# Is the SDMB stupider now than when you joined? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094 "2011-08-25T22:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/21 "2011-08-26T01:42:42Z")
You needed an option for “No bloody idea, because I don’t see the board in those terms”. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/22 "2011-08-26T01:54:22Z")
It has gone downhill. I’ve been a poster here, (under a different name in the past, needed a long sabbatical and let the account lapse), for well over five years. I blame this mostly on a couple of events long past, which drove away part of the board and resulted in the more heavily moderated one we have today. I still love this place, but the tolerance for rules-lawyering, niggling grammatical nitpickery, and outright favoritism have gone way up. I remember when “cite?” was a flaming gauntlet of molten iron thrown down and enforced. Now it seems that “being nice” is prized more highly by mods over being factually correct, or even at a minimum presenting an interpretation that is logically consistent. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/23 "2011-08-26T01:56:54Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > I have been active on other sites forover 10 years. In that time I think I have seen a gross decline in logic and evidence based positions. It is amazing how much faith many people put in their own limited experience. They generalize from a few or even one case. They ignore scientific studies. Of course, some ‘‘scientific’’ studies should be ignored. > > So maybe I haven’t been here long, but I am finding fewer and fewer threads worth reading or posting to. Maybe some see that as an imporvement. My experience is similar, but I’m not sure of the cause. Changes in myself and my perceptions are a possible explanation as well. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/24 "2011-08-26T01:59:48Z")
I’ve been around for more than 5 years, and it isn’t stupider. I would say that the board is a bit less compelling and fun (at the same time?!) than in the past, but that’s a cyclical condition rather than a trend. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/25 "2011-08-26T02:38:45Z")
It’s far less stupid. There’s a lot less cliquish behaviour, for one; I still remember when one particular poster, who so far as I can remember never added an ounce of intelligence to any thread, would lead massive pile-on threads on selected targets on a semi-regular basis. As to the claim there’s less logic… I mean, I just can’t help but think you guys are looking through really, really nostalgia-tinted glasses. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/26 "2011-08-26T02:45:07Z")
I picked the wrong option (\<5 years instead of \>5 years) - I had an account on the SDMB since like 2000, but I lost it/forgot about it when the board went pay to post - that event killed GQ and it has never fully recovered. Infrequent posting narrow subject matter posters were what helped GQ be as valuable as it was and pay to post drove many of those away. I don’t know if it is stupider, but there clearly isn’t the activity/breadth of posters that there were at SDMB peak. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/27 "2011-08-26T02:46:17Z")
me not know. me still reading. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/28 "2011-08-26T03:23:58Z")
I’ve been around since the Big Brain and Pushpins era on AOL. Those were the Stupid Years. I’d especially dread Christmastime, when people with new computers would somehow find their way to us and we’d be carpet-bombed with seasonal stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/29 "2011-08-26T03:50:45Z")
No. Less friendly I think, probably largely for the reasons that **Harmonious Dioscord** cites. Less diverse in some respects. Less free-wheeling. But not noticeably dumber. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/30 "2011-08-26T03:58:53Z")
Every Internet community that is around for a long time suffers from decay as its membership grows. The SDMB has had less decay than most given its age, which is why I’m still reading and posting here 10+ years later. If it’s stupider, it’s not by much. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/31 "2011-08-26T04:03:33Z")
Less than 5 years but will be 5 years later this year. I voted Stupider, due to the presence of what seems like so many more trolls. Until this year, I never felt the need to use my Ignore function. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/32 "2011-08-26T12:15:52Z")
More than five years. I went with “not stupider”. Percentage-wise, yes, it’s stupider now…I’d say, in 2005, it was 60% “fighting ignorance”, 30% “trivial stuff, but harmless”, and 10% “noxious garbage”. Now the ratios are more like 30%, 50%, and 20%. But because it’s more than twice as “big” now than then (using my subjective feel for “bigness”), there is, in absolute terms, a bit more learning going on today than before. It just takes a little more lookin’ to find it. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/33 "2011-08-26T12:17:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s far less stupid. There’s a lot less cliquish behaviour, for one; I still remember when one particular poster, who so far as I can remember never added an ounce of intelligence to any thread, would lead massive pile-on threads on selected targets on a semi-regular basis. > > As to the claim there’s less logic… I mean, I just can’t help but think you guys are looking through really, really nostalgia-tinted glasses. I agree with this, and I’ve been hanging around here for over a decade now. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/34 "2011-08-26T13:24:36Z")
Busier, more fluff, more social interactivity, not more stupid. More for me to ignore, though, but the good stuff is still just as “smart” as it ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/35 "2011-08-26T13:28:08Z")
Seems to be getting smarter, but it could just be that I’m getting stupider…if you can imagine. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/36 "2011-08-26T13:42:17Z")
It’s gotten worse. More blind partisanship, more nitpicking, more right wing trolls. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/37 "2011-08-26T14:09:13Z")
I find the individual definitions of “stupider” to be fascinating. (Bob, you do realize that to the non-political or to those outside of American politics, the “blind partisanship” and trollery seems to be pretty evenly divided between the supporters of each party? I don’t follow any political threads myself because it seems the same voices are always yelling the same things at each other. Some folks are entertained by that, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/38 "2011-08-26T14:20:27Z")
More racists. So yes, stupider. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/39 "2011-08-26T14:21:07Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I find the individual definitions of “stupider” to be fascinating. (Bob, you do realize that to the non-political or to those outside of American politics, the “blind partisanship” and trollery seems to be pretty evenly divided between the supporters of each party? I don’t follow any political threads myself because it seems the same voices are always yelling the same things at each other. Some folks are entertained by that, I suppose.) Yes, I realize that unless you’re into American politics, it may all look like mindless sniping. It’s just my admittedly biased opinion that the right wingers here. like right-wingers everywhere, engage in some pretty loathsome tactics. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094/40 "2011-08-26T14:28:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There’s a lot less cliquish behaviour It used to be MORE cliquish that it already is? That’s a little hard to believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sdmb-stupider-now-than-when-you-joined/594094.md?page=3)