Plethora of pointless posts

[Netti-Netti]

But Netti, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Yes, up to a point. There are normative rules of discourse and their violation is considered incompatible with the goals of dialogue. Extreme rudeness, insults, evasions, stuff like that are generally not desirable.

Here's another one for the Whitespace Police:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/face-of-god-10776-5.html#post182507

Hey dream, what's the word count for that page? What part(s) are you referring to?

Well then, you are now entering into the realm of peoples' minds

People are ultimately unknowable. On the other hand, considering the fact that criminals are convicted based on what the legal system understands about their intentions, the notion of assessing of what's going on in people's minds is pretty obviously has legal legitimacy. And then there's psychological science.

 

[juantoo3]

Yes, up to a point. There are normative rules of discourse and their violation is considered incompatible with the goals of dialogue. Extreme rudeness, insults, evasions, stuff like that are generally not desirable.

Very well then...

In right wing discourse the ommision of essential detail is a form of censorship because it involves attempts to control/limit information, shape people's perceptions, and prejudice people's conclusions. So are right wingers "fascists"?

I don't see Censorship as being limited to actively supressing dissent. It can also take the form of a selective use of evidence.

Do you see such *omission of essential detail* as limited only to "right-wingers?"

I see the left "selectively editing" evidence every bit as often as the right and for the same purposes.

That's my podium pounding pontification, pending approval.

 

[Netti-Netti]

Do you see such *omission of essential detail* as limited only to "right-wingers?"

No, but I would have to say that it's more likely to be most virulent.

I see the left "selectively editing" evidence every bit as often as the right and for the same purposes.

Example?

 

[Tao_Equus]

In right wing discourse the ommision of essential detail is a form of censorship because it involves attempts to control/limit information, shape people's perceptions, and prejudice people's conclusions. So are right wingers "fascists"?

.

Almost invariably....yes.

 

[juantoo3]

Example?

To start, how about any of the discussions I've ever had with evolutionists over the discrepencies in evolutionary theory?

Of course, one could make the argument that isn't exactly left versus right, but philosophically it is.

If that is insufficient, I have seen multiple cases of wannabe new-age gurus make sweeping statements about various religions that are evidently to those more familiar with the particular religions seriously in error.

Of course, one could make the argument that being a proponent of New Age idealism is not sufficient to denote left leaning tendencies...

So we'll have to look at the political spectrum, and how Obama has made a political promise to bring change. We'll see, but so far I see only more of the same, merely a mirror image of the same old tired smoke filled back room good ol' boy stuff that has gone on for years and will continue for years more.

In other words...more of the same. Where I come from, more of the same is not "change."

 

[juantoo3]

"I did not have sex with that woman."

"I didn't inhale."

"That depends what the definition of 'is' is."

 

[seattlegal]

Very well then...



Do you see such *omission of essential detail* as limited only to "right-wingers?"

I see the left "selectively editing" evidence every bit as often as the right and for the same purposes.

That's my podium pounding pontification, pending approval.

No, but I would have to say that it's more likely to be most virulent.


Example?

Almost invariably....yes.

Well, heck. I suppose we could conduct a thought experiment: I could go join the Democratic Underground forums and see how long it takes me to get banned because I'm not a Democrat, and I could go join the Free Republic forum and see how long it takes me to get banned because I'm not a Republican. {Although I'll probably need psychotherapy afterwards to recover.} The point is, there are fascist elements on both sides who feel threatened by my decidedly libertarian leanings, and my refusal to buy into the two party fascist system.

 

[juantoo3]

No, but I would have to say that it's more likely to be most virulent.

Dunno about that.

I started a thread:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-warrior-philosophe-5259.html

in response to another:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-great-cr-peace-nik-5224.html

in part to demonstrate how "love" can be so hateful, how "tolerance" can be so intolerant, and how violent people can become in the pursuit of their ideal image of peace.

I think I showed pretty succinctly how virulent peace niks can be. Please note, at no time did I engage on their dedicated thread. They came to mine.

 

[seattlegal]

Dunno about that.

I started a thread:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-warrior-philosophe-5259.html

in response to another:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-great-cr-peace-nik-5224.html

in part to demonstrate how "love" can be so hateful, how "tolerance" can be so intolerant, and how violent people can become in the pursuit of their ideal image of peace.

I think I showed pretty succinctly how virulent peace niks can be. Please note, at no time did I engage on their dedicated thread. They came to mine.

I stayed away from both of those threads. I'll add another pointless post to this Plethora of pointless posts thread in response to all the threads brought up and/or alluded to in this thread:

Black Eyed Peas~Where is the Love?​

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crypts and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all​

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek​

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)​

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love​

It just ain't the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations droppin' bombs
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones
With ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin' wrong
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin'
in
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)
Where's the love, y'all​

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek​

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)​

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love, the love, the love?​

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself​

Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?​

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love?​

Sing wit me y'all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That's all we got)
One world, one world
And something's wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something's wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something's wrong wit the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That's all we got
(One world, one world)​

YouTube - Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?

1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
3. 'He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,'--in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease.
4. 'He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,'--in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.
5. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
~Dhammmapada 1:1-5
​

 

[greymare]

LOL< guilty as charged. lol

 

[Dream]

Hey dream, what's the word count for that page? What part(s) are you referring to?

Post 134. Its just a pet peeve of mine that people sometimes resort to white boarding. Its a good indicator that they are filibustering a thread. I also hate double spacing and Captain Kirking, which is bombarding a thread with partial posts. I can see why you're ticked when somebody doesn't like what you post, and they seem morbidly obsessed with controlling not the content but the readability of a thread. It's just ridiculous, however I'm not sure if censoring or banning can fix it. The wild openness of space calls both settlers and pirates, and its just very hard to discern without shooting the settlers.

 

[Nick_A]

Dunno about that.

I started a thread:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-warrior-philosophe-5259.html

in response to another:

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-great-cr-peace-nik-5224.html

in part to demonstrate how "love" can be so hateful, how "tolerance" can be so intolerant, and how violent people can become in the pursuit of their ideal image of peace.

I think I showed pretty succinctly how virulent peace niks can be. Please note, at no time did I engage on their dedicated thread. They came to mine.

Careful Juan, this is dangerously politically incorrect. you could be boiled in oil for asserting the intolerance of the tolerant speaking the virtues of toleration. It is intolerable regrdless of professed tolerance.

 

[iBrian]

Of late I've noticed an increase in the number posts that have no other apparent purpose than to take up space. A lot of them are actually the same pointless post over and over again.

Also, some new members are either real persons who've spent the last 5 years spamming the Internet with some simpleminded right wing talking points or they're someone who adopted someone else's online identity for the purpose of trolling this forum.

Do forum members like all these pointless postings because they're just good fun? I doubt it: most of them generate no response.

I suspect most outsiders passing through here would wonder about the purpose of a forum that's being routinely wastelanded with garbage posts day after day. Even potentially interesting threads are being trashed with repetitive nonsense interspersed with lame personal insults.

Moreover, whatever impression outsiders they may have of a poster's sincerity, it's offset by the fact that the person posting to this forum is apparently not interested enough in the subject matter to spend 10 minutes researching it.

I wonder if this is the direction the forum owner and its moderators want to go in.

Thanks for your interest!

I've been bogged down with work the past few days so haven't been able to log on every day.

However, I have been trying to make an effort to try and tone down any conflicts on the forums, and using the infraction system for this. I have no interest in seeing the forums over run by petty arguments.

I do try to make the point of not trying to discriminate according to opinions, though, merely on the ability to be civil.

It is sad, though, when sometimes forums like these - set up for interfaith discussions, both between faiths and for those looking for more information on specific faiths, also end up attracting people whose remit is just to argue against anybody of faith. Will keep an eye out.

Regarding the censorship comment earlier as well - there was no censorship, merely the inability to respect other members by posting directly inflammatory messages regarding their faith. That's not tolerated for any faith anywhere on this board. Anyone who thinks otherwise is on the wrong website.

It's funny - I'm the one making the big effort here to swallow my own opinions about any particular faith, allow others with often very different opinions and ideas to post them - and yet sometimes people invariably accuse me of showing favouritism, bias, or censorship - simply because concepts such as civility and mutual respect are difficult for them to grasp.

I've always made the point that civility is the cornerstone of this forum, and it will remain so, as a moderated interfaith forum.

There are plenty of places online for hate speech - but not here.

 

[Nick_A]

I've been bogged down with work the past few days so haven't been able to log on every day.

However, I have been trying to make an effort to try and tone down any conflicts on the forums, and using the infraction system for this. I have no interest in seeing the forums over run by petty arguments.

I do try to make the point of not trying to discriminate according to opinions, though, merely on the ability to be civil.

It is sad, though, when sometimes forums like these - set up for interfaith discussions, both between faiths and for those looking for more information on specific faiths, also end up attracting people whose remit is just to argue against anybody of faith. Will keep an eye out.

Regarding the censorship comment earlier as well - there was no censorship, merely the inability to respect other members by posting directly inflammatory messages regarding their faith. That's not tolerated for any faith anywhere on this board. Anyone who thinks otherwise is on the wrong website.

It's funny - I'm the one making the big effort here to swallow my own opinions about any particular faith, allow others with often very different opinions and ideas to post them - and yet sometimes people invariably accuse me of showing favouritism, bias, or censorship - simply because concepts such as civility and mutual respect are difficult for them to grasp.

I've always made the point that civility is the cornerstone of this forum, and it will remain so, as a moderated interfaith forum.

There are plenty of places online for hate speech - but not here.

Brian, it is the classic problem with a secular site. Where a truly religious site will demand that people rise in their expression to be more respectful to a tradition that offers us something greater than ourselves, secularism strives to pull God down to our level and becoming a tool of politics. As you know, nothing is more partial than politics and its agendas further its paritiality and its associated hate speech. If you can figure a way around this natural tendency, you're a better man then I am since this intimidation is for some reason considered both normal and godly in much of the secular world.

 

[YO-ELEVEN-11]

Well, heck. I suppose we could conduct a thought experiment: I could go join the Democratic Underground forums and see how long it takes me to get banned because I'm not a Democrat, and I could go join the Free Republic forum and see how long it takes me to get banned because I'm not a Republican. {Although I'll probably need psychotherapy afterwards to recover.} The point is, there are fascist elements on both sides who feel threatened by my decidedly libertarian leanings, and my refusal to buy into the two party fascist system.

Ill drink to that.

 

[Netti-Netti]

Post 134. Its just a pet peeve of mine that people sometimes resort to white boarding. Its a good indicator that they are filibustering a thread. I also hate double spacing and Captain Kirking, which is bombarding a thread with partial posts. I can see why you're ticked when somebody doesn't like what you post, and they seem morbidly obsessed with controlling not the content but the readability of a thread. It's just ridiculous, however I'm not sure if censoring or banning can fix it.

I had no expectation of getting any results. I was just making a point.

Even now there is no discussion on the subject at issue. People insist on posting irrelevant and off topic information again and again.

 

[juantoo3]

Even now there is no discussion on the subject at issue. People insist on posting irrelevant and off topic information again and again.

Perhaps it is the name of the thread?

Of course, I did take a stab at the OP, and was encouraged to give an example of how the digressions were not limited to the "right wing." I see my examples were not well received. Or am I guilty by virtue of daring to respond?

 

[Netti-Netti]

Perhaps it is the name of the thread?

Are we talking about this thread. I'm not.

Of course, I did take a stab at the OP, and was encouraged to give an example of how the digressions were not limited to the "right wing." I see my examples were not well received.

They were well received, My concern was about distracting from a current trend by looking at history, about which there is nothing I can do. As it turns out there's nothing I can do about the present trend either. So it seems there is actually not much left to say.

Or am I guilty by virtue of daring to respond?

Not at all. I'm just not sure where where to go from here. The top rung of the Interfaith.org is being dominated by discussions that (1) have nothing to do with the forum in which it has been placed [Religion, Faith, and Theology/Belief and Spirituality] and (2) have nothing to do with the subject introduced in the OP.

 

[seattlegal]

Are we talking about this thread. I'm not.

They were well received, My concern was about distracting from a current trend by looking at history, about which there is nothing I can do. As it turns out there's nothing I can do about the present trend either. So it seems there is actually not much left to say.

Not at all. I'm just not sure where where to go from here. The top rung of the Interfaith.org is being dominated by discussions that (1) have nothing to do with the forum in which it has been placed [Religion, Faith, and Theology/Belief and Spirituality] and (2) have nothing to do with the subject introduced in the OP.

Hey, if Resigned wants to hijack his own thread...you are free to call him on it. Generally, setting up a premise, and then knocking it down is known as a straw man fallacy. It carries little evidential weight (much like the thread to which you are referring.)

 

[juantoo3]

Oh, I think I see. I realize the two of you are pretty seriously invested in that thread, but to be honest I was turned off by the title.

What little I saw though, looked to me like a progression of dialogue or conversation. Such things tend to wander over time, it's the nature of the critter.

I wish I could fix the problem, but I'm not really seeing a problem to fix. Allowing that I am a little dense and sometimes miss those subtle cues, is there something specific I should be looking for?