disabled will NOT be exempt from 'bedroom tax'

Maybe that tactic could work for others too ...

Ana I am sure we do that all the time. I know I do if I don't find a post interesting, if I feel we have no comment to make, or if I do not want to rise to 'bait'

I suppose I meant 'ganging up and deliberately ignoring' then, which is what seems to have been suggested.

Or 'colluding to exclude'. Still unkind and unnecessary.

'Unkind and unnecessary' Ana? An understatement IMO.

That was the way used by Neanderthals actually- if someone behaved in a way the clan didn't like, they would totally ignore them, as if they were dead.

I think nowadays it would be called bullying. Not much further forwards then..

That's very interesting. How do you know how Neanderthal society organised itself granjura? Presumably such action would not leave any physical evidence and wouldn't Neanderthals be too early for written evidence?

Anthropologists seem to have ascertain this somehow. Very well described in the Bear Clan series by Jean Auel.

Isn't it called being sent to Coventry?

Jean Auel is a novelist not an anthropologist. Although I enjoyed her books they are full of surmises for which their if no evidence!

There is

I've just been looking at online stuff about Neanderthals. Even anthropologists have to do a lot of surmising as the scanty evidence available only 'suggests', it is not conclusive.

But seems Neanderthals ate mostly meat, spent most of the day trying to find enough food to feed their children and so did not have time to invent tools and weapons, tended their sick and women hunted with men.

And all this from a few bones and a bit of cave art!

Gransnet is so broadening; I'm interested in Neanderthals now. Can anyone recommend a good book?

Jean Auel, the Bear Clan, great book.

Apparently some primitive tribes still use ignoring as a form of permanent punishment and exclusion from the clan.

I've heard of this and the effect can be deadly.

In fact I am reading a book about abusive behaviour in relationships and 'ignoring' is thought to be one of the more serious forms of abusive as it saps the spirit.

We have a choice. I don't see what all the fuss is about. But if we are being baited, we are rising to it beautifully!

Is it worse to be ignored by a group of people or to be verbally challenged? That is the big Twitter issue. A divide in opinion in how to deal with trolls. I always advise children not to respond to other kids who are deliberately goading. Obviously varied views on how to manage this.

Neanderthals did have tools. They are not as delicate as other humanoids. They may well have been as or even more intelligent than us. There is growing evidence from DNA studies that they probably interbred with home sapiens.

Eh?

Oh Frank I don't believe you really are that selfish. The so called needier members of society" as you describe them are not "needy" by choice are they? Are you suggesting that you shouldn't pay any tax or that you should be able to choose where yourtax goes? What would you do with the money? Save it up so you can examine your bank book and count the noughts ? You are truly unbelievable.

Actually he's not! He is a richer version of the old git next door!

If some members feel they are being goaded, I would suggest that's their problem and it's no excuse for attempting to encourage others to ignore someone on Gransnet. How very nasty and unkind.

As usual each one of us can decide to which posts we wish to reply and to which threads we wish to contribute. That's it in a nutshell. Not a single atom of nastiness involved (at least none that anyone else need know about; our thoughts are our own).

If we did all join together to ignore Frank's posts, wouldn't that make us a clique"?

We don't have those on Gransnet do we?

Should we all be looking again at this thread:

www.gransnet.com/forums/culture/1200021-The-message-is-Be-Kind