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> They decided the prudent course was to let the whole bizarre incident go and hope Maertens never heard from them again. I've noticed that a lot of IT workers

> They decided the prudent course was to let the whole bizarre incident go and hope Maertens never heard from them again. I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it. I find it interesting that Van De Moere and Maertens show the same tendency here. A reasonable person would go to the police to report an assault. These two men were likely selected because Adibelli sensed that they could be manipulated.

abluecloud 11y ago
I honestly don't think it's limited to IT workers. Some people just aren't confrontational people and would rather make an easy life for themselves. Plus, you have to only consider the repercussions of being confrontational in certain situations.
- tedks 11y ago
  That said, predators of all types usually spend time selecting their prey.
  - venomsnake 11y ago
    Sadly the only way to deal with predators is to prey on them.
    - LordKano 11y ago
      A metaphor that I am fond of is that there are Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs. Wolves avoid Sheepdogs. Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog; even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; it's easier for the Wolf to just go and find unguarded Sheep because sometimes the Sheepdog wins.
      - venomsnake 11y ago
        >Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog;even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; It is not, it won't https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog I have seen these guys in action.
        LordKano 11y ago
        As the saying goes, there is an exception to every rule. I was thinking more along these lines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor
        mhurron 11y ago
        You think that dog can't handle a wolf? That it can't do one of the things it was bred for? A livestock guard dog that can't hold its own against a wolf would be a very bad guard dog.
        LordKano 11y ago
        His function isn't necessarily to defeat the wolf. If he can discourage it or delay it long enough for the shepherd to come, he has done his job.
        jrochkind1 11y ago
        Well, that very wikipedia says: > An athletic dog, the Komondor is fast and powerful and will leap at a predator to drive it off or knock it down. It can be used successfully to guard sheep against wolves or bears. I dunno. Further googling: > Bred to drive away predators, not hunt them, the powerful Komondor will try to kill any animal that foolishly chooses to fight back. http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inactive-dog-breeds-profiles/article_3651.aspx http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inac... I dunno. It seems they kill coyotes not too infrequently, but it doesn't seem like wolves usually stick around long enough to kill or be killed by a Komondor, indeed. Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back, which I guess is the message of the original aphorism. But if the wolf stayed to fight, the Komondor would fight it to the death one way or another, and their ridiculous looking coat is apparently actually pretty good defense against predator's teeth, and they've got very powerful jaws. At any rate, it's clear the Komondor is a fearsome fighter, despite looking like a stuffed animal to us, heh. And it doesn't protect the herd merely by sounding the alarm, but by being powerful enough to defend against wolves, for sure. Wait, what's this thread about again?
    - tedks 11y ago
      This is a nice witticism but I'm afraid it's not very connected to reality.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  Good people are easy to intimidate. Being raised in eastern Europe I have seen it a lot. I haven't had problems though - those kinds of people sense I am with the lawful evil alignment.
  - Swizec 11y ago
    "Demons run when a good man goes to war"
a2tech 11y ago
I'm pretty non-confrontational, but if someone beat me up in a business meeting, I'd change my cell phone and rat them out to the police as fast possible.
- _yosefk 11y ago
  Erm... if it were the mob, I'm not sure changing the cell phone is enough, sounds more like the witness protection program kind of deal. Confrontational or not, I think few know what they'd do in such a situation, and I certainly hope I'll never find out what I'd do.
Untit1ed 11y ago
The article makes it sound a lot like they were innocent up until that point, but I'd put good money on them already having some skin in the game. You can put it down to being non-confrontational but what kind of non-confrontational nerd happily goes straight back into a room where they were previously assaulted? EDIT: Also it's worth keeping in mind that this is just their version of the story, it might be 100% lies.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  We nerds believe in plausible deniability. And that we can outsmart. Usually we are wrong.
- lectrick 11y ago
  > but I'd put good money on them already having some skin in the game The article says that they cannot find a money trail to these guys.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    They may have simply been too cheap...
- user_0001 11y ago
  Always three sides to every story. My side, your side and the truth :-)
moron4hire 11y ago
No, that's just most people in general. There is a lot of difficulty getting people to testify even when the crime has been committed against them. They just want the problems to go away.
rodgerd 11y ago
> I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it. "Standing up" to the mafia is not going to end well for most people.

abluecloud 11y ago

I honestly don't think it's limited to IT workers. Some people just aren't confrontational people and would rather make an easy life for themselves. Plus, you have to only consider the repercussions of being confrontational in certain situations.

tedks 11y ago
That said, predators of all types usually spend time selecting their prey.
- venomsnake 11y ago
  Sadly the only way to deal with predators is to prey on them.
  - LordKano 11y ago
    A metaphor that I am fond of is that there are Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs. Wolves avoid Sheepdogs. Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog; even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; it's easier for the Wolf to just go and find unguarded Sheep because sometimes the Sheepdog wins.
    - venomsnake 11y ago
      >Even thought the Wolf is stronger than the Sheepdog;even though the Wolf will most likely prevail in the end; It is not, it won't https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Shepherd_Dog I have seen these guys in action.
      - LordKano 11y ago
        As the saying goes, there is an exception to every rule. I was thinking more along these lines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komondor
        mhurron 11y ago
        You think that dog can't handle a wolf? That it can't do one of the things it was bred for? A livestock guard dog that can't hold its own against a wolf would be a very bad guard dog.
        LordKano 11y ago
        His function isn't necessarily to defeat the wolf. If he can discourage it or delay it long enough for the shepherd to come, he has done his job.
        jrochkind1 11y ago
        Well, that very wikipedia says: > An athletic dog, the Komondor is fast and powerful and will leap at a predator to drive it off or knock it down. It can be used successfully to guard sheep against wolves or bears. I dunno. Further googling: > Bred to drive away predators, not hunt them, the powerful Komondor will try to kill any animal that foolishly chooses to fight back. http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inactive-dog-breeds-profiles/article_3651.aspx http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-breeds/dog-breed-profiles/inac... I dunno. It seems they kill coyotes not too infrequently, but it doesn't seem like wolves usually stick around long enough to kill or be killed by a Komondor, indeed. Wolves don't generally choose to fight animals that can fight back, which I guess is the message of the original aphorism. But if the wolf stayed to fight, the Komondor would fight it to the death one way or another, and their ridiculous looking coat is apparently actually pretty good defense against predator's teeth, and they've got very powerful jaws. At any rate, it's clear the Komondor is a fearsome fighter, despite looking like a stuffed animal to us, heh. And it doesn't protect the herd merely by sounding the alarm, but by being powerful enough to defend against wolves, for sure. Wait, what's this thread about again?
  - tedks 11y ago
    This is a nice witticism but I'm afraid it's not very connected to reality.
venomsnake 11y ago
Good people are easy to intimidate. Being raised in eastern Europe I have seen it a lot. I haven't had problems though - those kinds of people sense I am with the lawful evil alignment.
- Swizec 11y ago
  "Demons run when a good man goes to war"

a2tech 11y ago

I'm pretty non-confrontational, but if someone beat me up in a business meeting, I'd change my cell phone and rat them out to the police as fast possible.

_yosefk 11y ago
Erm... if it were the mob, I'm not sure changing the cell phone is enough, sounds more like the witness protection program kind of deal. Confrontational or not, I think few know what they'd do in such a situation, and I certainly hope I'll never find out what I'd do.

Untit1ed 11y ago

The article makes it sound a lot like they were innocent up until that point, but I'd put good money on them already having some skin in the game. You can put it down to being non-confrontational but what kind of non-confrontational nerd happily goes straight back into a room where they were previously assaulted? EDIT: Also it's worth keeping in mind that this is just their version of the story, it might be 100% lies.

venomsnake 11y ago
We nerds believe in plausible deniability. And that we can outsmart. Usually we are wrong.
lectrick 11y ago
> but I'd put good money on them already having some skin in the game The article says that they cannot find a money trail to these guys.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  They may have simply been too cheap...
user_0001 11y ago
Always three sides to every story. My side, your side and the truth :-)

moron4hire 11y ago

No, that's just most people in general. There is a lot of difficulty getting people to testify even when the crime has been committed against them. They just want the problems to go away.

rodgerd 11y ago

> I've noticed that a lot of IT workers tend to be non-confrontational and unwilling to stand up for themselves even if the situation calls for it. "Standing up" to the mafia is not going to end well for most people.