OWK
Hero Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2014
- Messages
- 998
- Reaction score
- 1,292
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- North Central Md
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher F70, F75
Garrett Pinpointer
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
- #1
Thread Owner
TNet has been a great source of information and inspiration to many in this hobby. A great gathering place to sit around a virtual pub and swap stories, share pictures, and generally enjoy the company of friends. I am thankful for it, and I appreciate the work from the staff that goes into keeping it good and honest.
The stories are why we come here. There are times however, when the stories defy logic.They are intentionally deceptive. Sometimes the attempts are crude. “Look, here’s a handful of shiny un-crusty Large Cents I dug up in Grandma’s flower bed”. Other times they are more subtle. I think it has more to do with the experience of the deceiver.
Ultimately though, people figure it out no matter how experienced the deception. And so it was in the recent high-profile case here. I guess I don’t really understand the motivation behind planted find posts. Is it glory? The admiration of your friends? Do you really want your friends admiring you for something that isn’t really true? And do you really think your friends will not eventually figure it out?
We’ve all been digging long enough to know that hard work can produce some awesome finds. Research, coupled with hard work, coupled with a little bit of luck makes for great success. But we all also know that the best research, coupled with the hardest work, and the best luck, isn’t going to produce awesome find after awesome find, day after day. There’s only so many gold coins, and colonial silvers and perfect-condition Spanish you’re going to find in the course of a week. And because the motivation is a need for attention, the deceiver will eventually push the limits of believability.
That certainly happened here. Some figured it out early. Some a bit later. Some didn’t want to believe it because it involved a friend. For my part, at the point where I figured it out, I simply stopped reading and commenting on the poster’s finds. I’m sure others did too. Not sure of the precise mechanism by which the site’s staff figured it out, but I’m glad they did.
And now for the actual reason for all of this word-salad. I have noticed that this latest incident has changed this place a little. And that is the shame of it. It has taken otherwise confident hard-working hobbyists and made them doubt one another, and made them doubt themselves. It has taken people that I know are some of the hardest working and most successful detectorists in the hobby and made them feel the need to justify themselves, and defend their finds as if they are under suspicion. That sucks. And it is the price we all pay for current events.
I hope it doesn’t last long. (And to those who feel that these events cast doubt on your own finds… don’t. We can tell.)
The stories are why we come here. There are times however, when the stories defy logic.They are intentionally deceptive. Sometimes the attempts are crude. “Look, here’s a handful of shiny un-crusty Large Cents I dug up in Grandma’s flower bed”. Other times they are more subtle. I think it has more to do with the experience of the deceiver.
Ultimately though, people figure it out no matter how experienced the deception. And so it was in the recent high-profile case here. I guess I don’t really understand the motivation behind planted find posts. Is it glory? The admiration of your friends? Do you really want your friends admiring you for something that isn’t really true? And do you really think your friends will not eventually figure it out?
We’ve all been digging long enough to know that hard work can produce some awesome finds. Research, coupled with hard work, coupled with a little bit of luck makes for great success. But we all also know that the best research, coupled with the hardest work, and the best luck, isn’t going to produce awesome find after awesome find, day after day. There’s only so many gold coins, and colonial silvers and perfect-condition Spanish you’re going to find in the course of a week. And because the motivation is a need for attention, the deceiver will eventually push the limits of believability.
That certainly happened here. Some figured it out early. Some a bit later. Some didn’t want to believe it because it involved a friend. For my part, at the point where I figured it out, I simply stopped reading and commenting on the poster’s finds. I’m sure others did too. Not sure of the precise mechanism by which the site’s staff figured it out, but I’m glad they did.
And now for the actual reason for all of this word-salad. I have noticed that this latest incident has changed this place a little. And that is the shame of it. It has taken otherwise confident hard-working hobbyists and made them doubt one another, and made them doubt themselves. It has taken people that I know are some of the hardest working and most successful detectorists in the hobby and made them feel the need to justify themselves, and defend their finds as if they are under suspicion. That sucks. And it is the price we all pay for current events.
I hope it doesn’t last long. (And to those who feel that these events cast doubt on your own finds… don’t. We can tell.)
