I was sad to see he didn’t survive long. He’s an older guy who seems kinda lonely and always wants to talk about his pet topic on another website we visit but is not often engaged by others, and I though he could find some folks to talk with here.
I’m quite sure he didn’t read the rules- he signed up almost as soon as I referred him.
If you are indeed his friend, advise him to quit thinking of how he will spring his amazing truth upon us lesser intellects and just get to his fucking point next time.
That thread started out as a train-wreck. He was not very conversant on the meanings of the different types of government in the first place. And, of course, his attacks on those who did not admire his perspicacity did not do him any favor here. The nail in the coffin, though, was the admission to trolling.
Colibri- I didn’t see where he threatened to troll. Was his threat to troll post deleted or did I miss the post?
Red-Wiggler- I’m not a friend so much as an acquaintance and I agree his thread was frustrating but it’s certainly not the most frustrating thread to ever appear here. I was hoping the folks here could help him elevate his game and shape his thoughts and his argument (whatever it was) and just generally get to flesh out his pet topic.
It looked like that was happening even though he didn’t ‘get it’ just yet.
He’s an older guy, bright but not too tech savvy, and would benefit from the manners, format, discussion and education he could get here.
I did advise him to read the rules. It doesn’t appear that he did.
Well, even before that he was losing his temper and shouting and making grandiose pronouncements about his ideas. Posters who join and almost immediately start telling people they have superior ideas never last very long here.
I think making the topic in Politics & Elections was a mistake, that category is more about the horse race and less about grand philosophy. fortyv seemed to want a philosophical debate at the outset. Hence the open ended prompt and the tedious definition of terms - standard practice for philosophical debates I have attended in real life. And for conversing with bored philosophers in general.
But it was Politics & Elections, so at every turn, the Teeming Millions expected him to make a specific and detailed proposal. That way, they could evaluate the political feasibility.
That must have been a little frustrating if he wasn’t familiar with this place. It doesn’t go so far as to excuse the tone adopted in post #25, etc. Assuming he started in good faith, he quickly lost his head, and if he had not yet resorted to trolling, he was very close to it. That seems to be what got him banned.
On the other hand, even in Great Debates this kind of open-ended debate would not fit with the new rules. He would have had to spin off a new topic for every tangent, and there are a lot of tangents involved if you’re trying to design a practical utopia.
OK. I don’t post in the Pit but I read there when an ATMB thread talks about it and I thought trolling was allowed. I must be remembering that calling someone a troll in the Pit is what’s allowed.