# OMG! I'm In Great Debates! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642 "2003-08-26T00:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/1 "2003-08-26T00:47:18Z")
And I swore to myself that I would **never** post there, because I’m not as smart as those dopers, but I answered a thread about smoking changing one’s looks and wasn’t paying attention to where it was posted! (I was in _View New Posts_ at the time). Oh God! Those folks are gonna run all **over** my German ass! I didn’t even make an argument, but just posted a couple of personal anecdotes. Sorry! Q ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/2 "2003-08-26T00:53:21Z")
Don’t let them intimidate you. They aren’t smarter. They’re just more argumentative. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/3 "2003-08-26T03:59:46Z")
No you’re not, you’re in MPSIMS! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/4 "2003-08-26T04:04:08Z")
Dude. I’m impressed. Going in there is like going into the Mines of Moria. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/5 "2003-08-26T04:09:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Don’t let them intimidate you. > > They aren’t smarter. They’re just more argumentative. \*\* Are not. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/6 "2003-08-26T04:14:01Z")
Are so. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/7 "2003-08-26T04:14:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Are not. \*\* Cite? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/8 "2003-08-26T04:20:40Z")
> **[arenot｜インテリアショップ｜北欧家具](https://www.arenot.com/)** > > デザインをテーマに、デザイナーズ家具・照明・雑貨等の生活に関わる様々なプロダクトを新品・中古、ジャンル、国籍を問わず世界中から集めたセレクトショップです。卸売りやレンタルも行っております。 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/9 "2003-08-26T04:22:21Z")
Well, [www.aretoo.com/sothere.nyeh](http://www.aretoo.com/sothere.nyeh) says different… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/10 "2003-08-26T04:26:29Z")
And that’s the essence of GD, FWIW, IIRC, and AFIACT. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/11 "2003-08-26T05:07:18Z")
Oh, **Quasi** , you poor thing. In GD, unknowingly and all alone? God be with you my friend, and if they start to attack, just give me a holler. I’ll be right there behind you [sub]hiding[/sub], ready to defend your honor [sub]from a safe distance and possibly incognito[/sub] and say something [sub]stupid[/sub] that will give them all long enough pause [sub]to pick their jaws up off the floor[/sub] for you to give 'em your best shot [sub] while running away screaming like a girl[/sub] and leave with dignity. Seriously, you’re a smart guy and I’m sure you can hold your own. And if it gets really bad, you can always evoke the effective “I know you are but what am I?” rule. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/12 "2003-08-26T05:14:07Z")
Wow. I overshot Cafe Society once and wound up in GD and had to take a Klonopin and call my mom before I felt safe coming back to the boards. It’s _scary_ in there. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/13 "2003-08-26T05:17:19Z")
Sheeesh! You’d think **Great Debates** was one of the rough fora like **Comments on Cecil’s Columns**. I go in to **GD** all the time. It’s no big deal. Most people are friendly. The majority of them are polite (or, at least, fearful of the wrath of **Gaudere** ). It’s a nice place. (Not too quiet, but nice.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/14 "2003-08-26T06:01:23Z")
You just have to get into the Great Debates state of mind. Remember that if everyone else in the world is disagreeing with you, then either they or you are wrong. So the odds are 6,000,000,000-1 against it being you. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/15 "2003-08-26T06:58:57Z")
If you only knew the _ **POWER** _ of Great Debates! ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/16 "2003-08-26T11:39:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*Well, [www.aretoo.com/sothere.nyeh](http://www.aretoo.com/sothere.nyeh) says different… \*\* :smack: I clicked on that ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/17 "2003-08-26T13:09:39Z")
Hey – if it weren’t for **Great Debates** I never would have gotten my spiffy new sig line! 😉 Seriously, though, the first few times I posted there it was very intimidating. Part of the problem is that most of the topics have been discussed so many times in the past that it’s really hard to come up with anything new, and no matter what you say, those who disagree with you have all their counter arguments all lined up in easily citable format. The secret, methinks, is to simply pick your battles _very_ carefully. Wait until there’s a thread that is something you really know a lot about. But remember – fools are not suffered gladly there, and you won’t win any points by simply making broad, unsupported statements. Regards, Barry ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/18 "2003-08-26T13:15:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\*:smack: I clicked on that \*\* Holy hat. The fake link I used is actually live. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/19 "2003-08-26T13:22:30Z")
I dipped my toe in the waters of Great Debates once and pulled it out fast and ran. Every time anyone would say _anything._ someone would be in immediately with links to at least three of the prior seventeen posts on the same subject. No wonder the poor hamsters are choking all the time, the GDers are busy pulling up their former threads to save the trouble of having to look up their cites all over again! Love the [www.arenot.com](http://www.arenot.com) link, Dantheman. Too bad I can’t read it, the page being in Japanese and all. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642/20 "2003-08-26T14:19:57Z")
Those folks amaze me at how they can dissect a thesis to it’s basic elements and systematically support or refute each point without losing sight of the main… Hey look… Donuts! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-im-in-great-debates/197642.md?page=2)