How should the Pit be changed, if at all?

No more so than many of you seem to accuse those who are pro-Pit just like being bullies, I would imagine.

And when you get right down to it, it’s just a bunch of overheated electrons emitted by largely anonymous entities that probably don’t represent real people anyway.
If you never get around to refuting ninnies who are wrong on the Internet, no real harm done. After asteroid 589-CF strikes the earth, all traces of the Dope will be wiped out.

While this is undoubtedly true – and I do enjoy your cynical wit – it has little bearing on discussions about how we should manage our affairs on this earth while it still exists and while we and our various institutions still exist upon it.

My own view here is that this is probably the longest ATMB thread I can recall that has been the venue for ferocious arguments over what the majority of posters here agree are non-existent issues. Exactly what changes should be made to correct issues that most of us agree don’t exist? I happen to side with those that say “none”.

You might be surprised (or not) how many Pitters contradict each other.

And yet, some people like to post on moderated forums with subforums to complain about moderation.

On the truly unmoderated forums I’ve posted on, no one makes this argument unless they want to be followed around with some truly hateful stuff. There are things most people don’t want to be called every day, ad nauseam.

Ah yes. Why won’t those annoying minorities just shut up? Why should we have to change when it doesn’t affect us? And how will we feel superior if we don’t have other people to identify as lesser?

:roll_eyes: :roll_eyes: :roll_eyes: 

You are not being oppressed. You desire a change that the majority of participants on this board do not. Comparing yourself to an oppressed minority is frankly offensive, and there are not enough rolleyes available for me to properly express my reaction.

If you dislike the comparison, then find a better argument. One that doesn’t apply to every damn minority that ever asked for - or demanded - a change when the majority were happy with the status quo.

So, you’re in favor of giving into every demand a minority group asks for?

So, you’re not in favor of giving into every demand a minority group asks for?

The argument that “minorities demanding equal rights is the same as me demanding an unpopular change on a message board” does not get better with repetition.

:rofl: 

Serious answer to a non-serious question: I’m in favour of taking minority groups seriously when they say they have a problem, and trying to find a solution. That is not the same as giving into every demand they make - no individual or group should be given a blank cheque like that.

Neither does the argument “the majority does not see a problem, therefore there is no problem”.

Ah, good! Now we just need to identify what a “minority group” is with regard to message boards . . . and I don’t think ‘people that don’t like the Pit’ really makes the grade.

Being in the minority on an issue does not make you a minority, and it’s frankly offensive, and a slap in the face for real minorities, for you to cloak yourself in minority-hood.

I’m just going to apologize to anyone who read the above. It was meant for the pit. Not obscene, but not appropriate for ATMB I think. Thanks to @MrDibble for pointing it out.

I can only speak from my own experience, and I haven’t been a regular poster for very long. But as a woman, and as someone who holds some unpopular opinions, the treatment of the latter on this board has been orders of magnitude worse than the former. It’s a real blindspot, and being on the wrong end of this dynamic feels very similar no matter the reason for it. Now I see the same excuses being given, too. Somehow the same patterns keep repeating, no matter how much people have supposedly educated themselves.

Liking pineapple on your pizza and ketchup on hot dogs are “some unpopular opinions”. What you’re talking about is something else, entirely.

You’re new, it used to be a lot worse for “the former”

The best comparison I can make is to atheism. That’s a very unpopular belief in some quarters, and atheists are often viewed as immoral by the religious. Nevertheless, we all have to live in the same world together - and having lost your faith, you can’t simply choose to believe again. Are atheists a real minority in your NSHO, since you consider yourself an arbiter of such things?

Let’s see some examples then.

Or how about Holocaust deniers? That’s a very unpopular belief in some quarters, and Holocaust deniers are often viewed as immoral by others. Nevertheless, we all have to live in the same world together.

Many atheists never had a faith to lose in the first place.

MrDibble has been no more forthright about promoting his opinions than you have. Do you consider yourself an “arbiter of such things”?

What makes you think I’m going to answer any question that comes like this, laced with snark?

Searching for anything before The Move is pants, but it’s not like we’ve never discussed this.