It would be nice to see the members of the forums to stop seeing themselves as the police and punishers of the content on the forums.

If a thread is stupid, leave it alone to die. Currently, people will flock in with their two cents about why such and such is stupid/incorrectly used/newbish/whatever. Nothing is accomplished by this. Most of this thread from the second post down is a perfect example.

If somebody used a word wrong use your massive intellects to figure out what they're talking about instead of trying to correct them. When you hit "reply" try to keep in mind what the thread is trying to accomplish, not your personal agenda. If your reply doesn't contribute to the thread's goal DONT POST. And no Inspiration, this isn't some kind of censorship of opinion, don't play that card. It's old and very worn out.

Threads breaking the rules will be dealt with by the mods, not by the condescending masses. Just because a thread is going to be deleted doesn't mean you have to put down the maker until it's gone.

Here are some common tell-tale signs you're wasting everybody's time:
1) If you're being sarcastic
2) If you're quoting the dictionary
3) If you've broken the post before yours into tiny blocks and are responding to each piece separately
4) If you're being "funny" at somebody else's expense
5) If you're being "outrageous" (ex: speaking in exaggerated noob)

Let's stop the hair splitting, fuss making and flaunting of technical definitions to put down or discredit others.
This is what I think the creator of the thread was trying to say.

Nah I think he was just talking about the high amounts of off-topic debating.

Almost all "debates" on the forums fall into "hair splitting, fuss making and flaunting of technical definitions to put down or discredit others."

Debate is just a name coined here for an arguement to make it seem intellectual when it's still just a contest.

I think you've just hit the nail on the head..

Exactly what Houdini said, I'm a little tired from moving to our new house all weekend.

I totally agree, there needs to be a change.

Why?

Haha. Nice anti-intellectualism there. If a person makes several distinct points, doesn't it make sense to reply to them individually? What's your alternative? Ignore them?

I was going to comment on that too. By having individual quotes, you are not only replying to the comments one at a time, but you're making it a lot easier for other readers to follow - or at least I find it easier. So why not quote each point individually?

It seems likely to me that Houdiniman hates debates so much because he often loses them.

Theres a difference between Intellectual Debates and trashing. I've seen some Intellectual debates on these forums, however what I see a lot more of is just outright meanness.

Yes. So?

Well?

Promoting learning is wasting everybody's time?

Wow.

You're very good at asking very stupid questions.

Or he's dissapointed there's no "block" command on the forums, as there is on AIM, because he often uses it if the conversation isn't going his way... :whatever:

Spoken from experience (x3).

See this is what I'm talking about, theres Intellectual Debating and then there is trash like this. I'm all for Intellectual debates, but not **** throwing contests as you so well enjoy being the monkey that you are.

A lot of the time when the dictionary is quoted on these forums, it is there to put someone else down, not to actually help them learn.

What kind of intellectual debate could you expect to result from your idiotic question?

Do you think that randomly asking "Well?" or "Hmm?" constitutes advanced philosophising? If you ask a meaningless question, you have to be prepared for a harsh answer. And if you get one, it doesn't mean that there isn't intellectual debate elsewhere on the forums. They're probably just being conducted with people more intellectual than you.

lomg you must be better at it because you're a JEDI!! FORCE THROW, BAM

Who said I was expecting an Intellectual debate?

I never said that there were not intellectual debates elsewhere, I mearly said that we should remove the ****, for monkeys to throw.

I never said asking "Well?" or "Hmm" constitutes advanced philosophising. Do you think asking "Yes. So?" constitutes advanced philosophising?

And why should I recieve a harsh answer to a meaningless question? Because Kaimetsu wants to inflate his ego?

At least I'm not a Master Vader lpol. :rolleyes:

He can't answer that; there's much we don't know about him, and he intends to keep it that way.

See this is what HoudiniMan mean't. This is the point of this thread. Forum trolls keep posting negativity and trash in every thread. Theres a difference between intellectual debating and trashing a thread.

No, but I think that you're on one of your "I have to act like a respectable figure" pursuits, instead of acting how you actually feel. I was posting so negatively so that the aspect would be considered [:
[EDIT]Besides, you can't dismiss all of the posts that have converse opinions just because of one negative post.[/EDIT]

There is a fine line between disagreeing with someone, and insulting them.

You seem to think that all things can fall into one category or the other; that any given post on the forums can be either intellectual debate or 'trashing', and not both. Is that the case? If not, stop portraying it as such.

At the very least, it tackles the actual subject. It has a meaning, clear and simple: It asks for the significance of your statement. Asking "Well?" in response to such a request is inane and idiotic.

Because receiving meaningless questions generally annoys people.

Haha. Donald, if you want to insult people, at least do it in a thread where you haven't whined about others doing the same thing.

No there isn't. They're not even on the same scale.

I suppose you're right. My comment was uncalled for. I am just getting annoyed when I constantly see trashing and name calling under what is said to be an intellectual debate. I think the name calling and insults need to stop, but at the same time, we need to express how we feel. Perhaps you're right. Yeah there is name calling and thread trashing, but would it be better just to hide how we feel and act polite all the time? No it wouldn't be. Our words are harsh, but its the truth we speak, and the truth is better than softened lies.

At any rate, I'm glad I see this in a different light. Thanks Kaimetsu.

So you're saying there's either debating, or trashing - opposite ends of the forum spectrum. There can't be anything in between? If not, what would you consider The Infamous vs thread! to be? Or how about your New Windows OS thread?

Read post above. And yes of corse there are threads inbetween.

See, look what this thread turned into? david vs kai

Your point?

I don't mind people debating the thread but when it turns into a *****fest it's just annoying, expecially when the thread topic is never really addressed and the thread maker isn't able to do anything 'cause his/her thread has been hijacked.

I think if people are figuring out how to post on a forum with multiple pages (oooh ahhh) that they are obviously capable of looking up a word on the internet by themselves if interested.

Can you give an example of the type of situation you're talking about? Certainly you can't say that linking to/quoting from a dictionary is always reprehensible.

Don't you have anything better do to?

An example of the situation i'm talking about would be if somebody in reply to this thread had said "learn English [dict link=Ignorance]"

And no "common telltale signs" isn't as concrete as always; there are always exceptions here and there. So you seem to be correct in interpreting that I am indeed, not saying always.

No they don't.

I could not have said it any better.

So people can, at times, choose to remain ignorant or lazy. How does that preclude other people promoting learning by clearing up the former folks' misconceptions about the definition of a word?

Because, my good chum, it is done in a condescending and insulting manner.

As if "my good chum" isn't condescending or insulting? Rather, sarcastic? Practice what you preach...

You're being rather hypocritical about this whole ordeal...

How is this relevant to anything at all about the subject at hand? You're just firing any possible argument and not making constructive posts. Seriously, a comment like that is doomed to be flamed. If only the person cared.