NOT a Pitting, just seeking clarification of the rules.
In this thread, the OP asked if a particular method of killing someone had been used in media before.
His specific phrasing, IMO, was very carefully worded to avoid breaking the rules–it didn’t seem to me (for whatever that’s worth) that he was even bending them
I know I’ve seen rulings about not being able to ask (say) about the effects/detectiblity of a poision or something that could actually be used to commit a crime (we’re not allowed to ask “I can’t figure out an undetectable method of murder for my novel. Anyone got any suggestions?”, for example), but that (IMO) isn’t what the OP did. He was asking if an idea had been used before.
I would have thought that the “Has this idea been used before?” (with an implied “Where? Title and author?”) type question was just fine (although possibly more CS-ish) as I understood the rules.
Xash’s response was
I fully understand the “explore ways to kill somoene” part, but the “disgusing your question” thing is what puzzles me.
I’ve seen CS threads that were similar to this one. “Hey, I read a murder-mystery once where so-and-so were killed such-and-such way. Anyone got the title?”
or
“I just thought of a great idea for a story-has anyone used this before?”
I’d certainly understand if he’d said “Tell me how this stuff works and is it detectible?” but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.
To me "Supposedly it looks just like real water (and I guess tastes like real water), but is deadly and cannot easily be detected. " says “In case you didn’t know, you could easily kill someone this way and get away with it.”
While I don’t think that it’s necessarily “promoting” illegal behavior, it certainly gives one who might use that information illegally a better knowledge. Isn’t that what the rule is meant to stop?
The line “Has anyone ever exploited these ideas in television or book format?” is clearly an afterthought. It would have been either the title, or the first sentence if it wasn’t. Xash seemed to think that too. I’m not sure if I’d say that Roland intentionally tried to disguise his question, because if he did, he did a poor job of it.
Roland has, indeed, been posting a multitude of bizarre and only semi-GQ topics to GQ. I think xash took that into account, and took a somewhat borderline question to warn him about his pattern of borderline behavior.
In short, I think most of the regulars here would have gotten away with posting a substantially similar OP (although maybe in Cafe Society if it’s indeed related to books).
Yeah, Roland seems to be out to squeeze his own odd little obsessions into GQ format, so that he can technically post them there for some reason. I’m having a hard time weeping over any of his threads being closed.
I’ve noticed that Roland has been posting a lot of questions about illegal activities, always framed in the form of “What if?” questions, like “What if I put money down and walked out with alcohol when it’s not legal hours for the store to sell alcohol?” (paraphrased). It’s one thing when a poster asks this sort of thing occasionally. It’s another thing when a poster asks this sort of thing CONSTANTLY, in the wrong forum, and does not stop to think about the question before posting it.
My nephews used to have a very bad habit of asking questions before thinking about them, without trying to figure out the answers themselves. This is annoying enough in children, and infuriating in adults. There are, indeed, such things as stupid questions.
I disagree.
A question always holds an intention to be educated= to learn.
The minute you discourage people to ask questions you close your own mind as well, if only for the simple reason that you can learn yourself very much by hearing others asking questions. You learn even more if you make the effort to provide for correct answers or helpful information.
If you punish a child for asking a question that is an act of mental cruelty.
If you tell an adult that his question is stupid that is the same as telling him you know it so much better, while you put yourself in a position where you can not deliver any proof that you are even capable of answering.
It is normal to become irritated by certain questions, even more by those who have a tendency to be asked repeatedly and always show up again. Or those from which you can suppose the person could find an answer himself.
Yet you don’t know that because you are not that other person. And it does not mean that the question itself becomes stupid.
The only “questions” I would give a label “stupid” are those that are brought as questions, yet are only meant to advertize for the person’s own distorted information about the issue at hand. But even then there surely is a question that needs to be answered.
How can you fight ignorance when you want to prevent it from showing up?
Salaam. A
It’s not always a matter of giving up on people. As a teacher, god knows I don’t discourage questions, but I also encourage students to think through things themselves before turning to someone else for help. I’ve found that for some kids, permission to always ask a question is a recipe for laziness–if they know I will always stop to answer a question, regardless of content and context, they won’t pay attention the first seven times things are explained. With some kids–when I have judged it productive based on the student and my relationship with that student–I’ll resort to a tinge of sarcasm that implies that they should have thought their way through the problem before asking it. Of course, I don’t do this to kids who are nervous or shy, and this is in an Advanced Placement class, where kids are expected to stretch themselves. But the fact remains that for some kids breaking them of the habit of asking every fool question that pops into their minds without trying to answer it themselves first is a critical step in their academic development.
On a lighter note, wait until you’ve written an assignment on the board, annonced it, pointed to where it is written, and then, five minutes later, had a 16 year old advanced-placement student holding a book fully loaded with a table of contents and an index blurt out in the middle of a discussion “wait wait, wait, what page is this on again?”. Then tell me there is no such thing as a stupid question.
Thanks Lynn. Once I’d read more about Roland (after reading some of the replies) I figured it was something like that, but it’s nice to have it confirmed!
Much appreciated!
This thread can be locked down as far as I’m concerned.
My question reflected actual events that occured in my life as follows:
a. In a genetics class that I had about ten years ago we used a “mutagen” of some sort (I’m not sure about the ones I listed since I cannot find them referenced in Google ect so I may be recalling them incorrectly). My thought about it making the perfect “murder scenario” occured almost instantly even at that time and I raised the pont to the lab instructor who basically said “yea I’ve never thought of that before”.
b. About eight years later while taking Chemistry 112 our professor raised the issue of “heavy water” and how he had often thought of writing a “murder mystery” utilizing the substance as part of the plot. Again, at that time I raised my hand and basically said “that reminds me of eight years ago when I was taking a genetics class and we were experimenting on fruitflys”. He thought the idea was interesting, but added “it’s probably already been done on Quincy or Law and Order ect”.
I’ve only recently found this discussion board. However, I have had many of these questions “stored up” for years. That’s how my mind works. I think in terms of what if? Ultimately, I believe that this sort of thinking can lead to scientific or intellectual progress (unfortunately I lack the intellectual foundation to fully benefit from the more creative aspects of my thought processes or to exploit them into actual progress). I once communicated via email with the noted inventor Dean Kamen who indicated that his mind worked in much the same way and that it could be an asset, but that many people would not appreciate the value of such "non linear " thinking. Now, I will probably never invent anything like Dean Kamen, but maybe such an approach can help me make contributions in nursing or as a CRNA/nurse anesthetist. Even if it only provides the foundation for an interesting discussion then there might also be value in that.
I will agree that some of my questions could be placed in more appropriate forums. I like to keep things simple, and rather than learn the nuances of each forum, I have attempted to adapt my questions to a single location. Perhaps, my efforts at such adaptations have not been sufficient. I make no apologies for being curious about the things that I find fascinating. However, I have never deliberately sought to offend anyone.
Also, a fair review of my thread history at this forum will confirm that my topics have covered a broad array of issues. Some of the issues that I have dealt with include:
The feasibility of Goodwill selling donated cars.
Why “door jamb protectors” don’t exist since I had a bad crushing injury from a door closing on a finger in “jamb” area.
How light from 12 billion year old stars could have taken that long to reach us given that light travels faster than the universe expands, and was much closer when it started it’s journey (12 billion years ago).
Why strawberry juice (without added sugar or other juices seems impossible to find). I actually had some one time at Marsh.
Why window air conditioners don’t seem to work as well as they used to function.
What are the strange numbers I sometimes hear on shortwave radio?
Why my friend has been told that he will need a “Q” level security clearance. I had thought that classified, secret, and top secret were the only clearence classifications.
Whether or not HF was really as deadly as dipicted on an ER episode I once saw (the guy had a minor burn but died a day later due to blood chemistry changes induced)
Whether the stuff I have read about “sound cacellation technology” is real. Bose sell earphones that work on this theory. I suggested that since light like sound has wave properties, that it might be possible to “cancel out” light.
Whether or not breakthroughs in “nano technology” might not be possible by focusing on creating “remote controlled” nanobots rather than trying to integrate complex functions into such small scale technology (instead a central computer would “broadcast” the instructions to the nanobots).
These are just a few of the thread topics that I have proposed (although they were originally in much more of a question format).
For my anesthetist, thank you, I want the most linear thinker I can find. I want someone that can’t even think the letter “C” without seeing a “B” before it, and a “D” after it. I want someone that can’t say the alphabet without singing. I want someone who says “I don’t get it” to Far Side cartoons. (No, not Homer.) I want someone who does exactly what they’re supposed to do, every step of the way. In other words, in general, non linear thinking is not valuable in professions in which one is responsible for other’s life or limbs. Have you tried painting?
Good God, Otto are you not satisfied with me being warned? Would your “wiggedness” only be satisfied if I was thrown out of school or fired? Would you discount my 3.9 GPA, and the fact I’ve never committed a crime greater than a speeding ticket? Have we come to the point of “thought crimes” in this country? Where simply “asking the wrong questions” even on a discussion board created for the purpose of asking often hypothetical questions is sufficient for you to be publically ridiculed? If we have then I would submit that we all have a great deal more to worry about than any trivial discussion that might occur in the context of this forum.
I have worked hard to be the top student in my nursing class of sixty, and am slightly offended that you would “fire” me so lightly. Before choosing nursing school, I was accepted at Indiana’s School of Medicine and Duke. However, at thirty five I figured I was to old to start down that road.
One of my sisters worked her way through the ranks to become director of the visiting nurses at what I understand to be a highly regarded hospital. Please believe me when I assure you that grades are not the outstanding predictor of a good nurse.
That’s not the point and you should know it. You are correct grades are not perhaps the best predictor of good nurses. My wife is much more “clinically gifted” than am I. I am something of a “klutz” and have to work twice as hard at the physical/psychomoter skills part of being a nurse. Maybe I will make a good nurse and maybe not. In the end I believe it to be in God’s hands. All that I can do is my very best. Would you seek to deny me that opportunity simply because you don’t like some of the questions that I ask? Please tell me that I’m reading these posts with the wrong inference. I can’t believe that people would be that mean spirited.
I am a conservative/Libertarian and dedicated to the proposition that any topic can be discussed in an intelligent manner so long as all parties refrain from obscenity, personal attacks, and excessive emotional involvement (although I am having trouble with that one right now).
