# The use of non sequitors in the Pit
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [April 10, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922 "2002-04-10T22:59:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/1 "2002-04-10T22:59:14Z")
There seems to be a trend of late wherein posters (myself included) will post a non sequitor in response to the OP in the Pit.
Do the Mods have a problem with this?
I personally think it’s a helluva lot better than posting nasty, negative remarks and starting a flame war. I’d rather reply with “Mmmmmm…you can really taste the goat” than “You are a jerk” or “You’re wasting bandwidth with your post” or similiar responses.
I can’t see the point in being nasty unless the OP is a direct attack on another poster and the poster is defending him/herself. Calling someone a jerk because he/she hates Sears, for example, is just being childish.
This is my opinion, of course.
quietly waiting for the first poster to call me a jerk or acuse me of wasting bandwidth…
😃
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### Author:  [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/2 "2002-04-10T23:13:39Z")
How you ever wondered how the major internal organs of a centaur are arranged?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2002, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/3 "2002-04-10T23:37:01Z")
But not in the south.
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### Author:  [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/4 "2002-04-11T00:22:59Z")
It intrigues me that you would be asking about marmosets.
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/5 "2002-04-11T01:00:24Z")
I can’t say if the Mods have a problem with it, but (IMO) it’s pretty irritating, especially (I would imagine) to the OP’er, not to mention extremely condescending.
It kinda seems (to me) to defeat the purpose of posting. You post because you have something to say, so if you have nothing to say… why post? And if you have something to say… why not say it?
The only purpose I can see for posts of this type is to say ‘I am superior to you, nyah,’ without actually saying it, so as not to be a jerk.
It’s also an inherently presumptuous activity, since it presupposes that you speak for the majority of posters in saying that the opinion of the OP is unworthy.
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### Author:  [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/6 "2002-04-11T02:07:20Z")
So, what’s your favorite cheese?
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/7 "2002-04-11T05:01:59Z")
_Cherry_ pie.
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/8 "2002-04-11T05:11:56Z")
That [Lincoln](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95345) guy - he thought he was so smart.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/9 "2002-04-11T10:11:04Z")
If memory serves, Lynn has expressed annoyance at this practice in the past. I for one don’t want to be the guy who annoys Lynn.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/10 "2002-04-11T10:52:32Z")
It DOES annoy me. I haven’t talked it over with my colleagues yet, though.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/11 "2002-04-11T11:23:40Z")
My cat’s breath smells of cat food.
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### Author:  [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/12 "2002-04-11T12:18:16Z")
I thought the use of an out-of-the-blue non sequitor was only used (well, _primarily_ used) in a thread where the OP is perceived to be a troll post, in an attempt to Not Feed The Troll[sup]tm[/sup].
If I see it as intended to starve the trolls, then I enjoy the humor. If I see its usage in inappropriate situations, then it irritates me.
Since I don’t spend a lot of time in the Pit, I haven’t noticed if the practice is spreading or not.
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### Author:  [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/13 "2002-04-11T21:47:43Z")
Eh, well, just my opinion, but it seems to me the most effective way of starving a troll is, well, starving a troll: just not posting to the thread and letting it die. I guess people feel that’s unlikely to actually happen, and so by swiftly posting nonsense to a thread it diverts the subject and discourages people from responding to the OP. I find it a bit annoying, but within the Pit I suppose it’s within the rules. Over here in ATMB I don’t think that’s the case. Sure, the non sequitors posted here are done as a joke, but my impression is that ATMB is not really the place for jokes.
My feeling is that it is the Mods and Admins who decide if a poster is a troll or a jerk. If they decide that a poster is, then the person is banned. If they think the poster is OK, or have yet to make a decision, then purposely hijacking the thread to discourage discussion is rude. Of course, within the confines of the Pit, being rude isn’t necessarily against the rules. I do agree with **Mr. Blue Sky** that posting a non sequitor is usually better than posting a nasty remark. But, it’s not as if those are the only two options. It’s always possible to not post.
I seem to recall that at one point, when people were hijacking threads to discuss tennis, one of the Admins (I think Lynn, but I’m not positive) said that they didn’t like it, but that thread was probably lost.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/14 "2002-04-11T22:47:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bibliophage \*
> I for one don’t want to be the guy who annoys Lynn.
Rumor has it she’s adorable when annoyed.
Fuck, did I just post that?
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-non-sequitors-in-the-pit/102922/15 "2002-04-11T23:35:05Z")
**Algernon** and **Amok** both have it right. The best way to starve out a troll is to _actually_ say nothing, not to say something silly so you can revel in your superiority with your buddies. And the most irritating thing about it (I’m mostly indifferent when used to actually combat trolls) is that people tend to do it a lot to respond to people that clearly are _not_ trolls, but whose opinions they wish to dismiss. It’s one of the most cowardly ways to disagree with someone’s arguments that I can think of.