# Diogenes, go take a nap **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306 "2010-09-19T17:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/81 "2010-09-20T14:39:21Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > But it does last more than three rounds. I have no control over others rising to the bait. He feels he needs to re-assert his craziness to every poster in the thread, over and over and over. > > Honestly you’ve been here a while, if you are going to pretend his posts are not disruptive - fine. But it’s really easy to check. Further, I think it’s a little silly to suggest we all change our posting habits rather than have a mod nudge him into stopping the hijack. But you haven’t explained how **he** makes it about himself. He expresses opinions, and others lose their shit. Airman Doors explained part of it - he expresses his opinions in a manner that pulls a response from many people. That doesn’t mean he’s made it about himself, though. It means that some people have a hard time with the forceful expression of an opinion that doesn’t have a strong basis in fact. Is that a standard for moderation now? Is that why I have to tolerate billfish (or whatever the guy’s name is) bringing up Diogenes randomly all over other threads? As a suggestion, just assume that Diogenes has tacked “in my opinion” to any post he makes. Perhaps that will help with your (speaking generally) self control. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/82 "2010-09-20T14:43:24Z")
I have a better idea. Maybe **Diogenes** can start _actually appending_ the words “in my opinion” to his posts. It’s not like he hasn’t been told, repeatedly, at length, that this would be immensely helpful in not derailing threads he is participating in. And yes, some people do have a hard time with the forceful expression of an opinion that has no basis in fact. Why shouldn’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/83 "2010-09-20T14:46:00Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > And yes, some people do have a hard time with the forceful expression of an opinion that has no basis in fact. Why shouldn’t we? Because it derails threads unnecessarily? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/84 "2010-09-20T14:46:40Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I think you’ve hit on something here. Diogenes is dogmatic and assertive in his comments. That seems to pull something from a whole lot of other people. But that’s more about them than it is him. You ought to be able to resist responding to someone who tells you that ice cream doesn’t melt, even if they do not add “in my opinion” to the beginning or end of their assertion. Really? It’s the message board equivalent of the kid that taps you on the shoulder endlessly or repeatedly asks “are we there yet?” Most of us grow out of that stuff when we get older, but apparently not all of us. In any event, ignoring such behavior is an impossibility unless one wants to simply quit participating here. Which, of course, is why it’s both so effective and so annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/85 "2010-09-20T14:56:40Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > > [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > > > I’d rather have an answer to Clockwork’s question…why wasn’t that sent as a PM? > > Maybe to let the rest of us know that somebody’s at least sort of doing something. Doing something about what? I’m not breaking any rules. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/86 "2010-09-20T15:00:48Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Really? It’s the message board equivalent of the kid that taps you on the shoulder endlessly or repeatedly asks “are we there yet?” Most of us grow out of that stuff when we get older, but apparently not all of us. In any event, ignoring such behavior is an impossibility unless one wants to simply quit participating here. Which, of course, is why it’s both so effective and so annoying. Not at all. It’s really quite difficult to ignore someone touching you or asking you a question directly. This is more the equivalent of knowing that someone in your neighborhood has expressed an opinion that you think is nonsensical, and feeling compelled to go find them and make them agree that their opinion is nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/87 "2010-09-20T15:02:56Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > But you haven’t explained how **he** makes it about himself. He expresses opinions, and others lose their shit. See post #7. Arguing that his experience=fact is off-topic. Forceful expression of an opinion that doesn’t have a strong basis in fact is childish. Everyone else seems to be able to discuss things in a manner which provides discourse for the OP. > [@](#): > > As a suggestion, just assume that Diogenes has tacked “in my opinion” to any post he makes. Perhaps that will help with your (speaking generally) self control. First of all, I don’t have a problem with self-control. And no, I won’t assume that. He posts as he feels. > [@](#): > > Because it derails threads unnecessarily? Or maybe **Dio** needs to learn to not start his shit in the first place. ETA: > [@](#): > > This is more the equivalent of knowing that someone in your neighborhood has expressed an opinion that you think is nonsensical, and feeling compelled to go find them and make them agree that their opinion is nonsensical. I disagree. I have to wade through all of his posts if I’m interested in a topic. It’s not at all like searching him out. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/88 "2010-09-20T15:04:09Z")
It’s nothing like that at all. If “someone in my neighborhood” has expressed an opinion, well, that’s fine. I don’t have to listen to it. They’re a few houses down. I don’t even need to see that person. I probably got the information about their opinion secondhand from someone else. If someone is posting in a thread I’m actively participating in, it is impossible for me not to read their posts unless I have the person on ignore. Sure, I guess every single person on the SDMB could put Diogenes on ignore. But when one person is causing continual problems due to his obnoxious posting style, I think it makes more sense for that poster to change his behavior, than for every single other poster on the SDMB to have to change theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/89 "2010-09-20T15:04:49Z")
I’ve never started anything. Other people start it with me. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/90 "2010-09-20T15:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Doing something about what? I’m not breaking any rules. As I recall: Rule 1=don’t be a jerk ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/91 "2010-09-20T15:06:26Z")
If you think I’m being a jerk, report me. Just disagreeing with you isn’t being a jerk, though. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/92 "2010-09-20T15:07:11Z")
**Dio** has a tendancy to make unbacked assertions just because he can. He then repeats them over and over again. Sometimes it comes across as smug and cruel. > [@](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683381&postcount=31](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683381&postcount=31) > > Infertility is not a medical issue in the sense that it’s not a health issue. > [@](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683501&postcount=42](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683501&postcount=42) > > Impotency and infertility do not cause any pain or discomfort or present any health risks. He was such a jerk in that thread. Three naturally conceived kids and he feels free to lecture others who aren’t so fortunate how to feel about an awful medical condition. He does that sort of thing a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/93 "2010-09-20T15:08:25Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > **Dio** has a tendancy to make unbacked assertions just because he can. He then repeats them over and over again. Sometimes it comes across as smug and cruel. > > > [@](#): > > > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683381&postcount=31](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683381&postcount=31) > > > > Infertility is not a medical issue in the sense that it’s not a health issue. > > > [@](#): > > > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683501&postcount=42](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12683501&postcount=42) > > > > Impotency and infertility do not cause any pain or discomfort or present any health risks. > > He was such a jerk in that thread. Three naturally conceived kids and he feels free to lecture others who aren’t so fortunate how to feel about an awful medical condition. > > He does that sort of thing a lot. What’s not factual about either of those posts? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/94 "2010-09-20T15:11:17Z")
Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/95 "2010-09-20T15:12:19Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > He was such a jerk in that thread. Three naturally conceived kids and he feels free to lecture others who aren’t so fortunate how to feel about an awful medical condition. You left out the best part. > [@DIO](#): > > > [@EmAnJ](#): > > > > Well, I don’t know that I’d say it isn’t a medical issue. I have unexplained infertility, a diagnosis of a medical issue, and am getting treatment for it. > > I can’t get pregnant either, do I have a medical issue? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/96 "2010-09-20T15:14:59Z")
It will be interesting to see, based on **samclem** ’s earlier post, if some kind of rule is being broken. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/97 "2010-09-20T15:16:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It will be interesting to see, based on **samclem** ’s earlier post, if some kind of rule is being broken. > > Regards, > Shodan Why would you think that? No one has offered **samclem** any suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/98 "2010-09-20T15:20:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@LavenderBlue](#): > > > > **Dio** has a tendancy to make unbacked assertions just because he can. He then repeats them over and over again. Sometimes it comes across as smug and cruel. > > > > He was such a jerk in that thread. Three naturally conceived kids and he feels free to lecture others who aren’t so fortunate how to feel about an awful medical condition. > > > > He does that sort of thing a lot. > > What’s not factual about either of those posts? Everything you wrote, you big giant jerk! As I wrote in that thread of course infertility is a medical issue. Infertility is typically caused by underlying medical conditions that need treatment. Women who have PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome are at increased risks of all kinds of serious health problems including obesity and heart disease. If you have a misfunctioning thyroid you need treatment. If you’re in premature menopause that needs to be treated to help the patient avoid risks such osteoporosis and heart disease. Those conditions needs to be addressed. Your idiotic assertion that they don’t cause pain or discomfort is complete bullshit. Just admit it. You walked in and downplayed the OP’s pain just because you could. It was not very nice. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/99 "2010-09-20T15:25:21Z")
In that thread, infertility was being compared to cancer, and taking time off from work to get fertility treatments was compared to taking time to get chemotherapy. The comparisons were retarded. Infertility is not a health threat. If there’s an underlying condition beneath it, then _that_ the mediacal ssue, not the infertility _per se_ (which would just be a symptom, in that case). Getting pregnant is not a medical necessity, and getting fertility treatments is not a life-saving procedure on a par with chemotherapy. The elevation of infertility to an urgent medical crisis on a par with cancer was inane and clueless and I called it for what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306/100 "2010-09-20T15:26:20Z")
Something is only a medical issue if it is a health issue? Pure gold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-go-take-a-nap/554306.md?page=6)