Well, do we? It seems some stuff ends up in Debates that isn’t a debate, because the topic isn’t mundane, and the author doesn’t necessarily want it in the pit. Moreover, some stuff ends up in the pit not because anything is being pitted, but because someone thinks it’s interesting and wants to discuss it but it’s not a debate.
Hmmm. How about “Friendly But Serious Discussions,” or something.
That’s exactly what IMHO is for. Polls got stuffed there because, well, just because they fit better than anyplace else, but the real focus for the forum is Debate Light’, to speak: “frank exchanges on less-than-cosmic topics”.
Hamlet: Thank you for bringing such intelligent insight into the question, rather than doing a drive-by crapping like some titless moron might have done.
Tveblen, et al: IMHO is filled with threads like, “what’s the best bread for peanut butter?” I didn’t see a single thread on the first page that wasn’t trivial. It’s fine to have a folder for trivial stuff, but even if I felt like posting, say, a topic about William James that isn’t a question, a debate, or a pit.
Religious topics (not including witnessing and/or doctrinal issues)
Misconceptions concerning the USA by Europeans and vice versa
Causes and turning points of the World Wars
Language and dialect discussions
Health issues
Sure, it goes in cycles. Sometimes there are a lot of deep things being dsicussed, sometimes it’s full of What color is your username fluff. If nothing interests you at the moment, go away and come back to it later.
Same things can be said of the Pit, Cafe Society, and sometimes even MPSIMS. Not everything itellectual goes in GD, nor is everything in GD intellectual.
I repeat my concern that IMHO is not a good forum. For one thing, a lot of people who would have interesting things to say don’t even go in there because it is, by description, trivial. Second, because nothing stays on page 1 for more than 5 minutes.
Anyway, it was just a question. I’ll take No Clue Boy’s advice and look around… to other boards.
I don’t see the connection. Does bringing up a topic not entitle me to be snippy? Is there no snippiness allowed in the pit, only personal attacks and profanity? Do we also need a “Snipping” folder?
Seriously, I just meant that for the kind of discussions I am talking about, which are not debates, and which would have a short life in IMHO among the peanut butter threads, I guess I’ll just find communities dedicated to those on a topic-by-topic basis. I’ve come to respect a lot of people here and would like to have them weigh in, but if I’m proposing a general discussion on something like Pragmatism, I don’t know that “Pragmatism: liberal conspiracy?” or “Hey, who’s your favorite pragmatist?” would generate the kind of discussion I would find enlightening.