The closing of the political threads is really becoming annoying

[RJMacReady16]

Notice the precise point at which this thread actually became a political thread.

Don't worry, I'll get us back on course.

I agree with a lot of the previously expressed sentiments about banning political threads altogether. I have my share of fun in them, but if both sides of any argument aren't allowed equal exposure due to premature closing by The Mod then I think it becomes a useless soapbox thread which will eventually become so uncontested and misconstrued that people like myself will be practically obligated to set certain fallacies straight.

I highly doubt if any one out there is shaping their opinions on life, religion or politics by what they read on a toy forum, so we could safely get all of the topics back to the one thing which unites us (well, except for those weird members who only post in political threads, in which case I really don't know what you do with them).

:chew

 

[barbelith]

Notice the precise point at which this thread actually became a political thread.

Nobody's talking about politics.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I agree with a lot of the previously expressed sentiments about banning political threads altogether. I have my share of fun in them, but if both sides of any argument aren't allowed equal exposure due to premature closing by The Mod then I think it becomes a useless soapbox thread which will eventually become so uncontested and misconstrued that people like myself will be practically obligated to set certain fallacies straight.



:chew

I have never closed a thread that I thought had any valid direction to go from the last posts. And I certainly don't close them to prevent airing of opposing viewpoints.

 

[drbrad1975]

I don't find this statement offensive, it does seem that people sometimes do tend to respond to his posts with less reasoned argument and just abuse. I can understand how he could come to this conclusion from those responses.

Give an example of this? I think this one swings both ways.

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

But surely you can recognize this is part of the problem with the threads? You took the time to claim offense, but when asked to specifically explain why and counter my argument you decide to take off. How is that helpful?

For what it's worth, I genuinely did not intend to cause offense and I was not thinking of anyone in particular. I was criticizing the tendency (including my own flawed tendency) to forget that most of us are just regular people and not used to constructing an argument like a lawyer or debater. I didn't expect that to be any more controversial than pointing out that most of us aren't chemists. I'm sorry if you took offense - it was not implied.

Ok offense might not have been the intention but when you throw out these facts about the majority of people not knowing what they are talking about then that has to be applied to our community. So throwing out a statement like that implies that the majority of the people on this board are ignorant, and as i've said before no one likes to be called ignorant.

This is why i said that we need to read our post first cause how something sounds in your head is not how it's gonna be read. Now if you take parts of your first comment and parts of this comment that you took the time to explain your motives clearly then i think we would do just fine.

I have to say though that this thread is a perfect example of what i'm talking about. People have come on here disagreed and yet it's still open. Robodad and myself had a disagreement but through simple explanations we came to an understanding with each other. Let's keep it going...

 

[Bannister]

Ok offense might not have been the intention but when you throw out these facts about the majority of people not knowing what they are talking about then that has to be applied to our community. So throwing out a statement like that implies that the majority of the people on this board are ignorant, and as i've said before no one likes to be called ignorant.

This is why i said that we need to read our post first cause how something sounds in your head is not how it's gonna be read. Now if you take parts of your first comment and parts of this comment that you took the time to explain your motives clearly then i think we would do just fine.

I have to say though that this thread is a perfect example of what i'm talking about. People have come on here disagreed and yet it's still open. Robodad and myself had a disagreement but through simple explanations we came to an understanding with each other. Let's keep it going...

Whenever I am called ignorant I just picture poor Mr. Jefferson and don't worry about it:

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

Whenever I am called ignorant I just picture poor Mr. Jefferson and don't worry about it:

you know that Mr. Jefferson looks so familiar......

 

[Bannister]

you know that Mr. Jefferson looks so familiar......

 

[RoboDad]

I have to say though that this thread is a perfect example of what i'm talking about. People have come on here disagreed and yet it's still open. Robodad and myself had a disagreement but through simple explanations we came to an understanding with each other. Let's keep it going...

And I think we both came away better for having worked through it.

The problem with the generalizations cited in this thread is that they give the appearance (intended or not) of being dismissive of differing opinions, and sometimes they even carry a tone of superiority. That is guaranteed to raise someone's hackles.

 

[Agent0028]

I think one of the problems with the political threads is that often its not only the poster who gets insulted. For instance I recall one time a person made a comment about liberals not being able to stay in their own threads (or something to that extent), now for some bomb throwers that may be true, but then others who can respectfully and civilly discuss their views get painted with that same brush and it isn't fair to them. So the insults may be aimed at one person or group of people, but a whole lot of other people get hit with it too.

And like has been said the crap is spilling over in to other threads and that's annoying because you're getting it even if you staying out of the political threads.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

https://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp50/kardz201/****ies.jpg

 

[RoboDad]

And like has been said the crap is spilling over in to other threads and that's annoying because you're getting it even if you staying out of the political threads.

That is definitely a big problem, which, when you stop to think about it, is kind of odd. I have political 'debates' in person with friends, but rarely does any animosity extend beyond the boundaries of that conversation. Yet on Internet forums, it almost seems too easy to hold an irrational grudge. Maybe even that goes back to Shatterer of Dreams observation. When we carry on a conversation with someone, we gain a wealth of information beyond just their words. Their tone, facial expressions, the volume of their speaking (or shouting) voice, their body language, all give is insight into their intent, and much of it occurs on a subconscious level.

On the other hand, when reading a post in a forum, all we have are the words (with occasional emphasis or emoticons added, but even those are easy to misconstrue).

 

[Agent0028]

This especially confuses me. I never know if I'm being mocked or agreed with.

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

I think one of the problems with the political threads is that often its not only the poster who gets insulted. For instance I recall one time a person made a comment about liberals not being able to stay in their own threads (or something to that extent), now for some bomb throwers that may be true, but then others who can respectfully and civilly discuss their views get painted with that same brush and it isn't fair to them. So the insults may be aimed at one person or group of people, but a whole lot of other people get hit with it too.

And like has been said the crap is spilling over in to other threads and that's annoying because you're getting it even if you staying out of the political threads.

haha that was my comment..and the reason i said it was because when i say something like "sarah palin's speech was really good"..i want to hear from people that agree and also thought it was good. but instead you get a hundred insults like republicans are stupid..and immature stuff like that...yeah not all are doing that but 95% are

 

[RoboDad]

This especially confuses me. I never know if I'm being mocked or agreed with.

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

haha that was my comment..and the reason i said it was because when i say something like "sarah palin's speech was really good"..i want to hear from people that agree and also thought it was good. but instead you get a hundred insults like republicans are stupid..and immature stuff like that...yeah not all are doing that but 95% are

Both sides are doing it cause i seem to remember a lot of Obama haters being in the Obama's speech thread. There's that old addage about casting the first stone you know....

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

Both sides are doing it cause i seem to remember a lot of Obama haters being in the Obama's speech thread. There's that old addage about casting the first stone you know....

i agree 100% that both are doing it..it would be nice if we each had our own "support" threads..where the other party didnt come in and throw insults..but that would never happen

 

[Agent0028]

haha that was my comment..and the reason i said it was because when i say something like "sarah palin's speech was really good"..i want to hear from people that agree and also thought it was good. but instead you get a hundred insults like republicans are stupid..and immature stuff like that...yeah not all are doing that but 95% are

Hope you don't mind me using you as an example. It was just the comment that stood out easily in my mind as well as being a comment that wouldn't likely start a debate or anything. Anyway, sorry for putting you on the spot.

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

i agree 100% that both are doing it..it would be nice if we each had our own "support" threads..where the other party didnt come in and throw insults..but that would never happen

no probably not.....

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

Its all good