# On the closing of the Omegaman thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094 "2007-05-30T17:40:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/61 "2007-05-30T21:29:10Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] then you all throw rocks at us if you don’t like what we do. 🙂 [/QUOTE] ::throws a pebble at **Giraffe** :: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/62 "2007-05-30T21:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Well, no, because we still don’t want people trolling even if they do post coherently, and because codifying what types of threads are over the line would be a mess. This is one of those areas where the mods just have to use their judgment, then you all throw rocks at us if you don’t like what we do. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Well, I wasn’t talking about getting rid of the troll rule. Just add something like “The mods reserve the right to close any thread they consider too incoherent/unfocused/inflammatory, so try to make your posts as clear as possible”, or something like that. Something still vague that addresses the point. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/63 "2007-05-30T21:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Well, I wasn’t talking about getting rid of the troll rule. Just add something like “The mods reserve the right to close any thread they consider too incoherent/unfocused/inflammatory, so try to make your posts as clear as possible”, or something like that. Something still vague that addresses the point. [/QUOTE] OK, I see what you’re saying. Not a new rule so much as a guideline. That’s not a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/64 "2007-05-30T21:43:39Z")
If I were a mod, I’d have closed it too. The guy was only semi-coherent, it was pretty sad. Plus, you know, it was an amusingly indirect RO thread, and I hate those. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/65 "2007-05-30T22:02:57Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] To clarify, it wasn’t faith in general I was referring to in those terms (which I admitted probably sounded condescending), but the specific “blame Satan” defense to the POE. [/quote] Got it. Thanks! 🙂 > [@](#): > > I called it a “cognitive strategy” (I didn’t say “dissonance”) because I do think it comes from an emotional need to reconcile God with evil (an eternal task for _anyone_ of faith, I think you’d concede). I don’t think that _particular_ defense parses logically but I understood it emotionally. I have no problem with God and evil. I suppose that’s because of how I define both of them. If God is the facilitator of goodness and evil is its obstruction, then if there is to be free moral will, there needs to be a choice between facilitation and obstruction. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/66 "2007-05-30T22:07:52Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] OK, I see what you’re saying. Not a new rule so much as a guideline. That’s not a bad idea. [/QUOTE] Hmm, I tend to agree. I think sometimes people tend to feel stifled for what you excellently labeled as “pruning”; much of the time, when moderators are criticized for thread closures, it tends to fall into this category in one way or another. I don’t want people to feel that we’re holding scoreboards for worthy or unworthy threads (I’m sure I’d be ranked among the snooty French judges) but at the same time, we want the board to be interesting. Allowing people to post any old crap with no focus is bad for the board in the long run. Such threads (as this one) are often given some time to grow and develop, but when they…erm…‘fail to flourish’, they can and should be closed. There’s only so much space on the front page of each forum, and sometimes you have to make choices. If there’s an unkempt homeless man screaming in the park about aliens and the CIA while a band’s playing, I don’t really mind him being ushered aside. Likewise, with threads such as Omegaman’s. I’d be happy to see this codified in a guideline if folks feel put out by such closures, though, typically the rule-reading types are not the types who are posting in this manner, or cluttering the board through stream of consciousness rambling and clumsy insults of their critics. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/67 "2007-05-30T22:09:42Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] If God is the facilitator of goodness [/QUOTE] God cannot be the facilitator of anything, because in my experience facilitators come equipped with PowerPoint presentations, and PowerPoint is clearly the work of the Devil. QED. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/68 "2007-05-30T22:10:31Z")
A question for Giraffe, Mr. Dibble, and others who might have found it to be incoherent: would you say that it was incoherent because it concerned subject matter that is unfamiliar to you? It is conceivable that an OP about, say, a QM interpretation might be incoherent to quite many people, including some mods. But would that violate the suggested guideline? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/69 "2007-05-30T22:13:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] God cannot be the facilitator of anything, because in my experience facilitators come equipped with PowerPoint presentations, and PowerPoint is clearly the work of the Devil. QED. [/QUOTE] But He uses Etch A Sketch! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/70 "2007-05-30T22:27:26Z")
[QUOTE=fluiddruid] I’d be happy to see this codified in a guideline… [/QUOTE] God no! That’s the first step down a slippery path. Far better that you mods take some shit now and again than we stifle the board’s Omegamen with anything that _isn’t_ arbitrary and capricious on its face. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/71 "2007-05-30T22:35:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] One can be sincere and still be a troll. [/QUOTE] So I’m told ;p ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/72 "2007-05-30T22:39:05Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] Satan made **fluiddruid** close the thread. Duh. [/QUOTE] Druids are Satan’s minions, everyone knows that, with their cowls, Sacred Groves and human sacrifice. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/73 "2007-05-30T22:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] A question for Giraffe, Mr. Dibble, and others who might have found it to be incoherent: would you say that it was incoherent because it concerned subject matter that is unfamiliar to you? It is conceivable that an OP about, say, a QM interpretation might be incoherent to quite many people, including some mods. But would that violate the suggested guideline? [/QUOTE] I thought it was incoherent. No, it wasn’t the subject matter, but the lack of grammar and a clear train of argument that made it incoherent for me. It seemed very stream-of-consciousness, rather than a reasoned, thought-out argument. Is QM quantum mechanics? Regardless, I think even if the subject matter itself is unfamiliar, you can tell whethere there’s a problem of yourself not understanding and and incoherence of the post itself. I might not get what you mean by A, B or C, but I can see you’re arguing A plus B equals C. Plus I could always ask the person with the unfamiliar subject matter to explain or dumb it down for me; an incoherent poster wouldn’t be able to. Perhaps any guideline would work better as used against a pattern of posting, rather than a single one. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/74 "2007-05-30T22:42:59Z")
Wasn’t Satan created to be pitted? Isn’t he like the eternal fall-guy, the universal scapegoat? The angel of injustice? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/75 "2007-05-30T23:14:04Z")
Thanks, Rev. I understand better what y’all are saying about incoherence. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/76 "2007-05-30T23:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Sorry, missed it the first time. So you were saying in your OP that you’re Satan’s prison-bitch? [/QUOTE] No, that i’m leaving my pocket out for him.maybe we should wait to see what the mods have to say before going any further though. Here, they are the the law and you should show the proper respect for them in as far as bringing up the op of the closed thread . Understand ? Don’t take this the wrong way but please don’t direct any more comments to me. I DO believe you are full of shit . Are you supposed to be a Reverend of some kind or what ? You can answer that because now I’m curious as to what exactly your all about . ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/77 "2007-05-30T23:16:50Z")
Storm in a teapot. Guy’s as close as it comes to a basketcase. Pitting fuckin’ _Satan_?! Fuck. You’re either on too many drugs or are lacking a bunch. Might be “fun” running into such a nutter at a bar – with a couple under your belt – but I see no reason at all why the SDMB has to give a venue to every street-corner, apocalyptic merchant-of-doom nutcake, a voice. After all, we’ve still have more than enough Neo-con ideologues doing that. Although, obviously, after their utter and complete failure, in much more subdued ways. Not like they have much of a choice either. And then, there’s also **Shodan**. Just how much lower do you guys want the overall intellect of this place to go down? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/78 "2007-05-30T23:19:03Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] No, that i’m leaving my pocket out for him.maybe we should wait to see what the mods have to say before going any further though. Here, they are the the law and you should show the proper respect for them in as far as bringing up the op of the closed thread . Understand ? Don’t take this the wrong way but please don’t direct any more comments to me. I DO believe you are full of shit . Are you supposed to be a Reverend of some kind or what ? You can answer that because now I’m curious as to what exactly your all about . [/QUOTE] You know, you’re not actually in a position to dictate what others may or may not post here. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/79 "2007-05-30T23:30:09Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] A question for Giraffe, Mr. Dibble, and others who might have found it to be incoherent: would you say that it was incoherent because it concerned subject matter that is unfamiliar to you? [/QUOTE] For me it was incoherent because he was not engaging other posters coherently. I was enjoying the thread and wouldn’t have called for closure but it was frustrating in that music was blaring but there didn’t seem to be anyone home to answer the door. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094/80 "2007-05-30T23:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] Don’t take this the wrong way but please don’t direct any more comments to me. I DO believe you are full of shit . [/QUOTE] Er, what would be the _right_ way to take that, exactly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-closing-of-the-omegaman-thread/406094.md?page=5)