# the death of the Dope **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695 "2019-08-15T12:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/81 "2019-08-15T21:00:33Z")
I may lurk a lot more than I post, but I’ve been here quite a while. Comments in the OP are like the perennial comments about Saturday Night Live - “it’s not funny anymore, I’ve heard they are going to cancel it”. Meanwhile it’s been on for 45 years! People move in waves through the board. Some crappy prolific posters, some wise but frugal with their posts 🆒. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/82 "2019-08-15T22:09:09Z")
Gah! I got sucked into HD’s buffoonery in the Matt Shea thread. :smack: I’m done with that thread. I also promise not to get sucked in again in the future. Too bad: This is a topic I am deeply interested in, both the subject matter, and it is relevant because I live in this area. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/83 "2019-08-15T22:25:17Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > = > My main issue with the Pit is that contrary to the retarded myth that it’s a so-called safety valve the existence of this sub forum causes unnecessary strife. Shouldn’t we be working for a safe and welcoming board? IMO If you want a “safe and welcoming board” you shouldn’t use a word that mocks the developmentally challenged. On the other hand, if you really wanted to improve the SDMB, you would simply leave. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/84 "2019-08-15T22:30:58Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > IMO If you want a “safe and welcoming board” you shouldn’t use a word that mocks the developmentally challenged. > > On the other hand, if you really wanted to improve the SDMB, you would simply leave. Oh please. Even words like idiot, moron, dumb, stupid, etc. can be used to mock the so-called developmentally challenged. What I would like to know is where one can find the latest version of The Newspeak Dictionary. And if you don’t like what I have to say then demonstrate some apparently in short supply around here adult agency and use the ignore feature. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/85 "2019-08-15T22:39:09Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > I may lurk a lot more than I post, but I’ve been here quite a while. Comments in the OP are like the perennial comments about Saturday Night Live - “it’s not funny anymore, I’ve heard they are going to cancel it”. Meanwhile it’s been on for 45 years. Or _The Simpsons_, TV’s longest running prime time scripted series, which has been on for 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/86 "2019-08-15T22:47:56Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Oh please. Even words like idiot, moron, dumb, stupid, etc. can be used to mock the so-called developmentally challenged. What I would like to know is where one can find the latest version of The Newspeak Dictionary. You can just look it up in a [Oldspeak](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/retard) dictionary. It’ll tell you the same thing. > [@](#): > > \*\*retard \*\*noun > Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. > a contemptuous term used to refer to a person who is cognitively impaired. > a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/87 "2019-08-15T23:05:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You can just look it up in a [Oldspeak](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/retard) dictionary. It’ll tell you the same thing. Nitpick: “retard” and “retarded” are not the same word, and I’m not certain that the latter is as inherently offensive as the former. “Retard” (noun) is a slang-only abbreviation (a bad sign) used to coarsely delineate a group of people (a worse sign) with a label entirely defined by a percieved-as-negative characteristic (the final nail). It’s a term sharing properties with spic, jap, honky, and even nigger. “Retarded”, on the other hand, is the unaltered form of an originally benign term that has only taken on negative shades because its use to mean “stupid” implies (in a rather backwards, reflected way) that lower intelligence is the defining trait of a mentally retarded person, rather than just an often-present part. The first sounds worse to me. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/88 "2019-08-15T23:36:09Z")
You know what the worst thing is? This place has become boring. I don’t come around nearly as much and post but seldom this last year or so. Same people riding the same hobbyhorses, day in and day out. It’s a shame, too. But, hey, if the board culture desired by the majority, or at least the loudest crusaders, is some kind of neo-Puritan safe space where the main activity is showing off to each other just how woke we are…have at it. This place needs me no more than I need it. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/89 "2019-08-15T23:44:47Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You know what the worst thing is? This place has become boring. I don’t come around nearly as much and post but seldom this last year or so. Same people riding the same hobbyhorses, day in and day out. It’s a shame, too. But, hey, if the board culture desired by the majority, or at least the loudest crusaders, is some kind of neo-Puritan safe space where the main activity is showing off to each other just how woke we are…have at it. This place needs me no more than I need it. Whups. I was about to ask what topics you would consider interesting that were present in the past but which you now find lacking, but then I got to the second-to-last sentence, and realized that the problem is that we’re just not racist and sexist enough for your tastes. This has led me to briefly wonder what makes non-racist, non-sexist discussions boring. Is the the lack of ‘spice’? Is it the illicit thrill of saying shitty things and getting away with it what social conservatives (let’s call them) find interesting, tio the degree that conversations that don’t involve them being shits are dull to them for the lack of it? Or is it that when there are threads that aren’t full of assholes being assholes, the social conservatives (let’s call them) feel _compelled_ to spend all their time trying to inject back the homey familiarity they prefer, and that even _they_ find the endless repeat of that to be tedious and uninteresting? Or… what? What other reasons could there be for a non-racist, non-sexist board to be inherently boring, sheerly and only due to the fact that the people present don’t all suck? What? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/90 "2019-08-16T01:25:58Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You say that if it’s a bad thing. Engage the trolls. Let them know you won’t stand for that shit. Oh yes, and report them too, if you think it will do any good. No, it won’t do any good, and yes I do think it’s a bad thing, mostly because your tactic doesn’t work in any way to promote reasoned discussion. Every thread where a troll dumps his load and people spend their time and energy responding to that means that thread has now been taken over by what the troll wants to talk about instead of what the thread was actually about. The thread in question in the OP is an excellent case in point. Do you suppose the troll thinks he’s won something if his post/pile of poop goes by unremarked? I guarantee you that’s not what happens, and on those few occasions here when such a non-reaction has happened, either the troll comes back again to stir the shit (this is where everyone else’s persistence in ignoring him really pays off) or he finds more receptive waters for his activities. Being in Coventry is a lot worse for a troublemaker than being in the middle of the trouble he is so anxious to create. It isn’t easy sometimes to find the right line, some of our best trolls are adept at phrasing things to sound almost reasonable and deserving of a reasoned response, or of seeming genuinely concerned about something and slipping in the shiv when you aren’t looking. Diligence pays. I don’t usually sympathize much with these kinds of OPs myself, stay, go, I don’t care that much. But I think it’s true that the quality of discussion has gone downhill here because some of the trolls are getting cagier, and we’re not keeping up. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/91 "2019-08-16T01:27:00Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > And so here’s the question that has been pestering me for quite a while. Do the open misogynists and racists of the Dope not care that they are killing it? Do they not value it at all? Soon the only people left will be the racists and the misogynists and the whole thing will just kind of stop. Won’t you miss it when it’s gone? On the contrary, that’s a standard method such people use to take over forums. They drive everyone else out, leaving themselves in control. Everyone else leaving is precisely what they want. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/92 "2019-08-16T02:07:05Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > But, hey, if the board culture desired by the majority, or at least the loudest crusaders, is some kind of neo-Puritan safe space where the main activity is showing off to each other just how woke we are…have at it. This place needs me no more than I need it. Where did you find all that straw, man? People are just asking that “don’t be a jerk” be the motto in all the fora except the Pit, and if you find that too limiting then you’re right, we don’t need you. The board rule requires us to all be eighteen or older with the expectation that we behave like adults, not twelve year olds who just discovered their first BBS. We shouldn’t need to be babysat, but some do. Then there are the trolls like **WF** and **HD**. They should simply be banned. Semi-trolls like **Shodan** and **octopus** can be ignored, but that doesn’t hide them from the newbies. Ignoring for the rest of us can emphasize just how much some people post ( **asahi** ), and number of posts does not correlate with their quality. That snippets of the ignored’s posts are quoted is handy because whole pages of bullshit can be, if the quoter isn’t an idiot, distilled down to a few words. Those who haven’t ignored these jerks have no idea how much scrolling time is saved. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/93 "2019-08-16T02:49:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The board rule requires us to all be eighteen or older with the expectation that we behave like adults, not twelve year olds who just discovered their first BBS. No, they don’t. The rules allow thirteen year olds to join, although parents are encouraged to determine whether the Dope is a suitable place for them. > [@Bone](#): > > Minimum age for registration on the SDMB is 13 years. Registrants found to be younger than 13 will have their posting privileges revoked and forfeit any subscription fees. SDMB content is intended for mature audiences; parents or guardians paying subscription fees for children aged 13 through 17 are responsible for determining whether the SDMB is a suitable environment for their child. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288689&postcount=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288689&postcount=1) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/94 "2019-08-16T02:51:21Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > On the contrary, that’s a standard method such people use to take over forums. They drive everyone else out, leaving themselves in control. Everyone else leaving is precisely what they want. For what it’s worth, we’ve had numerous polls in IMHO over the years, and they have consistently shown a 70-90% liberal majority. Not that liberal/conservative and non-sexist/sexist are necessarily correlated, but the idea that reactionaries are going to overtake and dominate the SDMB is something that is not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/95 "2019-08-16T02:55:13Z")
Thanks, **cochrane**. Now if some people would stop pretending they were thirteen, though it would require they joined before birth. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/96 "2019-08-16T03:22:05Z")
Why are octopus’s posts like nails on a chalkboard? I can’t put my finger on it but every post is amazingly annoying. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/97 "2019-08-16T03:29:35Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > … the idea that reactionaries are going to overtake and dominate the SDMB is something that is not going to happen. Perhaps, but what they will do is poison the atmosphere and make the Dope seem unwelcoming for the reality-based newbies. However, I was almost a Republican until 1980, so I have nothing against a lot of conservative thinking. Who I dislike are reactionaries like the unlamented **Starving Artist** and psycho prophets of Libertarianism like **WF**. Conservatives bring something to the conversation and can be reasoned with. Reactionaries and prophets don’t and cannot. Now, before my post count on this page starts making me look like a kook, I’m going to bed. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/98 "2019-08-16T03:32:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Perhaps, but what they will do is poison the atmosphere and make the Dope seem unwelcoming for the reality-based newbies. However, I was almost a Republican until 1980, so I have nothing against a lot of conservative thinking. Who I dislike are reactionaries like the unlamented **Starving Artist** and psycho prophets of Libertarianism like **WF**. Conservatives bring something to the conversation and can be reasoned with. Reactionaries and prophets don’t and cannot. The three right of center posters make this a scary place for newbies? Lol. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/99 "2019-08-16T07:04:12Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You know what the worst thing is? This place has become boring. I don’t come around nearly as much and post but seldom this last year or so. Same people riding the same hobbyhorses, day in and day out. It’s a shame, too. But, hey, if the board culture desired by the majority, or at least the loudest crusaders, is some kind of neo-Puritan safe space where the main activity is showing off to each other just how woke we are…have at it. This place needs me no more than I need it. Jesus Christ on a fucking pogo stick. You’ve huffed away more times in the past year than **octopus** has cried about people using the words that got his mouth washed out with soap and **Shodan** blatantly lied than ran away when corrected on it combined. I don’t care whether you stay or go, but make up your mind, for fuck’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695/100 "2019-08-16T07:05:13Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > The three right of center posters make this a scary place for newbies? Lol. You mispelled hateful, lying whingers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-the-dope/838695.md?page=6)