Czarcasm closed down my thread Do you know why the weather is warmer in the summer? (Not a General Question) by posting this:
In my last post in the thread, I wrote:
What did I post that deserved being criticized by a moderator and having the thread closed?
Taken as a whole, your posts in that thread come across as an arrogant attempt to show how much smarter you are than everybody else. I’m not sure I would have closed it if I were a mod, but I’m not. I might have moved it to the Pit.
What was the other thread he closed?
Had I to guess, it’d be that your thread’s primary purpose was for you to display your cleverness and make other users jump through a variety of hoops before they earned the right to join you in smart-guy Valhallah.
I suspect a thread with the title “I’m thinking of a number, can you guess it?” would be similarly received.
If you wanted a serious discussion on what causes temperature changes, there’s no point being coy about it. We’re not your students and you’re not our teacher.
This one, and I can understand why. It’s as if a pollster asked you if you preferred A or B, then questioned the intelligence of everyone who chose B, analyzed the social factors that might cause them to choose B when A was obviously much better to any rational person, etc.
Huh? I thought I was clear that I did not want a serious discussion of what causes temperature changes.
From my OP:
Also, I don’t think that knowing something that I (and many others) knew at the age of 10 puts anyone in the “smart-guy Valhallah”.
Wow! Talk about not being able to communicate! And I mean me.
BTW, I do understand the problem with the other thread. It should have been in Great Debates or, possibly, the BBQ Pit. I was, however, trying to find a poster who was angry at the suggestion that physical violence is not appropriate in verbal disagreements, and I found two. My original intent was not to get into a debate with them.
Coming onto this message board as a guest, and in very short order, having established that you think you’re smarter than the rest of us, asking leading questions and baiting people for the kind of answer on which you can then grill them to make them prove something to you, bowing out of your own thread when you get called on it… these are not the behaviors of a sociable, friendly person. They are the behaviors of a schmuck. Nobody takes kindly to a schmuck, especially here.
Again, wow!
How have I established that I think I’m smarter than the rest of you?
I’ve repeatedly implied that SMDB posters are smarter than average, and just because I disagree with what someone says doesn’t mean that I think that I’m smarter than they are. I consider myself to smarter than *some * people but definitely not as smart as some others. And even then, there are many types of “smartness”.
Also, what do you suggest I do when I “get called on it”, besides apologize and bow out?
See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. If you know or believe something about weather patterns, just say it; don’t hint that someone who doesn’t know or believe the same is somehow deficient or lacked a proper education from the age of 10.
Further, this line from the OP of the closed thread:
…suggests to me that you define anyone who doesn’t know what you call “basic science” as ignorant. Well, meteorology is a science, and it has basic premises on which more complicated theories rest, but I’d argue that “basic science” consists of the concepts of physics, chemistry and biology on which all theories (including meteorology) rest. The fact that you happen to remember something about Meteorology 101 isn’t really all that impressive, and your attempt to dangle such knowledge before this message board as a sign of your intelligence isn’t going to endear you to anyone.
The mock-shock isn’t helping, either. I’m sure there are a lot of people who can’t name the planets in their order from the sun; something they might have learned (but since forgotten) in grade school. So what? For someone lacking an interest in astronomy, the information is just trivia. The fact that they don’t find it important enough to memorize or study is hardly grounds for surprise. And I’m sure most people were exposed to the concept of axial tilt in grade school, but the fact that many don’t dwell on it now isn’t exactly stunning.
It was your follow-up statements that doomed the thread, including:
and
I see the condescension in these pretty clearly, whether it was intentional or not.
Gah. That’s probably the dumbest moderator warning — official fucking warning, no less — to date. The chips on some of the shoulders around here are growing limbs. I’ll take some of your heat, Iambic. Soon, the usual gang of idiots will pile on to me, giving you a chance to get out. And that’s what you should do. Go away. Go far away. And warn others.
I would suggest you not start any more threads for at least six months (assuming you stick around that long), by which time you’ll have a much better grasp of what works and doesn’t work around here.
At the very least, don’t start any threads in which you solicit a variety of opinions or beliefs unless your own opinion/belief is clearly expressed in the first post.
Heh-heh… ahhh, Liberal, you so crazy…
Speaking of chips on shoulders…
Gee, Liberal, you’re like a message board action hero.
“It’s too late for me, save yourself! I’ll draw their fire!”
“No, Liberal, don’t be a hero!”
“My life is not important. Get the crippled orphan boy to safety!”
“Noooooooo!!!”
"Carry on. 
"
Yes, that is *horribly * condescending!!
BTW, nobody in the thread in question expressed any opinioin that I was being condescending. The posts were mocking, but I thought that they were good-natured.
And I even put myself down for having attempted such a lame survey.
Anyway, thanks Liberal. (I can’t use a smilie here for fear that someone will be offended …)
You do irritate me, IAMBIC. I support all of Czarcasm’s warnings in all of your threads. Be quiet for a while, like Bryan Ekers said. You aren’t blessing us with your presence.
Well, NoClueBoy implied it when he said you were trying to impress us, and of course Czarcasm did, which is why the thread got closed in the first place. And frankly, if I’d seen the thread before it was closed, I’d’ve been happy to go on at length about it.
Like the smiley, context is critical. In any case, this thread was asking for answers why the other thread was closed. If you think I’m wrong, you’re free to disregard.
Now you’re just being silly. Somebody who doesn’t know something is by *definition * ignorant of it. But we are all ignorant of some things. And we all know many things. Do you think that I haven’t realized that?
Well, I just haven’t been able to communicate to you a simple fact: The thread was not about science.
Do you really think that I don’t understand this? Now you’re being condescending and insulting.
I was just trying to go to a deeper level of understanding of why some people find scientific facts to be interesting and useful, while others do not.
The thread was not effective in doing that. But it should have been allowed to die on its own.
Geet to tha choppa!!! Gooooooooooooooooooo!!!
But seriously, IAMBIC, why don’t YOU come out and tell us why YOU think the seasons change? If your answer is the Earth tilting on its axis (somehow I got the impression that this wasn’t your answer, but I could be wrong about that…) then you can assume that just about everyone here knows that and probably knew it before your golden age of 10 and you’ve just wasted a lot of people’s time and made an ass out of yourself for no reason.
While your tone is humble, the subtext and nature of the question seems to paint you as someone who jerks it to a mirror. Perhaps you can start a new poll on how many people think your posts aren’t pointless?
That’s pretty funny. And not a condescending note in the whole song. Why don’t you be a good egg, and give our guest lessons.