# Are one-on-one debates allowed here? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 16, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-one-on-one-debates-allowed-here/517744 "2009-11-16T06:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 17
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-one-on-one-debates-allowed-here/517744/17 "2009-11-16T20:31:25Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Liberal also suggested the same idea as SoulFrost here. It seemed pretty ignored by the administration that time around. > > [New Forum Suggestion, Part CCLXXIX - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303553) Almost exactly the same: > [@New Forum Suggestion, Part CCLXXIX](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-forum-suggestion-part-cclxxix/291202/20): > > No. At least, it hasn’t proved to be so in practice. I don’t know where you get “several simultaneous threads all on the same subject” from anyway. There is the formal debate thread, and then there is (possibly, but not necessarily) a thread where people are discussing the debate. That’s two, not several. One is an actual debate, and the other is what we currently have. > > With respect to a poster taking a break because he feels overwhelmed, that’s a fine solution if a thread is indeed a pile-on. But what this idea tries to achieve is elimination of the pile-on to start with. If a thread comes to the point where someone feels overwhelmed and tensions rise, that’s not a debate — it’s a struggle to see who can make the most noise. It might be a Great Topic, or a Great Free-For-All, but it isn’t a very Great Debate. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-one-on-one-debates-allowed-here/517744)._