Well, then, continue; but try not to bite the hand that feeds you.

*shrug* You can mock all you want, it doesn't change the facts. — bert1

You were serious? I thought you were having a quiet mock there yourself so I had a riff on it.

The people who post here seem to be from a very broad range of views. There's the usual mix of cranks, monomaniacs, untheorized hopeless cases, educated smugnesses, political bores, insightful gems, helpful thinkers, wannabe gurus and the curious ignorant (I am in this latter category).

You were serious? I thought you were having a quiet mock there yourself so I had a riff on it. — Tom Storm

This thread has taken an....odd turn.

This thread has taken an....odd turn. — T Clark

My fault? If it is, sorry.

My fault? If it is, sorry. — Tom Storm

No, not your fault. The talk about conspiracy theories related to the forum just has me shaking my head.

Got you. It seems the culture wars have bread a generation of internecine suspicions that lend themselves so easily to a grand conspiracy behind all historico-political events, including the origins of little philosophy websites.

It seems the culture wars have bread a generation of internecine suspicions that lend themselves so easily to a grand conspiracy behind all historico-political events, including the origins of little philosophy websites. — Tom Storm

No offence to Jamalrob, but the forum would be the most low-rent, third-rate conspiracy I can imagine.

No offence to Jamalrob, but the forum would be the most low-rent, third-rate conspiracy I can imagine. — T Clark

That's just what he wants you to think...

:razz:

I’m not really seeing what others are referring to as a bias. So far, I don’t think I’ve seen one thread where everybody agreed with the OP. It doesn’t matter what your opinion is, someone on here will disagree with you about it. It isn’t an echo chamber by any means, imo.

One need not pontificate or wax ones carrot over being here first or second or last.

One need not pontificate or wax ones carrot over being here first or second or last. — Shawn

Yeah, the first five or so posts sounded so "old timer's bitter nostalgic sorrow". There are dynamics in this forum these days, too. Banno; Apollodufus; GMBA; all add some flavour to the thought, not just the straight goods, for those who love drama. I only listed these three because I can't remember others' monikers; please don't be offended that I left you off the list. You are just as saucy as the rest of us, whoever you are reading these lines.

I’m not really seeing what others are referring to as a bias. — Pinprick

"Bias" means any text that disagrees with the right.

They just don't get critique.

I’m not really seeing what others are referring to as a bias. So far, I don’t think I’ve seen one thread where everybody agreed with the OP. It doesn’t matter what your opinion is, someone on here will disagree with you about it. It isn’t an echo chamber by any means, imo. — Pinprick

Anti-group-think group-think, maybe that’s a thing?

My feeling is that the tolerance towards posts and threads that aren't even close to having philosophical quality has increased. Which means the kind of evangelical religious stuff, racist apologist low-quality posts, ad hominems, and BS posts that destroys any quality focus on a specific topic just keeps going. When I first looked for a forum like this and found this forum, it felt like a place that got rid of the usual internet idiots and morons in favor of a better quality discussion for complex topics. But it feels like since my initial experience, the tolerance of idiots and morons has gone up and it's close to impossible to see a discussion that doesn't just let some rabid idiot go on a crusade.

If I were to recommend moderators to improve on one thing, it would be to clean up the place. There are far better places for evangelical nuts, racist apologists, and people who don't even know what philosophy is. 4Chan-like forums and Reddit threads dedicated to that kind of stuff, instead of clogging up this place. — Christoffer

:100: YYYYYYYYYYES. This entire post bears repeating (and can't be repeated enough as far as I'm concerned).

My feeling is that the tolerance towards posts and threads that aren't even close to having philosophical quality has increased. Which means the kind of evangelical religious stuff, racist apologist low-quality posts, ad hominems, and BS posts that destroys any quality focus on a specific topic just keeps going. When I first looked for a forum like this and found this forum, it felt like a place that got rid of the usual internet idiots and morons in favor of a better quality discussion for complex topics. But it feels like since my initial experience, the tolerance of idiots and morons has gone up and it's close to impossible to see a discussion that doesn't just let some rabid idiot go on a crusade.

If I were to recommend moderators to improve on one thing, it would be to clean up the place. There are far better places for evangelical nuts, racist apologists, and people who don't even know what philosophy is. 4Chan-like forums and Reddit threads dedicated to that kind of stuff, instead of clogging up this place.
— Christoffer
:100: YYYYYYYYYYES. This entire post bears repeating (and can't be repeated enough as far as I'm concerned). — 180 Proof

OK man, I'll repeat it.

But I think that the vast majority of the people here are influenced by the current environment, be it social, political or economic. And it will show. Especially with the topics that make people mad and bring on the ad hominem attacks towards your fellow PF members.

The fact is that few topics that aren't directly philosophical won't get much debate if it isn't something that the public discourse is debating about. We are not so special, unfortunately.

Well bad threads in terms of woo-like subjects at least offers the opportunity for some here to show why such thinking is bad for rational discourse.

Of course, it rarely changes minds. But for others who might be looking at this site, it could be helpful in this negative sense.

As long as we're not funded by Hummus — Baden

Big Hummus would like to have a word.

If I were to recommend moderators to improve on one thing, it would be to clean up the place. There are far better places for evangelical nuts, racist apologists, and people who don't even know what philosophy is. 4Chan-like forums and Reddit threads dedicated to that kind of stuff, instead of clogging up this place. — Christoffer

:100: YYYYYYYYYYES. This entire post bears repeating (and can't be repeated enough as far as I'm concerned). — 180 Proof

There's a lot of bullshit here, but there always has been. There are also plenty of interesting threads. Why worry about those that don't have much to say or just bang the same old gongs. They give us a chance to feel all superior. I know for me they also give me an opportunity to argue against positions I think are wrong-headed while staying civil and respectful. I need work on that. I can avoid discussions of anti-natalism, free will, Israel, relativity denial, the effects of quantum entanglement on haddock catches in the Bay of Fundy, and anything else that annoys me. I can also start threads of my own.

I don't see much in the way of "evangelical nuts" here. And what you are calling "racist apologists" also include needed criticism of the social justice movement and other similar ideologies. Moderators are pretty quick to crack down on posters who go over what they consider the line to the point that reasonable argument is often shut down or never starts.

@180 Proof @Christoffer and it bears repeating that users can report other users. We'll look into it. That doesn't necessarily mean we will agree but we take them seriously.

PS: A 1,000 bucks donation gets you an insta ban of a user of choice, no questions asked.

:up:

To be quite honest, the impression I got soon after joining was that this forum does have a left-wing bias, just from the way I was attacked for pointing out inconsistencies in Marxist theory — Apollodorus

A right-wing internet random who obviously hasn't read Marx, doesn't understand his intellectual capacity, influence, method or anything about his life, presents a thesis that's it's all a hoax based on the fact that he thinks Marx was mischievous.

Advice: read "Capital", realize how clownish and unthought-out your idea is and then come back and write an at least half-serious critique. — Baden

Not bias so much as good advice.

You were serious? — Tom Storm

No! You were right the first time. I was just seeing how far I could troll Apollodorus. I was starting to think he might have been counter-trolling me. I had to turn against you and Banno to try and maintain the pretence. All over now. Or is it?

YYYYYYYYYYES. This entire post bears repeating (and can't be repeated enough as far as I'm concerned). — 180 Proof

Yeah. I think I agree with you. But I'm not sure. Social media is an echo-chamber. That's OK to an extent. But I also want to be exposed to not-me. So this forum serves that function pretty well. But then it's a philosophy forum, and I am the first to admit am an elitist snob and want to see proper philosophy done. I suppose what I'd like is to have the clever top tier of right wing capitalist pig dogs posting on here. But they don't care about philosophy, indeed they are anti-philosophy (philosophy is an inherently left wing liberal elitist activity), they are too busy ripping people off, not paying taxes and persuading savages to vote for them otherwise commies like Jeremy and Bernie will take over and outlaw tax havens.

:up:

There's a lot of bullshit here, but there always has been. There are also plenty of interesting threads. Why worry about those that don't have much to say or just bang the same old gongs. They give us a chance to feel all superior. I know for me they also give me an opportunity to argue against positions I think are wrong-headed while staying civil and respectful. I need work on that. I can avoid discussions of anti-natalism, free will, Israel, relativity denial, the effects of quantum entanglement on haddock catches in the Bay of Fundy, and anything else that annoys me. I can also start threads of my own.

I don't see much in the way of "evangelical nuts" here. And what you are calling "racist apologists" also include needed criticism of the social justice movement and other similar ideologies. Moderators are pretty quick to crack down on posters who go over what they consider the line to the point that reasonable argument is often shut down or never starts. — T Clark

Yes. I agree with this as well. I dunno. It is possible to ignore the bollocks. And sometimes it turns out not to be complete bollocks after all, and those moments are valuable. There used to be more evangelical nuts than now. We're getting the 'culture wars' coming up more now. It's interesting in a way. I like to meet people rather than caricatures, and this forum provides an opportunity to do that.

I would agree compared to the days of the old place. Here, I'm not so sure.

I think lots of knowledgable regular posters becoming less active has had a big impact, more so than outright change of policy compared to the early days of of this forum.

A lot depends on whether Pfhorrest is posting or not.

The Anarchist Library, regardless as to how well written or theorized anything that I put forth is, will just simply not publish me. — thewonder

Self-publish. There are lots of ways. Some companies that facilitate self-publishing even do a fair job of marketing.

That's actually a pretty good idea. I suppose that I'll just have to organize my thoughts.