Some Proposals

[midcan5]

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." Marshall McLuhan


I disagree and especially with #2. What I find interesting is there are some on here who simply do not understand irony sarcasm exaggeration hyperbole or various other rhetorical devices that may or may not apply directly to the topic at hand especially should that topic be the absurd nonsense that passes for sense today. Oh, and while I am not a lawyer I have advised know criminals to follow Moore and Trump and deny all allegations and claim innocence. Going forward we shall see how criminals, well so called criminals, imitate our president and a god fearing man from Alabama. Darn it midcan you are off topic again.....


"What you believe is what you see is what you know is what you do is what you are." Stanley Fish

[Standing Wolf]

I freely admit that I have not lived up the the standards I proposed in the OP. But neither has anyone else on this forum. The entire point of proposing these standards is to make sure that everyone, myself included, is obliged to adhere to them.

Fair enough. However, Safety's point about sincerity having to be at least questioned is apt. A month ago, I was pointing out to others how much a certain poster - I won't make it personal by mentioning who - had calmed down, and was no longer the forum's "angriest member"...and was, in fact, being as reasonable and respectful in his posting as anyone on the board. Then, a week or two later, the old version reemerged. My point is simply that before a lot of talk about rule changes and "cracking down" is taken to heart and possibly acted upon, a personal show of faith and sincerity is seriously needed from each and every one of us.

[Ethereal]

Everyone feels like the other "side" is responsible for the deterioration in forum discourse and that their behavior is simply a response to the other side's instigation. We will never resolve this dispute, so the only rational thing to do is to move past it and start with a clean slate. I am not casting any stones or calling anyone out. The problem is generalized, which means EVERYONE, myself included, is part of the problem. That is exactly why a new paradigm is needed, so that everyone has a chance to start fresh.

[Ethereal]

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." Marshall McLuhan


I disagree and especially with #2. What I find interesting is there are some on here who simply do not understand irony sarcasm exaggeration hyperbole or various other rhetorical devices that may or may not apply directly to the topic at hand especially should that topic be the absurd nonsense that passes for sense today. Oh, and while I am not a lawyer I have advised know criminals to follow Moore and Trump and deny all allegations and claim innocence. Going forward we shall see how criminals, well so called criminals, imitate our president and a god fearing man from Alabama. Darn it midcan you are off topic again.....


"What you believe is what you see is what you know is what you do is what you are." Stanley Fish

Is there some reason why you cannot just start your own threads and let the forum community decide for themselves if what you're saying is interesting and topical enough to discuss?

[Ethereal]

Fair enough. However, Safety's point about sincerity having to be at least questioned is apt. A month ago, I was pointing out to others how much a certain poster - I won't make it personal by mentioning who - had calmed down, and was no longer the forum's "angriest member"...and was, in fact, being as reasonable and respectful in his posting as anyone on the board. Then, a week or two later, the old version reemerged. My point is simply that before a lot of talk about rule changes and "cracking down" is taken to heart and possibly acted upon, a personal show of faith and sincerity is seriously needed from each and every one of us.

Again, the proposals should be judged on their merits, not who is proposing them. I don't see how the "sincerity" of the proposal even enters into it, since I would be obliged to adhere to these standards regardless.

[Ethereal]

Even if I was being completely insincere, it wouldn't make any difference. The rules would be the rules regardless of how sincere I was about their implementation.

[Mister D]

Is there some reason why you cannot just start your own threads and let the forum community decide for themselves if what you're saying is interesting and topical enough to discuss?

Or at the very least put a little effort into explaining why exactly you feel this or that way about the OP. Claiming it's "nonsense" and then following that up with a succession of random quotes doesn't cut it. This is really part of the problem. Some members fear any real engagement.

[Ethereal]

Or at the very least put a little effort into explaining why exactly you feel this or that way about the OP. Claiming it's "nonsense" and then following that up with a succession of random quotes doesn't cut it. This is really part of the problem. Some members fear any real engagement.

Totally agree. Too many members confuse their own assertions as a form of conversation or discussion. Characterizing another poster's opinion as "nonsense" and the like without any kind of real elaboration or explanation is just masturbation.

[Chris]

Even if I was being completely insincere, it wouldn't make any difference. The rules would be the rules regardless of how sincere I was about their implementation.

Right, Rawl's veil of ignorance inasmuch as any proposals apply to all. It's not about personalities, it's about behavior. Discussion presupposes discourse ethics, and a forum by definition is about discussion.

[Chris]

Totally agree. Too many members confuse their own assertions as a form of conversation or discussion. Characterizing another poster's opinion as "nonsense" and the like without any kind of real elaboration or explanation is just masturbation.

Is too much asked of some--no one in particular--some people simply have opinions and have no explanations for them and so they deflect defensively.