Most these discussions involve argumentation. In my opinion, what is important is not the assertion but the argument which supports the assertion. To put the assertions in bold is just an annoyance, like someone shouting at you. — Metaphysician Undercover

You like skimming the text, reading only what the author presents as the important ideas. — Metaphysician Undercover

How do you know that your idea of what is important is the same as the author's? — Metaphysician Undercover

It made his posts unreadable. — jamalrob

It would be messy, and communication depends on common standards, especially common standards of presentation. — jamalrob

Are you saying that, e.g., the World as Will and Representation would have been better if Schopenhauer had been able to get it printed in his favourite purple Comic Sans? — jamalrob

No, that would be terrible. I'm baffled that anyone thinks it would be good. — jamalrob

but I could appear to many outsiders as a raging amazonian genius who screams and eats whole cooked chickens while slushing down a pot of ale. — TimeLine

This goes against your case, because it's an argument for good design, under the control of a web designer, which is the opposite of what you're asking for. — jamalrob

And I can't get over the fact that you work in web development and yet you think it's cool for users to be able to change the font and text colour — jamalrob

That would mean people like you stepping up to the plate. You too could be a moderator! — Bitter Crank

Oops, verbosity reach critical stage... must stop. — Bitter Crank

they could have separated their academic pursuits from their beliefs, basically being disingenuous with themselves for the sake of avoiding cognitive dissonance. — Noblosh

It really is no big deal, but I suppose there'll always be those who kick up a fuss - and they'll probably be joined by the likes of Agustino and Thorongil, who, in such circumstances, seem unable to resist an opportunity to stick their oar in, and jump at the chance to criticise moderator action. — Sapientia

There are many websites catering to the lowest common denominator, in every category of website you can think of. The achievement here lies in rising above the LCD and aiming for "mid-brow" quality. "High brow" quality (sites like Stanford University's Encyclopedia of Philosophy) requires major institutional support. — Bitter Crank

Their's is a tremendous contribution to the quality, consistency, and vitality of the site. — Bitter Crank

Everything isn't a business; there are other models. I'd say we are an "enterprise of common interest". That any enterprise might have to rent a room or a server and software in which to meet doesn't make us a "business". — Bitter Crank

The Philosophy Forum caters to the needs of people who want a reasonably orderly, not academic but reasonably serious place to discuss philosophical ideas. The moderators and contributors make it "reasonably orderly" and "reasonably serious" or not. — Bitter Crank

I don't think anybody here is running a vendetta against you. — Bitter Crank

Don't take equally vigorous offense responses as vendettas — Bitter Crank

Formatting and style is not the writer's concern. — jamalrob

A community should have rules and respect. — Sapientia

It isn't respectful to the creator of the discussion to fill up their discussion with low-quality or off-topic posts which get in the way of having the proper discussion which the creator of that discussion evidently desired, nor should it be tolerated by moderators. — Sapientia

No, you mean they always invent reasons why something can't be done, coming up with constraints they're not actually under. — Noblosh

Your rhetoric suggests that willpower alone can break constraints one step at a time. — Noblosh

You may negate any of your attempts at persuasion and may neither take advices nor complaints from me but your "God gave you that so you have the duty to" paradigm surely doesn't fool me. — Noblosh

To which I then replied, which you then bring back to your original point to point out you really don't have a point except sharing another useless opinion how things should work according to Agustino. — Benkei

Bin there, done that, got the scars. "I am not the sort of person that walks out when the relationship gets difficult." - is an attractive identity, that might look from the outside more like a doormat. — unenlightened

We're not looking for converts either as you seem to imply. — Benkei

either have no interest to grow it, or if they do, they don't understand how to go about it — Agustino

What opportunities? This isn't a business, in case you hadn't noticed. — Benkei

But I suspect you'll be around telling everybody else what to do without having any real accomplishments to your own name. — Benkei

This forum doesn't intend to cater to the lowest possible denominator. — Benkei

Mod's ways are not our ways. — Thorongil

This place looks better when it's more uniform. — Sapientia

it would make the place a mess — Baden

Why would I go out of my way looking for work? — Sapientia

It wouldn't be a good use of my time for me if I can slack off and get away with it — Sapientia

If I was after a promotion or something and trying to impress my boss, then yes. Otherwise no. — Sapientia

Sorry if that was snappy. — Sapientia

These are all belief's about oneself and the world. Simply saying that none of them are true is just rubbish because one (a depressed individual) already supposes them valid on face value. — Question

Hadn't heard that Jacques had passed. Sad to hear that. Though what more could one ask from him after 101 years? Rest in Peace/Vacation in Paradise! — 0 thru 9

If they don't believe they are in control and are at the mercy of external events, telling them to snap out of it probably will not work. — Bitter Crank

People are sometimes taught passivity and inability, but fairly often we teach ourselves further lessons of inability. We structure our thinking about our 'situation' as a no-win negative situation, and then we get stuck. Maybe we don't like our job and we don't believe there are good and better jobs out there. We don't do well at the job, then people at work get angry at us, but we don't care, and down the spiral we go. We could change our ideas about work, jobs, and our place in them -- without giving up everything else we believe. — Bitter Crank

Maybe she wishes that her children would pay more attention to her at Christmas, Thanksgiving, her birthday, or Mothers Day. They habitually don't, but every year she expects that they will, and is freshly crushed each year when they don't -- once again -- perform as desired. She gets angry each time, and reaffirms her suspicion that her children don't care about her, and down the spiral she goes. She could revise her expectations and recognize that her children probably won't fulfill her expectations. — Bitter Crank

If we don't recognize the constraints we're under, positive thinking can lead us so far. We can better our condition with that type of thinking, sure, but that's not what depressed people crave for, they crave for purpose, not status and you fail to understand that and so your commentary is off the point. — Noblosh

it gives you the false impression that you're in control, fully responsible for both your successes and your failures when people in fact depend on each other and are affected by external circumstances for better or worst. We're not free just because we think we are, we're in a constant constraint by factors beyond our direct control. — Noblosh

Political persuasion is considered evangelism by the site guidelines. But I'm really not the one to judge what would constitute an offense on this site, I've just given you an advice. — Noblosh

Evangelism is against the site guidelines, so tread carefully. — Noblosh

You're right, I meant patriarchy, sorry. — Noblosh

I dare you to come up with something to support that claim of yours, like an argument. For example, just because I reject traditionalism doesn't mean I embrace modernism so try not to make that fallacy, if you're going to argumentate, of course. — Noblosh

1 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
40 The Lord said to Job:

2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:

4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
41 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,
its strength and its graceful form.
13 Who can strip off its outer coat?
Who can penetrate its double coat of armor?
14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth,
ringed about with fearsome teeth?
15 Its back has rows of shields
tightly sealed together;
16 each is so close to the next
that no air can pass between.
17 They are joined fast to one another;
they cling together and cannot be parted.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth.
22 Strength resides in its neck;
dismay goes before it.
23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm and immovable.
24 Its chest is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;
they retreat before its thrashing.
26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,
nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
27 Iron it treats like straw
and bronze like rotten wood.
28 Arrows do not make it flee;
slingstones are like chaff to it.
29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.
31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had white hair.
33 Nothing on earth is its equal—
a creature without fear.
34 It looks down on all that are haughty;
it is king over all that are proud.” — Book of Job 38-41

I know that a certain man was visiting her house when the husband and kids were at school (every Thursday), and they were having sex. Now, this guy looked like the type you see in porn shoots. Bald head, shaved legs, tall and muscular, wearing khaki shorts with black glasses (funnily enough similar to the type you see from police officers but I digress). — Question

You're encouraging me to risk getting myself in trouble for reading a book or magazine in work-time? — Sapientia

And no, I think that working hard for it's own sake is pretty dumb. — Sapientia

But that's because it's in my interest to do so for various reasons, like my chances of keeping my job, getting more contracted hours, or getting promoted. Ultimately, it's about the money. — Sapientia

So, love is the cause, I guess. Or $740 million at first sight. — Bitter Crank