# So you're a mindreader now? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youre-a-mindreader-now/276230 "2004-11-23T03:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youre-a-mindreader-now/276230/1 "2004-11-23T03:54:41Z")
Recently I started a thread (since closed) asking what the most obnoxious thing you’ve ever seen said on the SDMB was. (Actually, I said “asinine”, but same difference.) I got what I thought was a fairly interesting range of answers – I also got a couple of people ripping me for, in **moriah** ’s words, posting something that was “spitefully designed to create dissension and friction in a community.” WTF? It’s one thing to say you don’t think I should post something like that because it will create friction. It’s another thing to say it was _spitefully designed_ for that purpose. How the hell do you know my intent in starting the thread? If you must know, I had just read a few things recently on here that I found rather appalling (I won’t say what 'cause that’s a whole other thread), and was hoping to have it put in some perspective. You know, like, “Sure, so-and-so said \_\_\_\_, but at least they weren’t denying the Holocaust like such-and-such once did.” Excuse me if I didn’t exactly think that starting a thread where people would criticize each other _in a forum that exists for people to criticize each other_ would exactly rupture the fabric of the SDMB. I also don’t get why the administrator ( **Lynn Bodoni** ) would say it should be in IMHO, but that it’s too rancorous to move there. If I knew it would be somewhat rancorous, then didn’t it make sense to start the thread in the Pit? I figured if I started it anywhere else, it would have been moved here anyway? Just to clarify, though – I’m not complaining about Lynn’s decision to close the thread, or to say it was in the wrong place. That’s her job as an admin. I’m just saying I don’t understand the “wrong place” comment. I _am_, however, complaining about people who would criticize my _intent_ in starting a thread, despite the fact that this is something that they cannot possibly know. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youre-a-mindreader-now/276230/2 "2004-11-23T04:16:01Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I also got a couple of people ripping me for, in **moriah** ’s words, posting something that was “spitefully designed to create dissension and friction in a community.” WTF? [Phatists](http://www.mcluhaninstitute.org/baedeker/bobs_articles/phatic_communion.html) . You jinked their autopilot. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youre-a-mindreader-now/276230/3 "2004-11-23T05:51:09Z")
You’re right. I couldn’t have known that your question, designed (intentionally or unintentionally) to create dissension and friction in a community was done out of spite. I apologize. It could have been done out of sheer malice, or stupidity. It could have been a troll, but we’re not allowed to call someone on that publicly. I should have simply alerted the admins in private that someone’s stirring up trouble (intentionally or unintentionally… of course, I do not know your intention). So, I do not know why you wanted people to rehash old pittings or to encourage new pittings. All I know, it was the most asinine thing I’ve ever seen on the board. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-youre-a-mindreader-now/276230/4 "2004-11-23T12:40:56Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > . . . All I know, it was the most asinine thing I’ve ever seen on the board . . . Oh, heck, I’ve seen \*lots \* worse things on these boards. Ferinstance, there was that guy who posted . . . wait a minute . . . this is what got us into this mess, isn’t it? **moriah** , are you trying to trick us into posting the most obnoxious thing we’ve ever seen on the boards? Shame on you, you tricky devil . . .