Request to revist the "no wishing death in the Pit" rule

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1

As long as we’re discussing Pit Rules, can we revisit the “No wishing death” rule? It’s a pet peeve of mine.

Obviously, death threats–even silly, hypothetical ones are verboten. They expose the Board to liability if anything happens. But hell, non-death threats are also verboten. Remember when two posters got pissy and one (or both) said that they’d show up at a Dopefest to kick ass. Clearly that’s out.

But that said, we’re the Straight Dope. Making a wish isn’t a threat. “I wish you’d die” or “Go jump off a cliff, you moron” isn’t the same as “I’m gonna find where you live and stuff your face in the belt-sander.” This is a “No voodoo” rule, unless you believe that someone really DOES have the power to kill by wishing it.

The rule (IIRC) came about because one poster got angry when another poster (in the midst of an insult-flinging thread) said “Do the world a favor and stick your head in a garbage disposal” (note that it not an “I’m alone and depressed” thread) and the first poster started yelling that he was being encouraged to commit suicide. As with many ‘spur of the moment ruling based on one poster’s complaints’ rules (at least I wasn’t able to find a whole series of threads from that time complaining about people wishing death on each other), it’s silly and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

A forum where someone was once famously called a “cum-belching gutter-whore”, and where you can say something like “It would be justice if you’re hit by a car but that you’re not killed, just that you live a hundred more years…and every day alone, filled with pain and suffering, in the gutter” doesn’t really need a “No voodoo” rule, does it?

The rule doesn’t affect much–I suspect the general tackiness of wishing someone would die of cancer or asking someone to go stick their face in a blender would get squashed by the Dopers in general. Community policing (to me) is the way to handle people who make tacky (but ultimately harmless) statements. A “no voodoo/wishing” rule just strikes me as being against the whole “Fighting Ignorance” mission of the board.

Any discussion from other Dopers? Mods? Admins? Or is it just me who’s mildly bugged by this incongruity?

2

Dunno, I’d say that wishing death on someone is a step beyond insults. It’s more likely that someone will go apeshit insane about it or to actually go commit suicide when he sees something that looks like someone actually wishing him to not exist. Neither of these is a good outcome.

I think that the Pit, as it is, is cathartic and good. But I think that letting it get too strongly worded and personal would be a center for divisiveness and assholery like were displayed in the recent threads about the one body building website (which did lead to someone committing suicide.)

3

I was not aware of this rule. Is it really forbidden to say “go jump off a cliff, you moron” or “go play in traffic, dickhead” or similar? Really?

I don’t want to say these things, I’m just surprised.

4

The rule:

5

It does seem a little over-the-top. I keep thinking of Carmack and what he could do with a thousand camels.

6

We don’t get alarmed about comments of the “drop dead” variety, but we have long felt threats and genuinely wishing harm on people were a step beyond mere insults. We don’t think it’s any great imposition to ask posters to refrain from such behavior. The line between threats, wishes, expressions of hypothetical situations in which someone ought to die, etc., is often fine, so rather than waste time debating the issue we made the rule apply to them all.

7

Does “go play in traffic” break the rule?

8

I’m not aware of this thread, but one thing really jumps out at me – in order for this to be seriously construed as suicide encouragement, the offended party would have to have a spectacularly tiny head.

Of course, you’d need to have a spectacularly tiny head to seriously construe this as suicide encouragement, so maybe it’s valid after all.

9

:snicker: