# Should the SDMB prohibit debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676 "2010-10-19T17:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/61 "2010-10-19T20:51:18Z")
I want GD to stick around if for no other reason than I like to see the 9/11 Truthers get smacked down every now and then. I’m addicted to those threads although I never post. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/62 "2010-10-19T21:07:17Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think what some people might not get is that some people just really like arguing for its own sake, and aren’t necessarily concerned about resolution. I think some of the reaction you see, **Dio** , is precisely because some people _do_ get this and don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/63 "2010-10-19T21:15:53Z")
They don’t have to participate. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/64 "2010-10-19T21:26:49Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Repeated veiled insults. > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I can haz cheeseburger!!! LOL … ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/65 "2010-10-19T21:31:09Z")
On second thought, let’s do it. Axe Great Debates, enable 640x480 animated avatars with sound, and make \*\*lekatt \*\*and \*\*kanicbird \*\*moderators. If the ship’s gonna go down, might as well set the powder kegs alight. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/66 "2010-10-19T21:37:20Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > But had I the time, or the inclination, I still wouldnt go near Great debates. I consider GD to be a cesspool of dishonest, petty, semantic, shit-stirring assholes. What, I guess it must be the veiled part you object to? I’m just trying to adhere to board rules better than you are, I guess. You can’t blame GD for board rules though. But yeah, GD could sure benefit from your wit and logic. Clearly you strive to avoid the cesspool. Do come join us. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/67 "2010-10-19T21:41:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They don’t have to participate. What if they would like to debate _for real_, about things that they care about, but are dissuaded by people playing bullshit games? Endless debate-as-sport may choke out more substantive and valuable participation. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/68 "2010-10-19T21:46:25Z")
I dont have a problem with debate as sport. To be honest I think the issue is more many of the topics have been discussed so many times they’ve become a bit ritualistic for longer term members. But thats always going to happen, just have to realise thats whats going on. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/69 "2010-10-19T21:53:28Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > What if they would like to debate _for real_, about things that they care about, but are dissuaded by people playing bullshit games? Then GD is the place for them. > [@](#): > > Endless debate-as-sport may choke out more substantive and valuable participation Those two things are not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/70 "2010-10-19T22:00:54Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > What, I guess it must be the veiled part you object to? I’m just trying to adhere to board rules better than you are, I guess. You can’t blame GD for board rules though. > > But yeah, GD could sure benefit from your wit and logic. Clearly you strive to avoid the cesspool. Do come join us. Of course its the veiled part, well done. I have insulted plenty of people, but at least I will do it to their face, so to speak. It speaks volumes of GD etiquette that you proudly point out that you do so “within the rules”. > [@bucketybuck](#): > > …Rules lawyering… ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/71 "2010-10-19T22:49:15Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Of course its the veiled part, well done. I have insulted plenty of people, but at least I will do it to their face, so to speak. Well, then, however will we get along if you choose to linger outside of Great Debates? We could all benefit from your model of interpersonal fortitude, having the guts to speak straightforwardly to our faces, “bucketybuck.” Or is that Mr. Buck, you paragon of internet integrity? > [@](#): > > It speaks volumes of GD etiquette that you proudly point out that you do so “within the rules”. Yes, it’s so horridly uncool when people follow community rules and norms. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/72 "2010-10-19T22:51:23Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Yes, it’s so horridly uncool when people follow community rules and norms. You can get cooties that way. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/73 "2010-10-20T02:01:48Z")
The problem I have with GD is there’s not enough honest debating going on. Sticking, like glue, to a talking point, and repeating it over and over, ad nauseum, until the other side just gives up is not debating. Attacking someone personally is not debating. Being dismissive, snarky, and condescending are not good debating tactics, and ignoring and ridiculing facts when they don’t support your agenda are not honorable debating practices. It’s for those reasons that I believe GD is the only forum on this board that should be moderated. Heated debates are fine and, IMHO, healthy, but perhaps a tightening of the rules of engagement is in order. With Moderation, GD can be so much better than it is now because, let’s face it, I think it is pretty well established that the inmates cannot police themselves around there. I’m not proposing anything drastic, just that if you want to participate in a debate you should be encouraged to actually engage the OP and other responders in a professional manner, and to relent if you fail to make your case to an opponent or opposing faction. Count me as another who would find less value in this board if GD were to be removed but, as much as I love it there, and I so very much do, I believe it is clear, that forum, more than any other, is in need of a little more structure. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/74 "2010-10-20T02:10:37Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Do you really need for me to spell this out for you? > > What the fuck I am talking about is that the Great Debates forum is for the most part populated by a bunch of pretentious, pompous windbags who’s Spell it out? P-U-N-C-T-U-A-T-I-O-N > [@](#): > > opinions are no more relevant and interesting than a fart in the wind. That you, specifically, seem to have what would pass for normal faculties and yet you seem to be completely unable to entertain any thoughts other that those that conform to your own narrow little world-view. Further, the utter conviction with which you declare your opinion as if it were fact is ignorance of the worst kind. Your Shtick is old and busted. You have become a caricature of yourself. > > Now if you were to confine yourself to that forum I would be enthusiastically in favor of it because it would mean that I could easily avoid the drivel that you produce. Since that forum does not serve the purpose of quarantining your ceaseless yammering it seems irrelevant. > > Face the facts: This board lost its heart when the MPSIMS carebears overran the Pit. It is still a place to read an occasional interesting tidbit but look back at some of the older threads and tell me it isn’t a pale shadow of what it once was. It has no fire, so soul. So, yeah. Who really cares what happens to Great Debates. This board certainly is fighting very little ignorance, and certainly not in Great Debates. > > Kay? **Binarydrone** , you need to dial it way back. You’re coming real close to threadshitting and issuing insults, even though you have been careful to avoid actual epithets. Knock it off. And if you don’t like the way our Pit is run, I’m sure you can find another one more to your liking. For the Straight Dope, \*\* Spectre of Pithecanthropus\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/75 "2010-10-20T02:23:56Z")
Heaven forfend. If nothing else, GD is the one place where facts and citations to facts are required, (at least if a person’s arguments are to be respected at all) and given the Straight Dope ethos, it would be criminal to get rid of it. It would change the character completely. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/76 "2010-10-20T03:00:45Z")
I don’t care at all about the Game Room, or Straight Dope Chicago, or Barn Building. YMMV. I’ve learned things I didn’t know in Great Debates but I’m not a skilled debater and only rarely post there. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/77 "2010-10-20T07:37:02Z")
When has it allowed them? A debate is not the same thing as an argument. That a forum called Great Debates is where people go to have an argument is a disgrace. But, really, the bigger problem in GD is the way it is moderated. It is specifically designed to be the place where we discuss contoversial topics that people are emotionally invested in. But rather than see that as a reason to use that as a reason to be more careful, we instead let tempers fly further. And what happens? You get a bunch mean, angry posts that serve to make those who read it angry. In fact, if there were no good topics in GD, it would be a lot better. If it really was just the argument forum, people could avoid it altogether. But occasionally good stuff happens there. But only if you get to a thread early before it becomes a pissing contest. I do my best in that forum to actually discuss the topic, and not try to take it personally. But that’s hard, even for the most hardcore participants–or they wouldn’t always feel the need to attack back. And I didn’t even vote for removing GD. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/78 "2010-10-20T12:10:08Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Count me as another who would find less value in this board if GD were to be removed but, as much as I love it there, and I so very much do, I believe it is clear, that forum, more than any other, is in need of a little more structure. I agree and disagree. I do agree that it would be great if people in GD naturally did more than just express an unfounded opinion back and forth. As one who likes to go get cites and point to empirical evidence it is exceptionally frustrating to feel that such contributions are weighted at times less valuable than just spouting an opinion. It’s what made me propose an inverse relationship between the time you spend composing a post and the degree of impact it has on the discussion. On the other hand, I would rather that came about naturally, and would be loathe to have to follow some imposed structure or rules of order to achieve it. I also disagree that it is rife with flaring tempers. I’ve found more pissiness and tolerance for abusive language in this thread alone and in Cafe Society threads than is typically evident in GD. People get more wound up about their favorite books or movies than they do about global warming or abortion. At least, in threads at the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/79 "2010-10-20T15:36:57Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Spell it out? > > P-U-N-C-T-U-A-T-I-O-N > **Binarydrone** , you need to dial it way back. You’re coming real close to threadshitting and issuing insults, even though you have been careful to avoid actual epithets. Knock it off. > > And if you don’t like the way our Pit is run, I’m sure you can find another one more to your liking. > > For the Straight Dope, > \*\* > Spectre of Pithecanthropus\*\* is this an official warning? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676/80 "2010-10-20T16:38:58Z")
I say no, but only because if they got rid of Great Debates, then the pissing matches would inevitably migrate into other forums, instead of staying confined where I can easily ignore them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sdmb-prohibit-debates/557676.md?page=5)