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A small reminder

belligerent drunk

belligerent drunk

Bluelight Crew
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Sep 16, 2015
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I would like to make a small announcement. It's in this thread, but it applies to the whole P&S. The intention of this thread is to be a little one-off reminder to current posters, as there's been some trouble lately; of course if somebody has to say something on this subject, feel free to reply to this thread.

I personally have low tolerance for intentionally useless posts, posts with intended condescending sarcasm, and other types of posts that do not contribute to the topic at hand in this sub-forum; and instead are meant to disrupt discussion or attack a member(s) of the forum. This sub-forum is meant for on-topic, logical, level-headed, and overall mature discussion of serious topics, so there has to be a certain level of quality of posts. It doesn't mean everyone has to say something profound each time they speak, but it has to contribute to the discussion in one way or another*. The formerly mentioned types of posts rarely do that, and if a person continues to deliberately disrupt conversation or post meaningless posts, they will be dealt with quickly - because as I said before, this is a forum for serious discussion, and such conduct will not be tolerated.

*sometimes discussion gets heated and may deviate from its initial goal/trajectory. In most cases, that's alright, as long as the topic being discussed is still somehow connected to the OP, and is still within the bounds of philosophy and spirituality.

PS I hope this does not discourage people from posting, because as I said before - anyone's input is appreciated as long as it's on-topic and follows the forum guidelines.
If you have any questions or suggestions, post here or PM a moderator.
 
Obviously I don't have comprehensive awareness of what goes on in this forum, but I haven't really noticed any specific problems recently. I don't feel like the signal/noise ratio has been negatively skewed of late or to different degrees than what has historically been seen here. As I said though, I don't see what is happening behind the scenes so my perspective is limited. There may have been an increase in in non-sequitir's and more blog-worthy comments recently but I don't know if that is part of the issue you describe.

That said, I feel like I've probably contributed something like what you mention and can even think of a post I made today that is definitely off-topic and maybe uncalled for. There is always going to arise such interactions and the internet is the perfect place for them to bubble up but I understand that they are tiresome and usually counter-productive. For me, I usually gain something from the more 'heated' topics because people usually convey their ideas in more complete fashion when probed about them but have an aversion to ad homs and sarcasm.

P&S has always had a certain amount of tension within it. Its the nature of the topics, they are often about dearly held beliefs with deep, complex, personal value. Getting challenged on such things is literally challenging and can feel like more of an attack than intellectual questioning. Its all down to the way that it is done.

For what its worth, I think you and Xorkoth do an excellent job. The forum runs pretty smoothly and you guys are always there to steer a conversation back towards some kind of harmony, as well as contributing interesting and thoughtful ideas of your own. So, thanks for contributing your time and patience here. :)
 
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swilow said:
Obviously I don't have comprehensive awareness of what goes on in this forum, but I haven't really noticed any specific problems recently
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Which is why this is a "little one-off reminder to current posters".

Heated discussions are the best in my opinion, which is why I believe it is worth reminding people that refraining from ad homs and other rubbish content serves everyone well. The point is that, I understand that with subjects like politics and the like, it's inevitable that people will use illogical, emotional, and otherwise flawed arguments, because those topics attract that sort of people, and it would be rather pointless to try to change that. However, philosophy and spirituality, in my view, attracts slightly different people, who are perfectly able to discuss topics without resorting to, what can be called as noise (pointless content, such as personal attacks).

I wasn't sure whether to create this thread or not, but I figured that we would get some feedback from people too, which is always important, so that's part of the intention behind making the thread too.

So thanks for your feedback, swilow.
 
If I've ever been insulting, offensive or unfair to someone in any of my posts, I'd like to invite those people (or others) to call me out on my behaviour. I am open to changing and adjusting.

P&S have no "correct" answers in terms of universalism. That's why it's P&S.

The thing about philosophy that can cause problems is that, even among the academic branches, there is a self-referent authority behind anything anyone says. It's assumed that this authority is correct... which is fine, until the person attempts to override everyone else with that axiomatic authority. If people could refrain from doing that, we would have a lot more interesting discussions.

As long as we all know that nobody is "the authority", it should work out.

I'll second what swillow said in that I haven't noticed major problems.
 
It would be good if the moderators could individually point out within reason when somebody does this. Often, it is unintentional. Not everyone knows how to post and discuss. Not every poster knows how to express themselves clearly or appropriately. The fact that a lot of people have substance abuse problems and mental health issues means they might not be thinking clearly when they post.
 
It'd be even better if the poster could take it with humility. Unfortunately, many of us get overly defensive and look stupid doing so.

Some edginess is only natural, tense arguments and all. When it's all said and done, I feel closer.

I myself have posted several times under the influence, so I've been making it a habit to reserve my substance abuse for when I am not on BL.
 
socko said:
It would be good if the moderators could individually point out within reason when somebody does this. Often, it is unintentional. Not everyone knows how to post and discuss. Not every poster knows how to express themselves clearly or appropriately. The fact that a lot of people have substance abuse problems and mental health issues means they might not be thinking clearly when they post.
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The problems I describe tend to occur more among intellectuals, IME.
 
I agree that it's far better now than it has been. The issue to me is really when people make ad-hom posts or attacks on someone's character, not really so much the off-topic things, because being P&S, the topic naturally can shift quite a bit. I've seen very little of the personal attack variety of posts lately, compared to before. Never hurts to have a reminder though. :)
 
Ad homs should be addressed by speaking to the perpetrator. These sort of threads are so broad and so far, every respondent has assumed they are the issue.
 
^Nutty, there is a difference between a joke and "condescending sarcasm". I think B_d's post was playful if anything.
 
Seemed to fit the bill to me especially with all the Islamaphobia going on nowadays but whatever.
 
nuttynutskin said:
Seemed to fit the bill to me especially with all the Islamaphobia going on nowadays but whatever.
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Islamaphobia going on nowadays, does this mean no analysis or parody of Islam is allowed? A system of ideas gets immunity from critique because it has at some point been treated unfairly? I hope not. Islam as a set of ideas and propositions about reality should be subject to criticism and parody like any other set of ideas and propositions. The fact that Islam isn't always treated fairly shouldn't become a shield against any criticism.

Likewise for Santeria, Scientology, and Presbyterians, some unfair criticism doesn't make you forever immune to all criticism and analysis.
 
^Yes one sentence. Which included the portion "especially with all the Islamaphobia going on nowadays but whatever."

And that portion seemed to say ideas that are persecuted or are allegedly persecuted ought be given some sort of exemption from something, from critique, from parody, I don't know. But ideas with special immunity was what I was reacting to.
 
amzam said:
^Yes one sentence. Which included the portion "especially with all the Islamaphobia going on nowadays but whatever."

And that portion seemed to say ideas that are persecuted or are allegedly persecuted ought be given some sort of exemption from something, from critique, from parody, I don't know. But ideas with special immunity was what I was reacting to.
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I think the comments make more sense in the broader context of the thread and world and stuff. Your statement, however, is entirely correct. No idea should be immune from examination of all sorts.
 
It's amazing to me how so many ideas scare people into trying to shut them down. I've really found this to be true on subjects like Suicide, euthanasia, antinatalism, pessimism or challenging one's own country or culture. That's when the flaming and personalisms start, when people get scared of certain ideas. It's very common and very human and imo no one is completely immune.
 
swilow said:
Ad homs should be addressed by speaking to the perpetrator. These sort of threads are so broad and so far, every respondent has assumed they are the issue.
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You may be right, and I'm very sorry if this thread made anyone feel that way - that was not my intention. Well, at least it's good to get some statistical feedback.
 
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