[Droid803]

Then it's sad that there's no place for serious non-FS discussion.

[Polpolion]

It is a joke board. This ain't Fight Club.

Then why is anyone complaining? Oh wait, because it's not supposed to be.

[General Battuta]

Then it's sad that there's no place for serious non-FS discussion.

There is. It's called General Discussion.

But haven't you seen the level of the 'serious' discussion that happens there?

It is a joke board. This ain't Fight Club.

Then why is anyone complaining? Oh wait, because it's not supposed to be.

Levity is part of discourse. It keeps the ban rate down.

In fact GenDisc has been higher quality in the past few months than it's ever been. What are you worrying about?

[Polpolion]

[...]

There is. It's called General Discussion.

But haven't you seen the level of the 'serious' discussion that happens there?

[...]

Levity is part of discourse. It keeps the ban rate down.

In fact GenDisc has been higher quality in the past few months than it's ever been. What are you worrying about?

It is a joke board. [...]

What? Did I miss something?

[General Battuta]

[...]

There is. It's called General Discussion.

But haven't you seen the level of the 'serious' discussion that happens there?

[...]

Levity is part of discourse. It keeps the ban rate down.

In fact GenDisc has been higher quality in the past few months than it's ever been. What are you worrying about?

It is a joke board. [...]

What? Did I miss something?

Apparently. Read it again, see if it makes more sense! There's no contradiction there.

[Polpolion]

There is no explicit contradiction, but unless you elaborate your argument just seems malformed, and repeatedly reading what you've written doesn't exactly tell me how a joke board is supposed to have serious discussions.

[General Battuta]

There is no explicit contradiction, but unless you elaborate your argument just seems malformed, and repeatedly reading what you've written doesn't exactly tell me how a joke board is supposed to have serious discussions.

My admittedly rather obtuse point is that humor keeps people from descending into personal attacks, napalm-drenched ad hominems, and endless reiterations of the same tired debates.

As a veteran of god knows how many years of academic debate stuff, I can attest that there is simply no way to prevent an 'honest and serious discussion' from degenerating into ill will and anger without getting some levity into the mix.

We do not need a DEADLY SRS BOARD

[Mobius]

Are you people giving up and let GenDisc degenerate that way? There are many trash threads, true, but I remember at least a couple of threads ("More proof of evolution" and "Iraq") in which people had long and interesting discussions on a variety of subjects. And these threads surely haven't been posted in the past few months, effectively proving Battuta's claim* wrong.

*In fact GenDisc has been higher quality in the past few months than it's ever been. What are you worrying about?

A while ago I complained about WHIYL threads and what they were turning GenDisc into. Opinions on the matter were various.

I'd like to say the following (this is my personal opinion, I don't know how many other community members may share it): until a few months ago, I used to take a look at new threads in GenDisc with curiosity, knowing that it was a place where smart members usually engage in long and beautiful-to-read discussions. Now things have completely changed. I don't know why, but I feel like the purpose of that board has changed completely. To the worse.

As a veteran of god knows how many years of academic debate stuff, I can attest that there is simply no way to prevent an 'honest and serious discussion' from degenerating into ill will and anger without getting some levity into the mix.

You don't know how many posts you can find in threads like "More proof of evolution", don't you? As far as I'm concerned, those threads may have turned into trash a billion times and who knows how many posts have been split... but heh, I can still find hundreds of interesting posts in that thread. 960.

I see you weren't here back when Dekker posted the last comment on that thread, but still...

[General Battuta]

As I've said already, I feel like GenDisc is in much better shape than it used to be.

And I was one of the biggest GenDisc contributors for a while.

[Mobius]

And I said that I fail to understand how you can claim that GenDisc is in a much better shape now. What are you basing such assumptions on? I think pretty much the contrary: GenDisc has degenerated.

[General Battuta]

And I said that I fail to understand how you can claim that GenDisc is in a much better shape now. What are you basing such assumptions on? I think pretty much the contrary: GenDisc has degenerated.

How many enormous flamewars have we had in the past couple months?

Yeah, case closed.

Ironically the last epic threadnaught we had was the one I ran about teleportation and nonreductive physicalism (if I recall correctly.)

[Mobius]

But... you know meaningless that is, right? The shortage of flamewars in the past two months doesn't mean anything. The gross majority of the "meh" posts I can find on GenDisc do not involve any personal attacks.

In poor words, using the number of flamewars as a "qualitometer" = not sufficient.

[General Battuta]

As far as I'm concerned, it really is. Moderating GenDisc is about minimizing harm much more than maximizing benefit.

[The E]

Mobius, you, of all people, should not start to argue about taste. Personally, I find the lack of flamewars quite refreshing. And while the discussions currently going on might not be to your taste, there is a) nothing stopping you from starting a topic about something you wish to discuss and b) nothing stopping you from ignoring GD altogether.

[Mobius]

For the record, nobody here is wishing to see more flamewars: the "problem" here is that the number of flamewars is the only parameter Battuta has considered in claiming that GenDisc "has improved".

To be honest I can hardly agree with such a statement, and can mention quite a few people who avoid GenDisc not for the flamewars, but rather for the overall quality levels of that board.

[General Battuta]

So why don't you go improve it? What do you feel is wrong with it?

That's the only parameter that matters to me because as far as I'm concerned GenDisc doesn't do much good (aside, of course, from letting me admire MP-Ryan's slickly toned posts and showing off my WPM).

[The E]

Again, whether or not you find GD a good place to be is very much a matter of taste. If you do not like the discussions there your choice is either to ignore it or make an effort to improve the situation.

From a moderator's point of view, the fact that members manage to remain civil and have some good conversations going is enough. It is not my place (and it sure as hell ain't yours) to tell people that they're not as good as the commenters of yore. Because THAT, once again, is a matter of taste, and as you should know, you can't argue about that.

[TopAce]

I just avoid GenDisc overall. Two people arguing about a topic that they view very differently is a waste of effort. Neither side can be convinced and even if he could be, it wouldn't make the slightest of difference. The time spent undertaking such "discussions" is better spent somewhere else.

[General Battuta]

I just avoid GenDisc overall. Two people arguing about a topic that they view very differently is a waste of effort. Neither side can be convinced and even if he could be, it wouldn't make the slightest of difference. The time spent undertaking such "discussions" is better spent somewhere else.

That's basically my feeling too, and hell, I've been a big GenDisc poster.

[Colonol Dekker]

Check the regular GD posters, see how they behave in other boards.
Do they exhibit radically different personalities in other boards or is it the subject matter rather than the tone it's presented in which whips those same people into a frenzy? Or is it the fact they're in GD?