4/17/2014 11:56 PM
Hi,
I do not intend to seem crass and insensitive I only want to inject sober consideration of the facts.
To begin with, we (i.e., many of us) do not know all of the facts. From my understanding, a valid death certificate is required before a life insurance claim is granted and if we do not know if he is actually deceased I do not think we can accurately reach a judgement against anyone for not creating a memorial event or any other such commemorations.
How can any of us accurately determine if the person is actually deceased? I am not saying it is impossible to determine if a death has occurred, but I am saying it might take significant amounts of time (i.e., weeks or months) to accurately verify that a death has occurred.
Is WGT required by the governing law to seek out the death certificates of its members? Will there be a department with insurance-claims-agent type of people within WGT's offices that will diligently seek out the necessary facts before deciding to create a memorial event as an insurance claims agent is expected to do?
If members chose not to become verified (i.e., did not submit valid information for verified status) how can WGT even accurately determine if the death certificate that they do obtain (if they do obtain one by receiving it unsolicited or actively searching it out) is for the person whose WGT account is purported to be the one owned by the person named on the death certificate? Even if the law doesn't not require such extensive investigations and verification, some members of this community still may emotionally demand an official memorial without such rigorous investigations and verification.
One might argue that LeGeNdCrUsHeR could not verify his account status because the ability to verify WGT accounts is new (i.e., just implemented within the last 3 months). But, that is still beside the point that in order to prevent the quagmire of fraudulent claims or mistaken identity there needs to be verification of death before a claim is granted. And I am not saying LeGeNdCrUsHeR was not verified, I do not know that information. I am saying that I believe that those who also do not know that, and other relevant, information should refrain from publishing potentially embarrassing misjudgment!
Moreover, I remember he requested for his account to be closed in early March. Or was it him? Are we even certain he requested to close down his account? Was it hijacked? If he did close down his account and did not verify his account, then how can WGT be certain that the actual owner of that account actually requested it to be closed and then subsequently died?
Of course, one can argue that we still may not be certain of a death even if we had a valid death certificate stating so, and therefore requiring one is a red herring. But, I think it would be unwise if WGT created an event or some public memorial in anyway for the decease of any person on WGT (not just LeGeNdCrUsHeR) without adequate verification of their purported death just as I think it is unwise for anyone to hysterically and flippantly decry the actions (or inactions of WGT) without knowing the relevant facts themselves. (Others may publicly submit claims of facts to verify he did actually die, but my intent with this writing is not to solicit anyone to submit "verification" of death.)
What if, after the official WGT memorial event has completed, the person was found to be alive and the whole melodramatic incident was a hoax/misunderstanding! Again, I am trying not to be insensitive nor am I claiming he did not die, I am attempting to soberly assess some of the many complications of this topic.
I believe that it is very likely that there are other sober-minded members of this community that have considered some of the issue I've just written about and are staying silent (publicly, i.e., on the forums) about them, just as I was for these last few days. These other respected members of this community can choose to stay silent or they can choose to speak, and those at WGT can do the same. They can choose to stay silent or eventually break that silence as I have.
In any case, I believe that those who, without adequately knowing the relevant facts, do not withhold misjudgment and boisterously proclaim or insinuate that some gross miscarriage of justice has occurred because WGT has yet to publicly address this topic are woefully misdirected.
Yielding to groupthink can have disastrous consequences when the general thought process of the group is habitually embedded in prejudicial misjudgment (i.e., passing judgment before receiving or even diligently seeking germane facts).
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or disfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints, by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences.
Thanks,
JMan