successful Q&A web sites in the world ( http://www.stackexchange.com/ ) allow down voting.

I disagree with your analogy about the market voting a trade down and a person with an agenda doing so

The market does not know who you are what you are what your religion country of origin skin color or political affiliation the person with the agenda does

The voting system of my pivots is great as long as it is not abused by a person
In many cases the vote down was cast on a personal reason and not a professional one

Please tell me why do you object to the idea that a person will accompany their vote down decision with explanation?

What is the big deal about it?

If a person think he/she is right in their decision to vote a post down, isn’t it beneficial for all the forum members to know the “right” answer?

About the “ego” yes I do have an ego my ego will never get hurt if a person want to correct me when I’m wrong , what hurt me is a person which abuse the power they received and hide behind the same shield they abuse

I re read Trading in The Zone every year or so. This is a copied/pasted paragraph from the book.



First, everyone wants to be believed. It doesn't matter what the belief is; the experience of being believed feels good. I think these positive feelings are universal, meaning that they apply to everyone. Conversely, no one likes to be disbelieved; it doesn't feel good. If I said, "I don't believe you," the negative feeling that would resonate throughout your body and mind is also universal. By the same token, none of us likes to have our beliefs challenged. The challenge feels like an attack. Everyone, regardless of the belief, seems to respond in the same way: The typical response is to argue,defend ourselves (our beliefs), and, depending on the situation, attack back. When expressing ourselves, we seem to like being listened to. If we sense our audience isn't paying attention, how does it feel? Not good! Again, I think this response is universal. Conversely, why is it so difficult to be a good listener? Because to be a good listener, we actually have to listen, without thinking about how we are going to express ourselves the moment we can either politely or rudely interrupt the person who's speaking. Don't we like being with people with similar beliefs, because it feels comfortable and secure? Don't we avoid people with dissimilar or conflicting beliefs, because it feels uncomfortable or even threatening? The bottom line implication is, the moment we acquire a belief, it seems to take on a life of its own, causing us to recognize and be attracted to its likeness and repelled by anything that is opposite or contradictory.
Considering the vast number of divergent beliefs that exist, if these feelings of attraction or comfort and being repelled or threatened are universal, then each belief must somehow be conscious of its
existence, and this conscious, structured energy must behave in characteristic ways that are common to all of us.

I like having feedback....whether it is from the market in the form of losses or gains as a day trader or with posts to a forum. I can quickly see what I am doing right or wrong.

One thing I didn't think though is the concept of distractions to the threads. We certainly don't want to get into a "pissing and moaning" session while our threads are going on and try to please everyone.

While I would like to stop threads from being voted down because of personality conflicts I'm not so sure there is any great way to do it.

I've never kept track specifically but there only seems to be about 10 - 15 people that actually vote so we aren't really dealing with a big sample size anyway. We certainly don't want to scare people off but how do we keep everyone happy ?

Originally posted by BruceM

I like having feedback....whether it is from the market in the form of losses or gains as a day trader or with posts to a forum. I can quickly see what I am doing right or wrong.

One thing I didn't think though is the concept of distractions to the threads. We certainly don't want to get into a "pissing and moaning" session while our threads are going on and try to please everyone.

While I would like to stop threads from being voted down because of personality conflicts I'm not so sure there is any great way to do it.

I've never kept track specifically but there only seems to be about 10 - 15 people that actually vote so we aren't really dealing with a big sample size anyway. We certainly don't want to scare people off but how do we keep everyone happy ?

Bruce quote
We certainly don't want to scare people off but how do we keep everyone happy?

Simple answer let people talk if a person feels my post irritate them let them talk…. Let them tell you the reason for it… let them post an answer let interact

If I post a wrong number and someone feel it is wrong I will be more than happy to know about it , so far I paid over $25,000 for my trading education I will be more than happy to be corrected for free that’s will be a blessing for me and not a point of contention

Let’s go back to the main question; should a vote down be allowed in the forum and if so would it require an explanation or not?
My answer is the vote down should be eliminated as in all other trading forums but if you keep it at the least explain your decision and the most important don’t abuse it

Remember that the voting is biased to voting posts up. If you vote someone up they get 10 points. If you vote someone down they lose 5 points and it costs you 1 point to vote them down.

There is a common trait that everyone wants to gain points and not lose them. Therefor a trader will not lightly vote someone down because it is costing them reputation to do so.

I propose that if someone votes khamore1 down then they also send him a PM letting him know why his post was of no value to them. This is obviously voluntary. However, if you feel that you can help khamore1 provide more value to the forum then you'll be helping him, yourself and everyone else.

khamaore1: Even if the forum was structured to force the selection of a reason from a list or type in a reason there is no way to enforce a valid reason and then you end up in an endless debate about the validity of the down vote.

I think a vote down has value if an explanation can be given.. Its pretty easy to determine whose ego is really at work here:

If someone takes the time to vote down a post and yet cannot give an explanation... or if after a reasonable explanation and the poster cannot accept the vote down... It doesn't take a psychologist to know whose EMOTIONS and ego is out of place..

We all have egos and emotions and there's nothing wrong with that and it doesn't make us a bad person.. Every emotion has a place and its there for a reason.. However, when it is expressed out of place, that's where we need to own up to it and use it as an opportunity to grow.. and often, feedback is an important part of that, whether in trading or communication or in any other area of life..

Originally posted by Jedi

I think a vote down has value if an explanation can be given.. Its pretty easy to determine whose ego is really at work here:

If someone takes the time to vote down a post and yet cannot give an explanation... or if after a reasonable explanation and the poster cannot accept the vote down... It doesn't take a psychologist to know whose EMOTIONS and ego is out of place..

We all have egos and emotions and there's nothing wrong with that and it doesn't make us a bad person.. Every emotion has a place and its there for a reason.. However, when it is expressed out of place, that's where we need to own up to it and use it as an opportunity to grow.. and often, feedback is an important part of that, whether in trading or communication or in any other area of life..

I will live with that

I can understand that Red.....Well I hope if u decide to post again you'll remember us here at mypivots...

all the best to you!!

Originally posted by redsixspeed

Originally posted by BruceM

Hi Red,

I never expressed my dismay over you parting the forum. Hope all is well with you. Is there any chance we can twist your arm to rejoin us here ? That candle stuff you posted always put a cool perspective on things and is missed here.

A great suggestion too...that would give folks time to think and rethink things..

Hope you'll reconsider participating with us again.

Bruce

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Hi Bruce

I spend far less time in chat rooms and forums. Focus is much better.