# Machinaforce needs an intervention **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 3, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762 "2018-04-03T23:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/61 "2018-04-07T10:48:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You jest, my friend, but I would suggest that there is a deeply interesting epistemological question here about the nature of “good”, viz. - whether banning **Machinaforce** can be judged as an objective universal good from the perspective of a Kantian moral imperative. Applying the semantic ascent principle of contextualism, we arrive at the inescapable conclusion that there is no _a priori_ objective sense in which banning **Machinaforce** could be anything but “good”, and moreover, we can also infer that allowing his continued infestation of the board would be – in the contextualist sense of moral epistemology – “bad”, or at least, within the strict meaning of experiential foundationalism, “extremely annoying”. > > I think there is a lot here for future philosophers to ruminate about. [Animal House] …the Germans? Forget it man, he’s rolling! [/AH] ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/62 "2018-04-07T13:09:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You jest, my friend, but I would suggest that there is a deeply interesting epistemological… I’m sorry but the word, “epistemological” is my Niagra Falls. I immediately stop reading anything that contains that word and go to my garage to curse loudly while violently kicking the garbage cans. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/63 "2018-04-07T13:37:18Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m sorry but the word, “epistemological” is my Niagra Falls. I immediately stop reading anything that contains that word and go to my garage to curse loudly while violently kicking the garbage cans. What do you say instead? It’s a fancy word, but it covers an important thing. Knowability? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/64 "2018-04-07T14:09:34Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > What do you say instead? It’s a fancy word, but it covers an important thing. Knowability? It’s been my experience that anything containing the word, “epistemological”, is going to be insufferable sophistry, written to obscure an idea rather than reveal it. I’m sure it’s me; My wife often reminds me that I graduated university with a vocational school education. (To wit: I probably just use the semi-colon wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/65 "2018-04-07T16:05:24Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You jest, my friend, but I would suggest that there is a deeply interesting epistemological question here about the nature of “good”, viz. - whether banning **Machinaforce** can be judged as an objective universal good from the perspective of a Kantian moral imperative. Applying the semantic ascent principle of contextualism, we arrive at the inescapable conclusion that there is no _a priori_ objective sense in which banning **Machinaforce** could be anything but “good”, and moreover, we can also infer that allowing his continued infestation of the board would be – in the contextualist sense of moral epistemology – “bad”, or at least, within the strict meaning of experiential foundationalism, “extremely annoying”. > > I think there is a lot here for future philosophers to ruminate about. Another casualty of applied metaphysics. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/66 "2018-04-07T16:20:02Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m sure it’s me; My wife often reminds me that I graduated university with a vocational school education. > > (To wit: I probably just use the semi-colon wrong.) Nah, the semicolon is great. Just don’t capitalize the beginning of the next clause and you’re golden. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/67 "2018-04-07T16:59:33Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Nah, the semicolon is great. Just don’t capitalize the beginning of the next clause and you’re golden. You’d think they’d have mentioned it when I was signing for all those student loans. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/68 "2018-04-07T17:48:20Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > [Love is overrated](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=851918) > > [Is criticism untenable?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=847068) > > [Human beings emotional vampires?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=840577) > > [Does the self exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=836372) > > [If life is optional, why live?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=836213) > > Those are just a few. Click on his ID, search all posts. Did he(?) do another thread on the theme of ‘if life is optional, why live’? I seem to recall a thread on that but the one you linked too is really short and I thought the one I was following was longer. If it’s the same guy then, yeah, I agree with your original assertion in the OP…the dude needs some help. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/69 "2018-04-09T22:10:52Z")
[Oh … my … gawd!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=852615) This has now descended to Luciano700 levels, just without the hostility and blatant narcissism. What is it about this place that attracts these infants? Are we giving out free candy? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/70 "2018-04-09T22:40:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > [Oh … my … gawd!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=852615) > > This has now descended to Luciano700 levels, just without the hostility and blatant narcissism. What is it about this place that attracts these infants? Are we giving out free candy? I would guess it’s because no matter how obviously trollish or just plain dumb they are and no matter how many repetitive threads they start, people here keep engaging with them. For a message board that prides itself on having intelligent, skeptical posters AND has a maxim about not feeding trolls, we have a lot of posters who can’t seem to stop giving these idiots the attention they crave. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/71 "2018-04-09T22:46:45Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I would guess it’s because no matter how obviously trollish or just plain dumb they are and no matter how many repetitive threads they start, people here keep engaging with them. > > For a message board that prides itself on having intelligent, skeptical posters AND has a maxim about not feeding trolls, we have a lot of posters who can’t seem to stop giving these idiots the attention they crave. Hey, the dude’s threads give me a chance to wax philosophical without me looking like the douche in the turtleneck. Sue me if I like to waste my time on nonsense now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/72 "2018-04-09T23:01:30Z")
Some of the discussion turns out to be interesting, if you just ignore the OP. He rarely comes back anyway. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/73 "2018-04-09T23:11:46Z")
He’s just feeling un-loved. Bless his little ole heart. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/74 "2018-04-09T23:23:01Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Hey, the dude’s threads give me a chance to wax philosophical without me looking like the douche in the turtleneck. Sue me if I like to waste my time on nonsense now and then. You can waste your time however you like. But if people are wondering (as **wolfpup** did) why the SDMB is a magnet for a certain type of idiotic narcissist, it’s because they get showered with attention here. I personally wish people would do less to encourage these trolls, although I understand it can be difficult to just ignore people who post things that are obviously stupid or misguided…especially when they do it over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/75 "2018-04-09T23:39:17Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > You can waste your time however you like. But if people are wondering (as **wolfpup** did) why the SDMB is a magnet for a certain type of idiotic narcissist, it’s because they get showered with attention here. I personally wish people would do less to encourage these trolls, although I understand it can be difficult to just ignore people who post things that are obviously stupid or misguided…especially when they do it over and over again. I’m not convinced that he’s a troll. He might be fairly _thick_, and unwilling to budge from his preconceived notions, but that’s hardly unique to him. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/76 "2018-04-10T00:08:49Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I’m not convinced that he’s a troll. He might be fairly _thick_, and unwilling to budge from his preconceived notions, but that’s hardly unique to him. I would recommend not giving him so much attention even if he’s “just” a remarkably stupid and unpleasant person rather than a troll. However, people who are both sincere and inflexible in their beliefs don’t typically start one thread after another asking other people to change their minds about these beliefs. That sort of person might start a bunch of witnessing threads, or even a “This is what I believe, go ahead and prove me wrong if you can!” threads, but they wouldn’t play **Machinaforce** ’s game of saying “I find the rantings of this lunatic I found in the dark recesses of the Internet to be strangely compelling. Won’t someone try to persuade me it’s not true?” It’s an act calculated to get a response here, and thus far it’s been working for him. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/77 "2018-04-10T00:10:03Z")
It’s not the “preconceived notions” part that’s the problem, it’s the “what is the meaning of life?” type questions being asked by an infantile moronic obsessive thread-starter apparently determined to turn the board into his own tedious personal blog. There are plenty of folks here that I vehemently disagree with on a variety of issues and I’m under no illusion that I’m going to change their minds (or that they’re going to change mine) but at least we can exchange something that passes for actual discernible information that rises above the level of the babbling of a street-corner lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/78 "2018-04-10T00:15:08Z")
He’s an obsessive fucking twat. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/79 "2018-04-10T00:24:28Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > He’s an obsessive fucking twat. Definitely. With his interminable pseudo-intellectual, life-pondering ‘queries’. You can basically give the same answer for all of his threads: “just fuck it all man…” ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762/80 "2018-04-10T01:08:05Z")
How does love work? Who is this fucking stupid? Love is a woman kissing frogs until she finds her prince. If he’s a frog, it’s not a woman’s fault. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machinaforce-needs-an-intervention/811762.md?page=5)