# Incorrect Warning (IMO) **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832 "2015-07-11T02:36:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/61 "2015-07-13T04:42:15Z")
If it quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Thus, if it quacks like something that quacks like a duck, it is a duck, since the thing that quacks like a duck is a duck. By extension, anything that quacks like something that quacks like something [any number of iterations] that quacks like something that quacks like a duck…is a duck. Similarly, if something that is close to a problem is a problem… (Next I prove that geese really are grapes.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/62 "2015-07-13T12:39:37Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > If it quacks like a duck, it is a duck. Thus, if it quacks like something that quacks like a duck, it is a duck, since the thing that quacks like a duck is a duck. By extension, anything that quacks like something that quacks like something [any number of iterations] that quacks like something that quacks like a duck…is a duck. Why a duck? 😉 I, too, would like some clarification on whether and how it’s OK to say outside the Pit that a poster’s sources are lying, or that a poster is repeating a lie of long standing (e.g. that the Confederate secession was really about states’ rights). If moderators want to say there’s no daylight at all between ‘lying’ and ‘bearing false witness,’ that’s fine with me. But that’s really a side issue AFAIAC. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/63 "2015-07-13T13:17:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Gosh, getting awfully close to hate speech here. I clearly see words that begin with “h” and “hate” begins with “h.” I think that might be heading in a direction that might be close to a problem. Look, you used an “h” word, and that’s awful close to “horney.” ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/64 "2015-07-13T14:38:27Z")
I can see where saying “your cites are lies” can be an end-run around the rules. Because many times the cites are not saying much if anything more that what the poster himself said. And/or there is no more basis for saying that the authors of the cites are liars (versus having a difference of opinion) than there is in saying that the poster is a liar. In such cases, saying that the cites are lies is the functional equivalent of saying that the poster’s statement/position is a lie, even without directly saying it. I have no idea if this was so in the case at hand (it doesn’t seem like it based on OL’s reaction, but I’ve not looked through the actual exchange which led to the accusation) so this is just a general comment about the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/65 "2015-07-13T14:51:07Z")
I think at some point, we need to come to grips with the fact that a forum designed for arguments is going to have disagreements, possibly even passionate ones. I see the value in disallowing direct attacks on specific posters. I see far less value in the slow erosion of the ability to attack references. If having one’s citations labeled as ‘lies’ bothers a poster, I think they should take up crochet or something else less critical. Supposedly, we are all adults and intelligent to boot. It should not be hard for intelligent adults to dissociate themselves from citations, to recognize when they’ve made an unsupportable claim and to trust that the rest of the board can adequately distinguish from valid and invalid dismissal of sources. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/66 "2015-07-13T16:32:59Z")
Well said, **Inner Stickler**. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/67 "2015-07-13T17:17:20Z")
What’s been lost to some extent is that several people were reporting the post in question. So while it might seem ridiculous that JC added a note for something totally fine, evidently it was needed to clarify things for some people. I think the problem is less over-zealousness by the mods, and more the pearl-clutching posters who look for any possible affront in GD and jump at any opportunity to rule-lawyer a victory. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/68 "2015-07-13T17:32:49Z")
Oops - also lost was my recollection of the content of the mod note. Never mind. After review, I revise my opinion to be over-zealousness on everyone’s part. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/69 "2015-07-13T17:55:17Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Because you don’t seem to be paying any more attention to his argument than **Jonathan Chance** did. It is completely irrelevant that there was no official warning by **JC**. It is relevant that he felt the post was worth moderating. There was nothing wrong with the post. It did not need moderating in any way, shape, or form. Look, I agree with Frank! One of the Seven Signs of the “Aporklips”, I am sure. Here’s why this needs clearing up. Chance seems to be indicating that the reason why the Note wasnt a Warning is that Andros used the term ‘false witness’ instead of “lying”: _I’m only refraining because I can see the slightest bit of daylight between ‘false witness’ and ‘lying’._ Chance even said “Andros, this is riiiight on the edge of earning a warning for accusing another poster of lying”. So what we want clarified - is this now a new Chance rule for GD, that you can’t call _the cite_ a liar? True, terms like “you cite is bullshit” are more common than “your cite is a big fat liar, liar pants on fire” but the idea is the same. I accept the fact that Jonathan is just human, and he may have misread the post and thought Andros was saying Omar Little was “bearing false witness”. Sure, fine. But Chance has had a chance to reply here and his reply doesn’t indicate anything along those lines, just the small line between lying and “bearing false witness”. So Jonathan, are you now making a new double secret rule? Can we still say a poster’s _cite_ is bullshit/lying/full of shit/etc? I mean usually I just say “it’s worthless and heavily biased”, but still. This is why I am leery of posting in GD, you have to take a "Chance’ on the moderation. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/70 "2015-07-13T17:57:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is why I am leery of posting in GD, you have to take a "Chance’ on the moderation. It’s not just you ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/71 "2015-07-13T18:08:32Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > It’s not just you Ha! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/72 "2015-07-13T18:28:02Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > It’s not just you Ditto ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/73 "2015-07-13T19:42:46Z")
I’m sorry…are the three of you agreeing that you won’t participate in a GD thread because of its moderation standards? Because respectfully I find that just bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/74 "2015-07-13T19:45:37Z")
> [@andros](#): > > i’m sorry…are the three of you agreeing that you won’t participate in a gd thread because of its moderation standards? Because respectfully i find that just bizarre. ditto!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/75 "2015-07-13T19:55:20Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I’m sorry…are the three of you agreeing that you won’t participate in a GD thread because of its moderation standards? Because respectfully I find that just bizarre. Why? Do you _like_ capricious and arbitrary warnings? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/76 "2015-07-13T21:50:14Z")
I will say this, the first time I read the post in question I thought the poster was basically saying “You are using stories with lies to back up your claim and that makes YOU a liar.” I went back and reread it and saw I misinterpreted it the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/77 "2015-07-13T21:50:58Z")
If you can find a better system of moderators for a general-interest discussion and debate forum, I’d sure be interested in learning of it. The guys here are human, and make the occasional boner, but they really are better than anything else I’ve ever seen. Vastly better! I’ve been on fora where, had I publicly criticized a mod for making an error, I would have been banned. Here, there’s a whole forum devoted to questions about moderation and administration. That’s “transparency” of the most admirable sort. And if **Andros** – whom I had thought was the victim of a bad mod call – is okay with the modding here, that’s a very significant endorsement. Until the mods are replaced by robot overlords, or flawless AI rhetorical parsing systems, we’ve got the best human modding around. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/78 "2015-07-13T22:03:45Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I’m sorry…are the three of you agreeing that you won’t participate in a GD thread because of its moderation standards? Because respectfully I find that just bizarre. No, not just because of that. Another strong reason for me is what **TroutMan** delineated in his post #67. Also, take a look at the second reply to the OP (tied for first, simulpost to the nearest minute) by me. **Omar Little** , recipient of **andros** ’s post in question, _agreed_ that he had made a good point. “Good point”, typed **Omar**. This carried no weight with the moderator, as it was not even mentioned. That, and the apparent fact that what goes on in **gd** is considered to be fun, is what I find to be bizarre. Also, **FX** , in post #32 dittoed me so I owed him one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/79 "2015-07-13T22:23:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > If you can find a better system of moderators for a general-interest discussion and debate forum, I’d sure be interested in learning of it. The guys here are human, and make the occasional boner, but they really are better than anything else I’ve ever seen. Vastly better! > . True, but they are loath to admit they made a mistake and they too often “circle the wagons”. They also get pissed off if you make too much work for them, either getting or sending too many reports. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832/80 "2015-07-13T23:09:37Z")
Lies and the lying liars that tell them…😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incorrect-warning-imo/724832.md?page=5)