# Ivory Tower Denizen, Is There a Reason for a Warning Rather than an Explanation? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 23, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033 "2017-09-23T12:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/41 "2017-09-24T18:42:25Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But… let’s say **Shodan** was mocking the liberal position. Are we going to start seeing the liberal posters here moderated every time they mock conservative positions? If so, you guys have your work cut out for you. > [@Bricker](#): > > I intend to start reporting mocking comments directed at conservative politics and posting the report in this thread, along with any action taken. Let’s see how the mirror works. > [@billfish678](#): > > I’ve thought about doing the same thing. Maybe we could start a movement. So insulting trans people, besides being hatefilled and bigoted, is an actual conservative position? That’s sort of the ultimate defense for liberals, then, the same way truth is an absolute defense against accusations of libel. Hey, everybody! Conservative thought is full of hate and bigotry! They said so! Hell, they insist on it! Let’s go down to the quarry and mock the bejesus out of them! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/42 "2017-09-24T18:43:05Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Then again I got warned when I threatened to start posting just like Dio did…so the powers that be don’t like such innocent protests… Considering **Diogenes** got banned, perhaps the mods were helping you out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/43 "2017-09-24T19:10:45Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I just find it an interesting ability to unerringly discern intent. Contrary to Chronos’s assertion I don’t think intent is blindingly obvious because I don’t think the average participant on a message board acts consistently rationally. If they did rules against trolling would be extraneous as who would troll and more importantly who would there be to troll? > . I agree. That post is odd, but the idea that a Mod can impute intent a post, and thus give a warning is quite wrong. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/44 "2017-09-24T19:18:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Considering **Diogenes** got banned, perhaps the mods were helping you out. And HOW many years did that take. For the record, I did not actually want him banned. I just wanted the powers that be to moderate his behavior…but apparently that was some kind of intellectual/moral black hole they could not process…so the eventual banning… ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/45 "2017-09-24T19:25:59Z")
I’m new this alt-gender identification thing. I thought the terminology applied to those who underwent gender reassignment, but it seems to now mean “whatever you identify as,” and scientific justification and surgery aren’t necessary. Thus, I don’t see what’s wrong with Shodan’s response either. He could have said something more hardline, like “How about whatever reproductive system God gave you” and deserved the mod slap, but this wasn’t the case. It does seem like any comment that dares to question the foundation of controversial topics like this will be met with scorn because it’s interpreted as hostile. I don’t see it in this case. Shodan was just echoing the new paradigm of gender identity, and because he’s identified as conservative, the mod interpreted his intent as hostile. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/46 "2017-09-24T19:32:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So insulting trans people, besides being hatefilled and bigoted, is an actual conservative position? That’s sort of the ultimate defense for liberals, then, the same way truth is an absolute defense against accusations of libel. > > Hey, everybody! Conservative thought is full of hate and bigotry! They said so! Hell, they insist on it! Let’s go down to the quarry and mock the bejesus out of them! That’s a tremendous and inaccurate stretch. Now, I highly doubt your sarcastic and non nuanced post will even merit a note. That’s obviously an example of the power of paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/47 "2017-09-24T19:40:44Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > And HOW many years did that take. > > For the record, I did not actually want him banned. I just wanted the powers that be to moderate his behavior…but apparently that was some kind of intellectual/moral black hole they could not process…so the eventual banning… Completely irrelevant to my point. And I have no interest in discussing this further. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/48 "2017-09-24T19:44:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Completely irrelevant to my point. And I have no interest in discussing this further. But you brought up the discussion. Fine with me. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/49 "2017-09-24T20:56:06Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So insulting trans people, besides being hatefilled and bigoted, is an actual conservative position? That’s sort of the ultimate defense for liberals, then, the same way truth is an absolute defense against accusations of libel. > > Hey, everybody! Conservative thought is full of hate and bigotry! They said so! Hell, they insist on it! Let’s go down to the quarry and mock the bejesus out of them! This misrepresents what was said. Warning? Warning? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/50 "2017-09-24T21:35:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Warning? Warning? Anyone? Report it? Report it? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/51 "2017-09-24T21:43:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Report it? Report it? Anyone? I did. To be fair, I did report that post and yet another post in another thread where some IMO bullshit one liner was directed and me and an official warning was just issued. But then, one wonders if such action would have normally been dealt with or the fact that Bricker started something and I agreed and now we were both on the radar and something just had to be done to be keeping up appearances. To be honest, short of somebody actually calling somebody a bad name directly…I don’t WANT warnings…I just want mod notes when called for to tone things down if things get a bit adrift…and I sure don’t want the conservatives getting more shit than the liberals… Personally I don’t care about random drive bys or one liners on insults…grow a pair people…I just want fairness… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/52 "2017-09-24T21:48:34Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think I’ve answered the OP’s questions, and hopefully followed up on the most pertinent others. No, not AFAICT. Now mentioning the key factor of self-identification of gender is a dismissive trope if I bring it up without explaining it to some unspecified degree. But merely mentioning it and pointing out that it is, in fact, a key factor, is trolling. You say that it was the specific words, in the specific thread. Can you clarify? Was it “gender is whatever you decide it is”, or was it that I said it was key? > [@Larry Borgia](#): > > I don’t understand why this even merited a mod note, let alone a warning. What did Shodan do wrong? Isn’t what he said–that a person’s gender is determined by what they say it is–pretty much the prevailing consensus on this board? Yes, but it is a dismissive trope, unless you flesh it out. Or maybe using the specific phrase “what they say it is”. Or maybe saying that it is a key factor. It’s not clear. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/53 "2017-09-24T21:55:13Z")
Sorry, but snarky one-liners are acceptable. Especially so when ensconced in [truth](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender-fluid): > [@Dictionary Definition of Gender Fluidity](#): > > There are also people who identify as “gender fluid,” a mix of both genders, and may feel more male on some days and more female on others. I suspect this is simply bias against a conservative poster who made a (relatively mild) snarky comment meant to satirize the anti-biology Left. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/54 "2017-09-24T22:51:32Z")
My brain hurts. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/55 "2017-09-24T22:53:40Z")
Where is the warning in the NFL protest thread? You just washed your hands and moved it to the Pit. :dubious: This is what people mean when they talk about inconsistent moderation. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/56 "2017-09-24T22:58:58Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > And HOW many years did that take. > > For the record, I did not actually want him banned. I just wanted the powers that be to moderate his behavior…but apparently that was some kind of intellectual/moral black hole they could not process…so the eventual banning… I was happy to see him go. His 'cites" were almost always from a Blog/series that he himself either wrote or edited articles for. So, he was citing himself. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/57 "2017-09-24T23:18:43Z")
I think it’s possible **Shodan** was being snarky and obnoxious (I have seen “whatever you decide it is” used dismissively and obnoxiously, as in something like “today you can be a carrot if you want, tomorrow you can be a writing desk”), but it’s also possible he wasn’t, or perhaps it was somewhere in between. Seems to me a mod note would have been appropriate rather than a warning, considering the potential for misunderstanding. And to **Shodan** , I think that specific language does have a high probability of coming across as dismissive, so if that’s not your intention, then perhaps you could phrase it differently (as in “I thought the number one factor was a person’s own feelings on their gender expression” or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/58 "2017-09-24T23:33:14Z")
I’d like to hear more about how **octopus** thinks a message board can be run, where nobody is allowed to make any inferences at all about anyone else’s intent. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/59 "2017-09-24T23:38:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d like to hear more about how **octopus** thinks a message board can be run, where nobody is allowed to make any inferences at all about anyone else’s intent. I think inferences that draw disciplinary actions from moderators, and inferences that merely prompt questions or comments from readers, are two very different propositions, and I think you should already know that. I infer that you did, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033/60 "2017-09-25T00:20:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d like to hear more about how **octopus** thinks a message board can be run, where nobody is allowed to make any inferences at all about anyone else’s intent. I’d like to see more consistency and less bias in moderation. I’d also like to see less deliberately dodging or ignoring questions concerning clarity and consistency of rules with regards to running this particular message board. Anyways, I never said people can’t infer intent. I said it was subjective. And the subjective judgement is handled very differently depending on the author of the post and the target of equally satirical posts. That is a worse way to run a message board then one where people are reading more objectively. If the mods don’t want apparently satirical posts then why not post a clear rule? I think the answer is obvious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivory-tower-denizen-is-there-a-reason-for-a-warning-rather-than-an-explanation/797033.md?page=4)