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.
I think some of the reaction you see, Dio, is precisely because some people do get this and don’t like it.
They don’t have to participate.
…
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.
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.
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.
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
Then GD is the place for them.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
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”.
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?
Yes, it’s so horridly uncool when people follow community rules and norms.
You can get cooties that way.
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.
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**
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.
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.
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.
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.
is this an official warning?
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.