What I’ve learned here is immeasurable. I’ve always loved gorging on facts and general knowledge, as a child I would skim encyclopedias and read topics that looked interesting.
11 years ago I quit tobacco thanks to a thread where someone had summarized the Alan Carr book.
I’ve tried many products suggested here, gained a few expensive hobbies, got to “know” the regulars here, watched as drama unfolded, smiled at the good times, cried at the bad times.
Thank you all for all you contribute, as without you, this place wouldn’t be the special place it has become for myself and many others.
Apart from generally appreciating the literacy level of the posts here (the insistence on coherence and being able to back up one’s assertions is a rarity on the interwebs), I find it’s an excellent aggregator for news stories AND for then pointing out the issues with those news stories.
IOW, despite the assertions of some it is in many ways much less of an echo chamber than most messageboards of any ilk.
Once I’ve opened my email at work, getting on the Dope is the next thing I do. I leave the site up and it becomes my anchor for the day. If I get tired of what I’m working on, I check in here to see what’s interesting. It’s the last thing I close before leaving work every day.
I don’t post much, but I love this site and the knowledge, wisdom and experience on display here. Thank you for being my anchor.
I have a feeling that if we got all the Dopers together in a very big room and asked, “How many of you as kids (or adults) sat and read the encyclopedia and/or dictionary for fun?” most hands would go up.
It’s the only message board I’m active on. Lots of intelligent people here; the signal-to-noise ratio is higher here compared to any other board I’ve been on. Logic, reason, and rationalism take center stage here.
And yea, it’s changed me. Though I identify as a conservative (or more accurately a conservative-libertarian), this board has kept me firmly grounded in reality. Unlike so many of my conservative friends and acquaintances, I am very pro-science. And I can’t stand Trump. I would probably be one of them if it weren’t for this board.
All is not lost, yet, but I think you need some “re-education”
There are no bad puns.
@Crafter_Man I was one of them when I started posting here, sort of. I’ve always been on the look out for ways to help myself improve my thinking about the world (critical thinking, rational thought, avoiding wish fulfillment and magical thinking etc) so I was able to avoid being one of “them” as “they” manifest today with the help of The Dope*. I still feel as though I am a conservative, but I am definitely no rightwinger, my definition of conservative is, I guess, out of sync with the rest of the world today.
I have recently discovered that being a conservative and also trusting science (i.e. also being pro-vax, understanding the reasons for climate change, understanding Biden didn’t “steal” the election) puts a person in a very small minority.
The SMBD turned me into a libertarian, which is ironic given the hate that libertarians get around here. I came here originally from AOL as a conservative/Republican sympathizer, and my default ideas were challenged, causing me to use my mind outside of my career.
I value(d) the SDMB for a lot more back in the day, pre-Discourse. It was a lot more intimate, then. Now, it’s just a crappy OEM support board sheparded into our community. Ex-community. Whatever.
Pretty much the same for me - absent a topic specific (upright bass) board. These boards are not perfect, but they are “enough” internet interaction for me. And I don’t mean that to sound dismissive. These fora are damned good on so many fronts - the ability to get/give factual info, learn about developing political and other events, and just discuss TV/movies or stupid shit.
I’m not always thrilled with the responses I get to some of my opinions, but I truly relish the opportunity to toss out my opinion ad hear what others think about it. And not just folk on the other end of the spectrum. I generally consider myself pretty damned far to the left on just about every issue. It is refreshing to encounter folk who are WAY lefter than me.
Sure, I could do without it - and did for a while due to computer issues. But I was glad to have regained connection. Gotta admit, I am most active during work hours, because my work is SO incredibly boring and tedious. But I also check at least daily and after work hours when there is a topic that I’m interested in.
There are several around here whom I consider “friends”, tho I doubt we will ever meAt. And many more whose opinions and insight I value and welcome.
Heck, here, the nitpickers are welcomed in the hope of getting it right. I consider that a plus. When the best compliment on a board is “ignorance fought”, well, I know that’s where I want to be.
I’ve heard some say it would be nice to have a “like” button. I find “like” to be overly ambiguous. I would prefer an “ignorance fought” button - I can’t count the number of times I’ve been reading along and spotted something that I didn’t know, or made me change my thinking about something, but I didn’t want to derail the discussion to chime in and say just that (without having anything else to bring to the discussion).
[had to smile when my finger doggedly insisted on backtracking and typing ‘an’ in front of ignorance, in lieu of ‘a’. Some bandwagons I just can’t climb onto]
I’d agree. I was one* before I got here. I never got criticized for that, but a decade of lurking before I posted was good for me. I watched people a lot smarter than I (before the Dope, I would’ve said me), as they’d point out the impracticalities of a lot of “purist” ideologies. And I had to admit a lot of my views were impractical. This board and the Republicans and Baby Jesus have all pushed me toward the left.
.
*In fact, I went to a far right-wing college where many of the Libertarians were so far right they were almost anarchists (no post office, no police, no fire dept.), and were fanatically anti-government:
Someone’s breaking into your house? You shouldn’t depend on the government’s police force, and you should have a choice! “Hello, Sam’s Police? I saw your ad in the paper, and would like to hire you at the introductory rate to come arrest an armed burglar in our house. Oh, and I have a coupon.”
would thus work as an ‘ignorance fought’ button?