Recently I’ve seen a few posters mentioning how good things were before on PWI and how they are saddened at its current state. For my part, I’m not sure if debates here were ever “good” but I do think the overall quality of the place is nearing a nadir.
So I was wondering if anything can or should be done about it. Can or should we apply some rules and self-moderation to PWI in order to bring back some of the good old posters or bring in new ones?
I’ll post my thoughts below. Please let me know what you think. And, at least for this thread, please try to keep derogatory comments and name-calling to a minimum.
I was thinking that some self-moderation might help keep the bickering to a minimum, keep threads on track, and keep this form more fun.
First, personally, I think some of the constant name-calling and negative language has a greatly negative impact on discussions and generally turns into two posters trying to “sound smart” rather than honestly debate. That said, when I first came here I was told to STFU as this is how people talk in PWI. But maybe things have gone too far? Maybe not?
I was wondering what others thought about it. Is there some sort of “rule” or “self-moderation” necessary?
Recently I saw posters who are almost invariably negative state that others had “gone too far” so is there a line? Perhaps we’re only allowed to call the other person “stupid” 3 times in a thread or something?
I do not see the board ever changing, (1) reason is IMO people have the wrong expectations and motivations , meaning they think they are going to change some one’s mind (2) There are way too many people that can not differentiate between their opinion and fact. (3) people take things way too serious , I know my self , some times it is hard NOT to play the Devils Advocate (4) The so called conservatives do not see this as an opportunity to debate , but a must win battle .(5)I think it goes back to (OPEN/CLOSED) mindedness, too many people feel that any one that LOOKS , ACTS ,or SPEAKS differently is wrong.
I think that the posters today are on the whole more tolerant and open minded than they were 3-5 years ago. I remember posting that the atomic bomb might have saved Japanese lives and I immediatly got called an idoit by the most intelligent “liberalesque” posters on the site.
[quote]mertdawg wrote:
I think that the posters today are on the whole more tolerant and open minded than they were 3-5 years ago. I remember posting that the atomic bomb might have saved Japanese lives and I immediatly got called an idoit by the most intelligent “liberalesque” posters on the site. [/quote]
I would agree with this…when I first poked my head in here, it was like a war zone.
I like the crazy posters, the stupid posters, the teenage posters, the girly posters, the liberals, the conservatives…I like them all – even if they are dumb and their opinions suck.
This place is not about serious debate but about just “hanging out” and shooting the shit.
Let’s not turn this place into some elitist BS forum.
And as some of the more “patriotic” among us might say: “If you don’t like it feel free to leave.”
I kinda agree and disagree. I don’t think you are going to change it either way though. Some of the attitudes/language gets old and annoying, but it’s also half of what makes it interesting. There are some passionate people here which is good in one sense, but can lead to close mindedness. (I’m including myself)
I for one can say that I do in fact learn and incorporate things from here. I have in fact altered my perspective on things I have discussed.
I know I come here for good arguments and do try to contribute an original thought or 2, but I don’t come here with the intent of changing someone else. I think if that’s why you’re here, you’re here for the wrong reason.
I do think I’m a pretty open minded person even though I don’t always acknowledge when something makes a point with me for the sack of the argument. =0) I do play devils advocate a lot, and I’m not sure if that gets on people’s nerves.
[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:
I was thinking that some self-moderation might help keep the bickering to a minimum, keep threads on track, and keep this form more fun.
First, personally, I think some of the constant name-calling and negative language has a greatly negative impact on discussions and generally turns into two posters trying to “sound smart” rather than honestly debate. That said, when I first came here I was told to STFU as this is how people talk in PWI. But maybe things have gone too far? Maybe not?
I was wondering what others thought about it. Is there some sort of “rule” or “self-moderation” necessary?
Recently I saw posters who are almost invariably negative state that others had “gone too far” so is there a line? Perhaps we’re only allowed to call the other person “stupid” 3 times in a thread or something?
I’ll try to type more later…[/quote]
I know he has already been mentioned but, one word: Rainjack.
I post in spurts of weeks of hundreds of posts at a time followed by long silences, but I’ve been reading pretty much constantly for years.
I really don’t see anything wrong with this place recently, nor have I noticed any real shift from the past. Plus, this place would get pretty boring pretty quickly if we stifled all jackassedness.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
I kinda agree and disagree. I don’t think you are going to change it either way though. Some of the attitudes/language gets old and annoying, but it’s also half of what makes it interesting. There are some passionate people here which is good in one sense, but can lead to close mindedness. (I’m including myself)
I for one can say that I do in fact learn and incorporate things from here. I have in fact altered my perspective on things I have discussed.
I know I come here for good arguments and do try to contribute an original thought or 2, but I don’t come here with the intent of changing someone else. I think if that’s why you’re here, you’re here for the wrong reason.
I do think I’m a pretty open minded person even though I don’t always acknowledge when something makes a point with me for the sack of the argument. =0) I do play devils advocate a lot, and I’m not sure if that gets on people’s nerves.
This forum is kind of a mental exercise for me.[/quote]
Rainjack went rough on people, but He is also quite intelligent and made well reasoned posts though the fact that he usually agreed with me might be enhancing my view a bit =] He and Shugart were sumthin else to watch, but that wasn’t usually here.
It seems overall people who have posted here don’t see anything wrong, and some don’t see a shift from previous years. So maybe there’s no desire to change things.
Yeah, rainjack is long gone, for better-or-worse. He could be entertaining, although I also think he cut out some debate.
mert, I’m surprised people shot you down. I recall a very similar conversation a few years ago where most people tended to either agree with you, or think it was necessary.
I still haven’t seen a few of the posters who had mentioned things changed here, so maybe I’ll bump this a few more times to see if others want to state their opinion.
A second thing I noticed here that maybe be problematic (IMO) is how so many (most?) threads turn into a debate about “socialism” versus “libertarianism” or other pet -isms.
If we’re having a debate about, say, a recent natural disaster in CountryX, I’m not sure that’s an appropriate place to have two or three posters go back and forth for 3 pages about how their “-ism” is the super best-est ever. Especially when events are timely and “updates” to threads may prove informative. This is especially true when littered with the first problem mentioned here.
What do you all think? Are ALL threads fair game for debating the best aspects of socialism/libertarianism? Should we try to stay a little on track or is it simply impossible?
@Gambit_Lost
You and I rarely agree, but I believe your motives are honorable here. That said yer kiddin yerself friend. Even if we all put our hands on top of each others and swore a blood oath to… whatever. It’s be shocking if it were still being practiced by dinner time tomorrow. Seriously. No offense, but you know that.
