# To the Comedians who troll the Great Debates forum. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 16, 2005, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511 "2005-06-16T08:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/21 "2005-06-16T14:31:00Z")
You know Schwa, I do not think you are mgetting off on the right foot here. Most people don’t start trying to tell us how to run the place untill at least their 30th post. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/22 "2005-06-16T14:33:18Z")
Jesters do oft prove prophets. - William Shakespeare, King Lear (Regan at V, iii) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/23 "2005-06-16T14:37:07Z")
I would also like to point out that sometimes the greatest truth is found in jest. (to paraphrase some italian guy whos name is Bertoldo, I think.) ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/24 "2005-06-16T14:45:20Z")
> [@What Is Schwa](#): > > if i’m talking fiscal earnings I will be quite upset should one decide to randomly interject a humorous anectdote. If you were talking fiscal earnings, but you misspoke and said ‘physical earnings,’ or 'fiscal yearnings, ’ I imagine the odds are pretty good someone with a quick wit would at least _think_ of something funny to say in response, if not come right out and say it. I agree that might derail the discussion momentarily, but once the moment had passed, your discussion could, I’m sure, continue. Unless, of course you were so upset that you stormed out of the room. Which would only allow the hilarity to continue, unfettered, and at your expense. These things happen. There’s a parable about a reed and an oak tree that may come in handy here. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/25 "2005-06-16T14:47:12Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > There’s a parable about a reed and an oak tree that may come in handy here. Is that your idea of an oak, mister? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/26 "2005-06-16T14:57:30Z")
No humor for you!! Good grief indeed. The title had a funny typo and people laughed about it. If someone wants to get the thread on a serious track, it’ll happen. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/27 "2005-06-16T15:07:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Is that your idea of an oak, mister? :mad: You can’t make scrambled eggs without breaking a few oaks. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/28 "2005-06-16T15:24:18Z")
I’m going to have to agree with the OP though the example he gave was poor. Discussion in Great Debates gets fairly passionate and heated. When I’m speaking passionately on a subject and someone interjects with a joke I find it disrespectful and not terribly funny. Especially if I’ve listened/read their point and tried to understand it and am hoping to get an equal reading/hearing of my point of view. Even if it’s not the person with whom I’m debating who’s making the joke it still has the effect of seeming disrespectful and childish and can tend to derail the discussion at hand. That said if you misspell your thread title in any forum you can pretty much expect to be ribbed mercilessly (it was Ming the Merciless wasn’t it 😉 )for it. I understand what the OP was getting at but he picked a poor example. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/29 "2005-06-16T15:30:13Z")
> [@What Is Schwa](#): > > Don’t you have a spouse/sibling/cat to deliver your one line zingers to? (shrug) She tells me to shut up. People here usually don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/30 "2005-06-16T15:33:42Z")
Shut up, dropzone. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/31 "2005-06-16T15:38:38Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > You can’t make scrambled eggs without breaking a few oaks. I’ve laughed so much about this whole thing that my belly oaks. I wood like to branch out a bit on this subject, but I have to leaf to take the kids to daycare. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/32 "2005-06-16T16:29:10Z")
> [@Pashnish Ewing](#): > > Shut up, dropzone. Comedy _gold_. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/33 "2005-06-16T16:46:24Z")
We need _more_ humor in GD. A couple of jokes in a heated thread can help diffuse tension and allow debate on the topic to continue without devolving into shouting matches. I doubt such jokes have ever derailed a debate that had any legs. Dopers are far too opinionated to let a handful of bad puns stop them from stating their piece. If an ostensibly serious thread does turn into nothing more than a jokefest, it’s probably because nobody felt a serious answer was warranted. Besides which, a couple of one-liners help keep the thread at the top of the forum, increasing the chances that someone with something substantial to add will read it. In short, the OP is wrong about everything, and is way uptight to boot. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/34 "2005-06-16T17:01:53Z")
A bit of humour is one thing, hijacking someones OP into a “laff riot” is another. Hijacks are rude no matter the type. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/35 "2005-06-16T17:09:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > A bit of humour is one thing, hijacking someones OP into a “laff riot” is another. Hijacks are rude no matter the type. :mad: Bull shit. Sometimes a thread is so stupid that only a clever hijack can redeem it. We all P2P, threads are not sacrosanct, if enough people are interested in the original premise then they can keep it on track. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/36 "2005-06-16T17:28:13Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Bull shit. Sometimes a thread is so stupid that only a clever hijack can redeem it. We all P2P, threads are not sacrosanct, if enough people are interested in the original premise then they can keep it on track. If enough people want to start a “clever hijack” thread, they also can certainly do so. To hijack someones thread is rude. If you think it’s stupid, fine. If it’s here in the PIT you can say so, _or you always have to option of just plain not posting._ :rolleyes: Some jerks here use “joke hijacking” as a way of “winning” a debate they are loosing badly on thought points. Hijacking is rude, not matter what the reason is. It’s being a “jerk”. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/37 "2005-06-16T17:42:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Hijacking is rude, not matter what the reason is. It’s being a “jerk”. Well, that’s a brand spanking new definition of jerk. I doubt if there are very many threads more than about 10 posts or so that some humorless prig with a stick up his ass couldn’t define as being hijacked. Lighten up, Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/38 "2005-06-16T17:45:41Z")
It is time we did away with the idea we are fighting ignorance, we all know we are just entertaining ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/39 "2005-06-16T17:49:21Z")
That thread is a lame example. The joking was short-lived and was a direct result of a gaffe by the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511/40 "2005-06-16T17:52:18Z")
I should say it’s because of people like the OP that a significant portion of us don’t even enter GD. Not just because you won’t let us make a joke. On the contrary, because your’e so rigid in what constitues a proper “debate” that we’re terrified of making a mistake. Do you people in there really not want new blood? I’ve been trying to dip a toe into GD lately, and think I’ve been doing OK, but whoo! GD people strike me as the most serious, un-fun bunch ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-comedians-who-troll-the-great-debates-forum/308511.md?page=3)