# Please reconsider closing Reza thread on "wit brain" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 18, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686 "2014-05-18T19:18:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/41 "2014-05-21T20:34:55Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I still want to know this: if a student of mine asked for my help with homework from another science class and I wasn’t sure of the answer, if I came here and asked about it would I be violating the rules? I truly don’t mean this in a snarky way- until this point I never would have hesitated- but now I would. > > And I don’t mean I’d post the question and ask for answers- I’d ask for info so I could help answer the student myself. If you ask in the way indicated by your last sentence, no, that would not be a rules violation. Where **Reza** ran afoul of the rules is that he basically did post the question and ask for answers. If you ever have any question about whether a post would be appropriate or not, feel free to PM or e-mail one of the mods. That’s what we’re here for. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/42 "2014-05-21T21:04:09Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I still want to know this: if a student of mine asked for my help with homework from another science class and I wasn’t sure of the answer, if I came here and asked about it would I be violating the rules? I truly don’t mean this in a snarky way- until this point I never would have hesitated- but now I would. It doesn’t matter because even if you did post something that got someone warned in the past, if they like you, or it’s a new month or they’ve had their morning coffee, they’ll explain how it’s actually totally different. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/43 "2014-05-21T21:09:53Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > It doesn’t matter because even if you did post something that got someone warned in the past, if they like you, or it’s a new month or they’ve had their morning coffee, they’ll explain how it’s actually totally different. +1. I think it’d called Zotti’s Law: the arbitrariness of the ruling is directly proportional to the vehemence with which it is defended. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/44 "2014-05-21T22:12:22Z")
Please tell me this is another case of a guideline that’s nebulous, hard to narrowly define and unworkable to broadly define and enforce. That by now the reason for the closing is pretty clear to everyone (especially after some clarifying posts) and that there’s no actual immediate threat of a new(ish) heavy-handed rule descending on us. That most of the kvetching stems from the Board’s large debate motif, intense passion for analysis and residual echos from when moderation discussions were relegated to the Pit. That the hypotheticals are either reflecting pissy pedanticism or love of esoteric understaning of minutia. I get paid to write books on development policy, often with a focus on climate change. I ask grammar and science questions with reckless abandon, and cannot imagine that my posting privileges (whether full or topic ban) are in any way threatened by the current discussion. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/45 "2014-05-21T22:32:13Z")
I’ve asked computer and software questions, and computers and software are what I do for a living. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/46 "2014-05-22T01:48:55Z")
Shhhhh…! ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/47 "2014-05-22T01:56:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Shhhhh…! Don’t even think about asking any kayak questions. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/48 "2014-05-22T02:23:39Z")
Geez, am I the only one who agrees with the Mod’s decision? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/49 "2014-05-22T02:28:29Z")
I’d still like to know: > [@Crazyhorse](#): > > If a poster asks questions that lead to interesting discussions who cares about why they are asking them anyway? I can see limiting legal and medical advice to opinion forums for liability reasons but homework questions? Why does it matter if someone seeks a factual answer to a question because of a scholastic or professional interest in the subject? Putting aside the specifics about this poster, I’m genuinely curious about why it matters in the first place. Homework for example - I can imagine individual posters telling someone “Look, I’m not going to do your homework for you. If you want help figuring it out show me what youv’e done so far” and others saying “Sure kid, the answer is 532, cheers” - in either case why does the board administration care about it? Is it a question of scholastic ethics, legal liability, or what? And in the case of asking things that apply to work endeavors, again why does it really matter to the board administration? Is it a question of wanting a cut of the action if someone is able to profit from something they learn here? (e.g. Tuba indicates that paid subscribers may be given more leeway in this than guests) Or a community-minded policy that we would prefer posters who come to chat, participate in various discussions about many subjects, and just don’t like it when someone limits their posts to questions for work? (and there again, if so… why?) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/50 "2014-05-22T03:01:03Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I would think under those circumstances what you are doing is totally different from what Reza is doing. And it’s not like the only thing you have to say is on subjects that profit you and you alone. > > I dunno if this also has bearing on the situation but you are also a subscribing Member. Reza is not. Should that count in the equation? Perhaps. Reza uses the site to get paid; in fact, it appears that’s the only reason they do post here. So now you’re doubling down on bringing up stuff that isn’t against the rules? Not only do you keep bringing up him getting paid, which IS NOT AGAINST THE RULES, but now you are making up a new rule that guests have to follow different rules than members. I get it that you moderators find the idea of someone making money off of information they get from this website to be distasteful. But you’ve also been on record as saying that actions you find distasteful are not reasons to moderate. When **Dio** was banned, you guys went out of your way to point out that it wasn’t his irritating style of posting but his breaking the “Don’t be a jerk” rule that resulted in his banning. The point is that this little bit of information is completely irrelevant to whether Reza broke the rules. You guys seem to keep bringing it up as an attempt to get us to side against him. That’s ad hominem. We should be better than that here. The reason he was moderated was based on the homework rule. The question here is simply whether or not he actually broke that rule. If you think he did, then why do you have to keep bringing up things that have nothing to do with that rule or any others? Are you trying to admit that you don’t have a case? Because that’s exactly what we would think if you pulled this in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/51 "2014-05-22T05:50:36Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > There’s a case to be made for curbing undisguised homework questions. Fighting ignorance and all that. But how does providing incentive to disguise homework questions ‘fight ignorance’? As I said, I think there’s rather a case to be made for curbing answers that just give the solution without providing any understanding—and that’s true in any case, not just regarding ‘homework questions’. That doesn’t mean that I’d want a rule instituted to that effect, but I think the rule as it is just misses the point. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/52 "2014-05-22T06:03:03Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I dunno if this also has bearing on the situation but you are also a subscribing Member. Reza is not. Should that count in the equation? Perhaps. Reza uses the site to get paid; in fact, it appears that’s the only reason they do post here. I didn’t see anywhere that the rules are supposed to apply differently to members and non-members; in fact, in the registration agreement, it explicitly says that the rules apply to ‘all participants’, the only difference being that members don’t see ads. So I don’t see how this fact should ‘count in the equation’. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/53 "2014-05-22T13:37:21Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I dunno if this also has bearing on the situation but you are also a subscribing Member. Reza is not. Should that count in the equation? Perhaps. Reza uses the site to get paid. Ladies and Gentlemen, the germ of an idea for the new Pay-To-Post model. Questions can only be asked by subscribing members unless a guest has a notarized statement that they’re not in any way benefiting from answers to their questions. The new SDMB motto: Fighting Ignorance for paid members only since 1973 (it’s not paying as well as we thought) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/54 "2014-05-22T14:01:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Not only do you keep bringing up him getting paid, which IS NOT AGAINST THE RULES, … I think the issue is not that he’s getting paid per se, but that his profession is dishonest. It is cheating to pay someone to do your homework. The policy is to not support this type of dishonesty. There is no problem assisting people to do an \*honest \*job that they are paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/55 "2014-05-22T14:09:58Z")
If you’re this outraged over the mild deference/distinction made between a guest and a paying member, just _wait_ until you hear about what Charter Members can get away with! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/56 "2014-05-22T14:18:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I get it that you moderators find the idea of someone making money off of information they get from this website to be distasteful. I imagine what they really find distasteful is that someone who’s not them is making money off the site. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/57 "2014-05-22T15:15:57Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > If you’re this outraged over the mild deference/distinction made between a guest and a paying member, just _wait_ until you hear about what Charter Members can get away with! Ya’ll have been told that you are **not** to throw that in our faces! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/58 "2014-05-22T17:46:45Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I think the issue is not that he’s getting paid per se, but that his profession is dishonest. It is cheating to pay someone to do your homework. The policy is to not support this type of dishonesty. There is no problem assisting people to do an \*honest \*job that they are paid for. While that may or may not be true, it wasn’t the reason given. It wasn’t about the legality of the request. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17385691&postcount=31](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17385691&postcount=31) > [@](#): > > The board is not intended to furnish you with a forum for promoting your personal agenda. We reserve the right to ask you to limit postings on a particular topic, or to refrain from posting on such topics altogether. **Please do not ask other members to do your homework or provide input for your article, paper, or other off-board project. We may waive this rule if you obtain prior permission from a moderator or administrator.** ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/59 "2014-05-22T18:06:00Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > [QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] > And I don’t mean I’d post the question and ask for answers- I’d ask for info so I could help answer the student myself. If you ask in the way indicated by your last sentence, no, that would not be a rules violation. Where **Reza** ran afoul of the rules is that he basically did post the question and ask for answers. [/QUOTE] Wow, I wouldn’t get to first grade in Mod school. Where’s the line between info and answers? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686/60 "2014-05-23T16:55:04Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > If you’re this outraged over the mild deference/distinction made between a guest and a paying member, just _wait_ until you hear about what Charter Members can get away with! > [@jimbuff314](#): > > Ya’ll have been told that you are **not** to throw that in our faces! And there’s nothing worse than a Charter Member who constantly interrupts you to tell you he really _is_ a Charter Member even though it just says “Member” under his name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-reconsider-closing-reza-thread-on-wit-brain/688686.md?page=4)