backchannel: peace in the forum
from this thread, which is a response to this thread.
I’m sick and tired of the constant fighting and bickering over Even the smallest issue. Often, I can’t even see a significant issue, just fighting for the sheer pleasure of a debate. It’s going to stop.
The reason he doesn’t see a significant issue at the heart of the discussions is that he feels things rather than thinks critically. That’s fine, it’s a personal style. But it leads to false conclusions, like thinking folks correct misinformation “for the sheer pleasure of a debate”.
IMO this policy will have the perverse result of allowing misinformation to stand while silencing corrections. It’s a sad kind of victory to win a race to the bottom.
A few can’t be allowed to ruin it for the many.
The few who are ruining it are the aggressive posters of misinformation. And the people who enable them.
{edit: thank doG bardo was finally banned}
every time you get in a pissing contest about nothing
Judgement.
Will this be helpful to a raw newbie Or just more blather and confusion?
Judgement.
If the forum is only for raw newbies then it will implode under its own weight. And what raw newbies need is good information, not feel-good BS.
Constant bickering about nothing
Judgement.
I am reminded that the man saying this is the one who wants us to avoid judging each other.
can’t we all just get along??!!
Yes, by treating each other as adults, not toddlers or “snowflakes”.
But then, I feel that a lot of misleading information gets posted and assumed to be fact. This forum has a WIDE and DEEP influence on a lot of people
Right.
When you see information that is, in your opinion, misleading or factually wrong, you can always hit the 'report' button at the bottom of the post.
In my experience that does exactly effing nothing.
Those frustrated by exposure to informed discussion or corrections could Ignore User from the link on the poster’s profile. Boom! The “bickering” goes away for them, and everyone else can read the full discussion.
The original poster, akrvbob, starts with the example of a butane bargain post going off topic into bickering about non-butane bargain issues. Staying on topic would, in this example, eliminate the bickering.
The original respondent talked about butane and digressed slightly on the topic of bargain cooking gases. I do not think it was a significant amount of drift. I would be surprised if many threads were able to stay 100% focused.
The thread played out almost exactly as I modeled.
When you see the thread going to another topic go ahead and start a new one. They are free. The new title should help users find the information. For example, there was a thread where the original question was "do I need a fuse here?"
Mods can easily split that kind of thing off.
What I, however, really do not like is; being told that I must or ought do things a certain way.
That’s kinda what the thread is about. Do it a certain way or be silenced.
there have been numerous times when I start reading a thread and part way through there are so many differing opinions, I quit reading because I'm confused. Who is right? Have mercy on those of us who are trying to learn.
Part of being human is sifting through differing opinions and judging for oneself. In the end, you must be right.
Seeing one thing and following it around is called “imprinting” and works great for baby ducks, cults, fanatics, and political partisans. It’s not learning at all.