# Diogenes the Cynic **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062 "2010-11-09T17:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/121 "2010-11-10T04:45:31Z")
Aw, that thread was closed. I was just going to helpfully suggest that **Dio** would probably have answered **Blake** if he’d just asked one more time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/122 "2010-11-10T04:55:14Z")
To be fair to **Dio** , that seems to be pretty typical of **Blake**. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/123 "2010-11-10T04:56:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > **Diogenes** ’ postings often include annoying dumbassery. See, I’m still not getting how this is different from almost every other poster on this board. For reference, see **Klaatu** ’s post directly below the one I just quoted. :rolleyes: I always picture **Dio** calmly typing away, with a blank look on his face, while all the other posters are having apoplectic fits because he Just. Won’t. See. The. Light. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/124 "2010-11-10T05:34:50Z")
> [@C3](#): > > See, I’m still not getting how this is different from almost every other poster on this board. For reference, see **Klaatu** ’s post directly below the one I just quoted. :rolleyes: > > I always picture **Dio** calmly typing away, with a blank look on his face, while all the other posters are having apoplectic fits because he Just. Won’t. See. The. Light. At least you’re not picturing him in a masturbatory frenzy and then describing it to us. So thank you for that. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/125 "2010-11-10T06:39:40Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they’ll keep being [wrong](http://xkcd.com/386/). **Dio** …straight up…you are not my favorite poster. Not by a long shot. But I don’t want you to leave. I do want you to chill the fuck out. Read back over this thread and the one in ATMB. Note how many people on all sides of the political spectrum raise similar concerns/annoyances. Take some of the advice to heart, and stop doing the things that really piss people off. To summarize: 1. Your opinion is not fact. Your admitted use of “hyperbolic fact” is one thing that gets you in trouble. 2. Make a comment or two, and then bow out of a thread, rather than effectively taking over a thread and ruining it for everyone else. 3. Don’t dismiss the opinions of those with professional qualifications and expertise in the topic of discussion. Particularly where you have no such qualifications or expertise. 4. Show more respect for opinions that differ from your own. Allow for the possibility that you may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/126 "2010-11-10T07:52:19Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > **Dio** …straight up…you are not my favorite poster. Not by a long shot. But I don’t want you to leave. I do want you to chill the fuck out. Read back over this thread and the one in ATMB. Note how many people on all sides of the political spectrum raise similar concerns/annoyances. Take some of the advice to heart, and stop doing the things that really piss people off. To summarize: > > 1. Your opinion is not fact. Your admitted use of “hyperbolic fact” is one thing that gets you in trouble. > > 2. Make a comment or two, and then bow out of a thread, rather than effectively taking over a thread and ruining it for everyone else. > > 3. Don’t dismiss the opinions of those with professional qualifications and expertise in the topic of discussion. Particularly where you have no such qualifications or expertise. > > 4. Show more respect for opinions that differ from your own. Allow for the possibility that you may be wrong. This. **Diogenes** , seriously, you’ve become the poster-child for the **Ignorance** this board is meant to be fighting. I remember when reading your contributions was thought-provoking and somewhat enlightening…now when I enter a thread you’ve participated in I almost cringe in anticipation of **What New Fuckheadery is Diogenes About This Time**. :rolleyes: You’ve got a wife and a young family, yes? In that case, you’re spending FAR too much time on the board. Get outta here and get back to your life for a while, and when come back, bring humility and a bit of perspective. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/127 "2010-11-10T08:07:43Z")
We need to spank Diogenes then not tell Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/128 "2010-11-10T08:32:17Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > We need to spank Diogenes then not tell Cecil. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/129 "2010-11-10T11:03:05Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [Also, it can turn itself inside-out.](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100203-squid-vampire-threatened-video/) I was catching up with this thread, saw that link and figured it led to a particular painful sample of Diogene’s postings. (Apologies for the hi-jack. Please continue with the squid vids.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/130 "2010-11-10T11:17:38Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > **Dio** …straight up…you are not my favorite poster. Not by a long shot. But I don’t want you to leave. I do. I think this place would be better without him. Not calling for a banning or crap like that - just my opinion. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/131 "2010-11-10T12:48:26Z")
Okay, let’s walk through this. After X posts from people giving their opinion about whether someone who does not have parental custody should or should not be allowed to employ corporal punishment against the mother’s wishes, Diogenes posts this: > [@Diogenes](#): > > It sounds like the OP already did a pretty good job of letting her feelings known, and that the boygriend might have learned his lesson. Those saying it’s “no big deal” to let somebody hit your kids are full of shit. It is a big fucking deal, but it sounds like this guy won’t do it again. I say it’s OK to give one chance with that, but one chance only. Just because you’re fucking somebody doesn’t mean you have the right to physically assault and batter their children. So look, as an aside, and to derail the inevitable SDMB suggestion that I want to have sex with **Diogenes** because I won’t join in the weekly island stoning, I DISAGREE with him. I disagree with him regarding the characterization of spanking as assault and battery. My position is that spanking is never helpful, but that very mild and brief open handed swats on the bottom are not necessarily going to be harmful. I hold this position because that’s what the overall nature of the empirical literature would say. I think it’s best to not encourage any spanking because I doubt that most of the time it’s limited to mild and brief open handed swats on the bottom, and saying it’s okay seems to give license to those who would go further. But at the same time I realize that many people look at spanking as assault, even when it is done by a biological parent. In the real world, this is actually a position that people hold, and it’s okay for them to express it. My point here is to illustrate what happened after **Diogenes** posted a strong opinion on the matter. Next, **astro** posted this: > [@astro](#): > > If one parent has the notion that spanking of any kind, regardless of the specific scenario or circumstances that led to the kid being spanked is defacto assault and battery, then the other parent has to decide if they want to be in a relationship with a crazy person. Okay, a strong opinion as well. Then, the very next post shows how the real problem arises: > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Assault and battery? Dio, how many sharks have you jumped by now? So, right out of the gate, **Guinastasia** insists on personalizing it and drawing in all of the baggage from elsewhere. In this case, it clearly wasn’t attention seeking by Dio, but by **Guinastasia** who had to make a personal attack before giving us some warm family anecdotes about corporal punishment, which she used to argue that spanking was okay. Certainly an opinion, not particularly justifiable given it’s nothing but a personal anecdote about how her family spanked and look how she turned out, but apparently tolerable under SDMB legitimate-opinion norms. And of course, look who is ready in this thread to dig into the archives of previous posts to drag all this shit back again. The next post is **Wile E.** , who has nothing to say on the topic, but rather felt it helpful to post > [@Wile E.](#): > > Well, Dio has spoken. Thread over. What I would find really interesting, but not enough to take the time to do it myself, is not to look at who posted the most often in the thread, but who posted once or twice to the thread, and only to offer comments about Diogenes rather than about the thread. The Dio Show isn’t actually **Diogenes** show at all. It’s a group of weak-assed attention-whoring clique-needing weenies who’ve got to shit all over the SDMB with this incessant personalizing bullshit. Grow the fuck up, tolerate someone expressing a strong belief that differs from yours, and knock this tedious bullshit off. Don’t personalize your assault on him instead of his position and then join with the group to shout how much of an attention seeking whore he is. Now, let me know what sexual positions I really want to find myself locked with Diogenes in. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/132 "2010-11-10T14:01:58Z")
Oh look, Hentor the Barbarian is defending his idol/butt buddy. Isn’t it just precious? Hentor, no matter how much you toady to him, Dio isn’t going to ask you to prom. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/133 "2010-11-10T14:07:13Z")
I am in agreement with **Hentor**. This is one of the worst unjustified pile ons I have witnessed here in a while. Sad really. All of us people, plinking away, looking for some place to vent. **Diogenes** continued to be engaged by other posters (in spanking thread) and was responding. People constantly bait him and then use him as a scapegoat when he responds, (and responds intelligently, even if one disagrees) …accusing him of being responsible for taking over threads. The vast number of people showing up to put this guy down in the style of some sort of frenzy is a bit depressing. Most of us here, me included, need to be re-examining our lives. You catty assholes participating in this wrongful pile on are a bunch of losers. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/134 "2010-11-10T14:16:42Z")
> [@Michael\_Ellis](#): > > Oh look, Hentor the Barbarian is defending his idol/butt buddy. Isn’t it just precious? > > Hentor, no matter how much you toady to him, Dio isn’t going to ask you to prom. So just to clarify, it’s anal sex that you’re imagining? Check. (Hopefully we can get rid of Dio so that there’s more room for Michael Ellis’ posts around here!) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/135 "2010-11-10T14:55:27Z")
I have to agree with **Hentor** , to a point. Posters poked the bear that is **DtC** after he growled, and the bear responded. And like a bear, which is fairly intelligent and cunning but really not up to arguing facts of law, **DtC** again sunk in his heels when he was wrong (about legal rights). Unlike a bear or other semi-intelligent creature, however, **DtC** did not slink away when beaten. He just kept growling the same growl, and the pokers kept poking. Unfortunately, **DtC** ’s stubbornness when it is pointed out his opinions and personal anecdotes are neither fact nor law exacerbates these train-wrecks. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/136 "2010-11-10T14:58:56Z")
It’s gotten to the point where if **Dio** posted “puppies are cute,” we’d have a dozen posters posting over and over “Oh no it’s the Dio show,” and “There’s Dio, presenting his opinion as if it was fact.” If you guys are so worried about threads turning into the Dio show, stop fucking responding to him. If you can’t or won’t do that, the thread derailments are your fault, not his. Yes his posts can be acerbic annoying and wrong. But they don’t need to derail threads. They only do so because people would rather bait him than deal with whatever the thread topic is. And you know what? That’s fine. If you’d rather yell at Dio than help the OP, that’s ok. There’s no law against it. But you can’t blame him for your behaviour. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/137 "2010-11-10T15:03:18Z")
Okay, I couldn’t help myself. Looking over the spanking thread, 12 of 207 posts (5% of the total thread) were posted either solely or primarily to personally attack, or at least comment on Diogenes, rather than address the subject of the thread (excluding mod warnings, a link to this thread, or posts that took a strong and even aggressive stance to argue against Diogenes’ position). 8 posters made personal attacks of Diogenes either their primary purpose for participating in the thread, or at least a substantial portion. Here’s a list of posters along with the proportion of their participation in the thread that was given just to making a comment about **Diogenes**. **Nikonikosuru** (100%) **Containing Iron** (100%) **Ogre** (100%) **Red Barchetta** (100%) **BottledBlondJeanie** (100%) – She even drew a mod warning to knock off her behavior **Kambukta** (50%) – Who decided to lead by telling Diogenes to “fuck off” **HazelNutCoffee** (50%) **Wile E.** (40%) **E-Sabbath** (33%) Please keep in mind that in this case, I think **Diogenes** was in large measure wrong. I’m not defending his position. I’m attacking douchebags whose tiresome purpose seems to be perpetuating this bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/138 "2010-11-10T15:09:18Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Hahahaa! I’m cracking up. Blake was _freaking out_!! Ha, I’m glad I read that. It was beautiful - he almost turned into the phone in “1408” (the story, I haven’t seen the movie) that’s all “NINE! NINE! THIS IS TEN! TEN! WE HAVE KILLED ALL YOUR FRIENDS! EVERY FRIEND IS NOW DEAD!” ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/139 "2010-11-10T15:10:17Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Okay, I couldn’t help myself. Looking over the spanking thread, 12 of 207 posts (5% of the total thread) were posted either solely or primarily to personally attack, or at least comment on Diogenes, rather than address the subject of the thread (excluding mod warnings, a link to this thread, or posts that took a strong and even aggressive stance to argue against Diogenes’ position). > > 8 posters made personal attacks of Diogenes either their primary purpose for participating in the thread, or at least a substantial portion. Here’s a list of posters along with the proportion of their participation in the thread that was given just to making a comment about **Diogenes**. > > **Nikonikosuru** (100%) > **Containing Iron** (100%) > **Ogre** (100%) > **Red Barchetta** (100%) > **BottledBlondJeanie** (100%) – She even drew a mod warning to knock off her behavior > **Kambukta** (50%) – Who decided to lead by telling Diogenes to “fuck off” > **HazelNutCoffee** (50%) > **Wile E.** (40%) > **E-Sabbath** (33%) > > Please keep in mind that in this case, I think **Diogenes** was in large measure wrong. I’m not defending his position. I’m attacking douchebags whose tiresome purpose seems to be perpetuating this bullshit. The last paragraph of this post is my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062/140 "2010-11-10T15:13:36Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] …Please keep in mind that in this case, I think **Diogenes** was in large measure wrong. I’m not defending his position. I’m attacking douchebags whose tiresome purpose seems to be perpetuating this bullshit. [/QUOTE] I don’t really think that this has anything to do with his position. In fact, one of the things that I hate to see is when Dio is taking a position that I agree with. Because he does the same thing every time. States an opinion in absolute terms as if it were a fact. Then he does this over and over and over again. And why can’t we hold him responsible for perpetuating this “bullshit”. Do we get to have some expectation that at some point he will make an effort to modify his behavior? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diogenes-the-cynic/560062.md?page=8)