# Let's pit Dopers who engage in debate with Starving Artist **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389 "2009-10-28T02:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/61 "2009-10-28T13:24:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I was over in MPSIMS today, looking through the thread commemorating ten years of the SDMB, and I was reminded of earlier attempts to encourage posters to “send someone to Coventry,” as it were. > > Based on my memories of how successful those efforts were, I’m going to predict that this will not end well. > > Hey, am I in first with a prediction of “This will not end well”? What an MPSIMS-y thing for me to be concerned with… Given the thread subject’s penchant for logorrhea, I predict that this won’t end anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/62 "2009-10-28T13:27:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > ..says the man who does nothing but call the left names while ignoring the sins of the right. > > Damn. Still working on it. OK, **Gyrate** too. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/63 "2009-10-28T13:59:14Z")
**Shodan** , this BBQ thread is freaking genius! \*\*Starving Artist \*\*can’t resist responding and the sheople can’t resist debating with him therefore submitting themselves to the pitting! Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/64 "2009-10-28T14:00:40Z")
Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/65 "2009-10-28T14:02:06Z")
Don’t you people ever just get sick of this? Don’t you ever get tired of endlessly repeating the same old tired self-congratulatory crap? We get it - your side is amazing and wonderful and lovely and the other side is mean and nasty and evil and stupid. Wonderful. We’re all very happy that you’re so damned satisfied with what you think - try not to sprain your elbows patting yourselves on the back. But don’t you ever just stop and think, “what am I actually going to accomplish by saying this _again_?” Doesn’t it ever strike you as old and tired and dull and just mind-numbingly repetitive and stupid? Because it sure as fuck does me. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/66 "2009-10-28T14:17:29Z")
Agreed. Fuck it. Let’s all never post anything here again. Who’s with me? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/67 "2009-10-28T14:20:31Z")
I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/68 "2009-10-28T14:25:30Z")
That’s just like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you’d say. Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/69 "2009-10-28T14:28:17Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > The education system in 1889 wasn’t much better, I note. That’s beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/70 "2009-10-28T14:32:31Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Don’t you people ever just get sick of this? Don’t you ever get tired of endlessly repeating the same old tired self-congratulatory crap? We get it - your side is amazing and wonderful and lovely and the other side is mean and nasty and evil and stupid. Wonderful. We’re all very happy that you’re so damned satisfied with what you think - try not to sprain your elbows patting yourselves on the back. But don’t you ever just stop and think, “what am I actually going to accomplish by saying this _again_?” Doesn’t it ever strike you as old and tired and dull and just mind-numbingly repetitive and stupid? > > Because it sure as fuck does me. Yeah! Their side sucks! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/71 "2009-10-28T14:35:33Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > No, you’re wrong because you’re a doddering old fool. You are so screwed. AARP has ninjas on retainer ya know. Sleep with one eye open tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/72 "2009-10-28T14:43:32Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You are so screwed. > > AARP has ninjas on retainer ya know. Sleep with one eye open tonight. Worse: they’ve got [Sam Fisher](http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20090925). And I keep arguing because, sometimes, someone on the other side of the debate actually presents substantive arguments that make me think, and who actually addresses the issues I raise without assuming that I hold the opposing viewpoint purely on partisan grounds. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/73 "2009-10-28T15:51:13Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Don’t you people ever just get sick of this? Don’t you ever get tired of endlessly repeating the same old tired self-congratulatory crap? We get it - your side is amazing and wonderful and lovely and the other side is mean and nasty and evil and stupid. Wonderful. We’re all very happy that you’re so damned satisfied with what you think - try not to sprain your elbows patting yourselves on the back. But don’t you ever just stop and think, “what am I actually going to accomplish by saying this _again_?” Doesn’t it ever strike you as old and tired and dull and just mind-numbingly repetitive and stupid? > > Because it sure as fuck does me. See, the problem here is you. It’s posts like this that turn this kind of thing into a side-vs.-side thing. You’ll notice, if you read the OP, that I never once mentioned SA’s politics. This thread is not–at least it didn’t start out to be–a criticism of what SA believes; rather it’s a criticism of HOW he’s come to believe it and how he defends it, and how he refuses to take in any information that he hadn’t already drawn final conclusions on in his youth. It’s a criticism of a specific individual and his specific methods of interaction. Your post, **Smeg** , and others like it, are what turns this kind of thread into another pointless us-vs-them screed. I’m open to criticism of my OP, **Smeg** , but only if you’ve read it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/74 "2009-10-28T15:52:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This is why it is difficult to take accusations that **Starving Artist** is dishonest seriously. Staying out of a thread for two hours after saying you have things to do is a lie? Dude, that was a tongue-in-cheek post. Nothing more. I probably should have used a smiley. The rest of my comments about **Starving Artist** are genuine, but that post was not intended to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/75 "2009-10-28T15:59:25Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Is there another Doper with a more willfully, vigorously defended grasp on ignorance? **curlcoat** > [@](#): > > Is there another Doper who’s put as much energy into participating in discussions here, but worked just as hard refusing to learn anything from any of them? **curlcoat** > [@](#): > > Is there a more consistently dishonest Doper? **curlcoat** ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/76 "2009-10-28T16:03:09Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > See, the problem here is you. It’s posts like this that turn this kind of thing into a side-vs.-side thing. > > You’ll notice, if you read the OP, that I never once mentioned SA’s politics. This thread is not–at least it didn’t start out to be–a criticism of what SA believes; rather it’s a criticism of HOW he’s come to believe it and how he defends it, and how he refuses to take in any information that he hadn’t already drawn final conclusions on in his youth. > > It’s a criticism of a specific individual and his specific methods of interaction. Your post, **Smeg** , and others like it, are what turns this kind of thread into another pointless us-vs-them screed. > > I’m open to criticism of my OP, **Smeg** , but only if you’ve read it. Fair enough. I did read the OP, and I see what you’re saying. But let’s face it, it was inevitable that the thread would turn into this type of argument, because _every_ political thread here turns into that kind of argument, especially when the one particular person you choose to criticize is practically synonymous with a particular political stance around here, and especially especially when the pitter and pittee are on opposite sides. It is that utter futility and predictability that is irritating me this morning. And we could begin listing which people are generally responsible for that, but then that would be just more finger-pointing, which is exactly what I’m talking about. And saying that I am the problem is more than a little laughable, considering I have almost never participated in any political thread of any kind in my near-decade on the boards. I have quite deliberately kept my political views off of the boards because I don’t have the slightest interest in debating them. As for this particular thread, it had already degenerated into an us-vs-them screed long before I showed up, and my goal, if any, was to call attention to that fact in a vain attempt to reverse or ameliorate it. It wasn’t aimed at the OP in particular, but more at the mess the thread had rapidly, inevitably, and oh-so-predictably descended into. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/77 "2009-10-28T16:05:25Z")
I pit dopers who pit themselves pitting dopers who pit others who engage in the same behavior that they do in the pit while pitting the arguments of\*\* Starving Artist.\*\* ---
**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:** [October 28, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/78 "2009-10-28T16:06:26Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > He’s an honest Lions fan. We have to cut him some slack. Do you postulate the existence of dishonest Lions fans? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/79 "2009-10-28T16:11:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Do you postulate the existence of dishonest Lions fans? Really, what’s the incentive there? That being said, I vote for **Elv1sl1ves** over **Starving Artist**. But I don’t think he is some sort of liar, I just think he’s dumb as a post. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389/80 "2009-10-28T16:15:36Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I pit dopers who pit themselves pitting dopers who pit others who engage in the same behavior that they do in the pit while pitting the arguments of\*\* Starving Artist.\*\* I need some sort of diagram with circles and arrows to parse that sentence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pit-dopers-who-engage-in-debate-with-starving-artist/515389.md?page=5)