CrazyCarl
08-09-2008, 10:59 PM
It's been awhile since the last set of guidelines were formulated here, and quite a few things have changed (including many regular posters, recurrent topics and the section's moderators), so I think that a new set might be in order.
These aren't rules, per se. They're more like suggestions. Philo, by its nature, is about the free flow of ideas, so it can't follow a cut-and-dried set of rules like, say, Sports. But everyone benefits if you use your heads, and keep these simple items in mind:
Contribute. Nothing is more disruptive to any conversation than somebody barging in and talking about how the whole argument is dumb. Obviously it is your right to think so: But it is less obvious what you stand to gain by telling people discussing some topic how it's all null and void. Nobody forces you to read a thread you don't like, so don't force us to deal with your displeasure. If people are talking about who should win the Cy Young, "baseball sucks" - while a valid opinion - doesn't help, since it will derail a thread and cause bullshit bickering instead of intelligent debate.
None of this is gonna cure cancer, and we know that. But that doesn't mean that it has no purpose.
Bis repetita non placent (Nobody likes repetitions). THE SEARCH FEATURE IS YOUR FRIEND. This should be blindingly obvious, but for some reason, people can't figure this out, especially when starting new threads. I'll always keep about two pages worth of threads open, and at least one on every relevant topic that's been discussed here so far. Check back, and see whether somebody else has had the same idea for a thread as you. Trust me, you'll find almost 100 posts about "ethics". Ideas don't have expiration dates: whatever threads are open, you CAN bump. When I think that a thread has run its course, it'll disappear, at which point we can start anew.
The above obviously also goes for all new posts in existing threads. Some of them are rather long, but that's why we have a "Search this Thread" function.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK. If you were to proclaim in the NBA thread about how great the Sixers are gonna be now that Milwaukee traded Kevin Garnett to them, you'd be catching hell, and rightfully so. Same goes here. It takes about five seconds to check basic facts on google, answers.com or wikipedia, and those five seconds can save everybody a great deal of frustration.
THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Really. Don't barge into a thread and just blurt out the first thing on your mind. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but the flipside to that is that everyone else is entitled to ridicule you for it if you can't back it up: of course Rousseau was a moron. But we'd like to know WHY. But this IS GMF, after all, and levity is always welcome. However, one thing that is most definitely NOT are comments of the "ur stupid lol" variety. We're pretty much all adults here; try to act accordingly.
Some of these threads deal with touchy and controversial subject matters, especially religion and homosexuality. Many people care about these issues rather deeply. Hence, SHOW SOME RESPECT. Just a little. This ties in with the above, since nobody will object to you voicing your misgivings regarding something, but just talking about how "all y'all faggots are gonna burn in hell" or "all religion is evil and stupid" etc isn't gonna solve anything. Do it once, and people will tell you that you're a tool. Do it repeatedly, and there will be consequences.
There being such topics, there are gonna be fights, and ad hominem attacks. That's not necessarily bad; few things further intelligent discourse more than heated debates. Some fighting is okay and inevitable, but do try to keep it within acceptable levels. You know most of your fellow posters, and how they're gonna react. Also, don't go around offending people, then come crying to the mods and admins because you can't handle the reaction.
Oh, and one more thing. Since it's you expressing your ideas here, one should think that you want people to listen to you and take you somewhat seriously. One word of advice: PROPER ENGLISH HELPS. Don't write something with no structure, ghastly grammar, 2nd-grade spelling, and no recognisable punctuation, and then call people stupid "spelling nazis" when they get on your case. This IS Philo, after all. It's in your own interest.
And most importantly, POST. None of the above suggestions are designed to keep you from posting; they're there to make it more productive (and, why not, fun) for all involved. Ideas are welcome. So are tangents. I usually don't mind a thread going somewhat off topic, since the things that develop from that can be rather interesting.
Basically, just use good judgement.
That's all for now. I'm sure you'll agree that the above is quite reasonable. Also, if you have any questions or ideas, you know where to find me.
EDIT: However, one thing that pisses me off are threads purely made for the point of baiting, ie presenting a polarising minority opinion for the sole purpose of bashing the arguments of those who respond without bothering to think about them. That's not a discussion, much less philosophical exchange, that's retardedness. Once it becomes obvious that that's the purpose of a thread, it's gonna get deleted faster than you can say "Richard Dawkins".
Post here because you want to DISCUSS something, NOT because you want to congratulate yourself on the perceived superiority of your beliefs.
These aren't rules, per se. They're more like suggestions. Philo, by its nature, is about the free flow of ideas, so it can't follow a cut-and-dried set of rules like, say, Sports. But everyone benefits if you use your heads, and keep these simple items in mind:
Contribute. Nothing is more disruptive to any conversation than somebody barging in and talking about how the whole argument is dumb. Obviously it is your right to think so: But it is less obvious what you stand to gain by telling people discussing some topic how it's all null and void. Nobody forces you to read a thread you don't like, so don't force us to deal with your displeasure. If people are talking about who should win the Cy Young, "baseball sucks" - while a valid opinion - doesn't help, since it will derail a thread and cause bullshit bickering instead of intelligent debate.
None of this is gonna cure cancer, and we know that. But that doesn't mean that it has no purpose.
Bis repetita non placent (Nobody likes repetitions). THE SEARCH FEATURE IS YOUR FRIEND. This should be blindingly obvious, but for some reason, people can't figure this out, especially when starting new threads. I'll always keep about two pages worth of threads open, and at least one on every relevant topic that's been discussed here so far. Check back, and see whether somebody else has had the same idea for a thread as you. Trust me, you'll find almost 100 posts about "ethics". Ideas don't have expiration dates: whatever threads are open, you CAN bump. When I think that a thread has run its course, it'll disappear, at which point we can start anew.
The above obviously also goes for all new posts in existing threads. Some of them are rather long, but that's why we have a "Search this Thread" function.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK. If you were to proclaim in the NBA thread about how great the Sixers are gonna be now that Milwaukee traded Kevin Garnett to them, you'd be catching hell, and rightfully so. Same goes here. It takes about five seconds to check basic facts on google, answers.com or wikipedia, and those five seconds can save everybody a great deal of frustration.
THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Really. Don't barge into a thread and just blurt out the first thing on your mind. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but the flipside to that is that everyone else is entitled to ridicule you for it if you can't back it up: of course Rousseau was a moron. But we'd like to know WHY. But this IS GMF, after all, and levity is always welcome. However, one thing that is most definitely NOT are comments of the "ur stupid lol" variety. We're pretty much all adults here; try to act accordingly.
Some of these threads deal with touchy and controversial subject matters, especially religion and homosexuality. Many people care about these issues rather deeply. Hence, SHOW SOME RESPECT. Just a little. This ties in with the above, since nobody will object to you voicing your misgivings regarding something, but just talking about how "all y'all faggots are gonna burn in hell" or "all religion is evil and stupid" etc isn't gonna solve anything. Do it once, and people will tell you that you're a tool. Do it repeatedly, and there will be consequences.
There being such topics, there are gonna be fights, and ad hominem attacks. That's not necessarily bad; few things further intelligent discourse more than heated debates. Some fighting is okay and inevitable, but do try to keep it within acceptable levels. You know most of your fellow posters, and how they're gonna react. Also, don't go around offending people, then come crying to the mods and admins because you can't handle the reaction.
Oh, and one more thing. Since it's you expressing your ideas here, one should think that you want people to listen to you and take you somewhat seriously. One word of advice: PROPER ENGLISH HELPS. Don't write something with no structure, ghastly grammar, 2nd-grade spelling, and no recognisable punctuation, and then call people stupid "spelling nazis" when they get on your case. This IS Philo, after all. It's in your own interest.
And most importantly, POST. None of the above suggestions are designed to keep you from posting; they're there to make it more productive (and, why not, fun) for all involved. Ideas are welcome. So are tangents. I usually don't mind a thread going somewhat off topic, since the things that develop from that can be rather interesting.
Basically, just use good judgement.
That's all for now. I'm sure you'll agree that the above is quite reasonable. Also, if you have any questions or ideas, you know where to find me.
EDIT: However, one thing that pisses me off are threads purely made for the point of baiting, ie presenting a polarising minority opinion for the sole purpose of bashing the arguments of those who respond without bothering to think about them. That's not a discussion, much less philosophical exchange, that's retardedness. Once it becomes obvious that that's the purpose of a thread, it's gonna get deleted faster than you can say "Richard Dawkins".
Post here because you want to DISCUSS something, NOT because you want to congratulate yourself on the perceived superiority of your beliefs.