Can’t you people see you are just playing up to his insane, pseudo-sanctimonious nihilistic deviant cyber fantasy simply by posting this thread and carrying on this discussion?
Just put him on your ignore list and carry on. That’s what it’s for.
Sheesh. :rolleyes:
You’re just yanking our chain, right? How about a very simple test: If a thread is being derailed by one particular side conversation - REGARDLESS of who the participants are - instead of locking the thread and preventing EVERYONE from participating in it, you simply tell all side conversation participants they’re done, and further continuance in that thread will result in a formal warning?
Simple. I honestly can’t think of anything about that solution that is not workable, fair, equitable and entirely preventable.
Thanks billfish.
FWIW, I can both agree that it’s often extremely annoying (and not because of the ‘groupthink’ thing, I’m hardly a bastion of going-with-the-flow), and also something that is well within the rules and should lead to neither a suspension nor a ban. If people don’t want to argue with someone who’s being dogmatic and inflexible, then nobody is forcing them to.
I went to a Catholic Univ. where biblical studies was a required course, every semester. I’ve seen him cite one of my textbooks. Called the author a good scholar. Gave Author, Title, and page number cite. I read the book, and remembered the author’s argument. Although it’s ridiculous to expect someone he’s arguing with to go to the library to find a book the person doesn’t own, and if it’s obscure, maybe wait weeks for interlibrary loan to find it, in a realtime discussion, it was a good cite for his point. In the same thread, someone cited the same author (although not offering title and page number), but again I recalled the author’s argument. This time it was a point Dio disagreed with. Suddenly, the author is a hack with an agenda, and the cite and point is dismissed.
In other words, even on that subject, he argues the same way. Disingenuously.
I, for one, refuse to even discuss the subject, because of his method of “debate”.
You’re an example of someone who has his own passionate bugbear, and someone else who can be accused of taking over threads. It would be pretty annoying if, every time you posted something about Israel, somebody chimed in with “here comes the Finn show. It’s all over now,” which is what routinely happens to me, sometimes for some pretty banal posts.
Simply for the record, that is what often happens, including in threads that have nothing to do with Israel.
What matters is whether the mods think he’s breaking the rules. If you don’t, and you think the whole “Dio Show” thing is bullshit, say so unambiguously.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the advise “DNFTT” work, regardless of its wisdom. Applying it to Dio does bring the same wisdom, but is unlikely to change the outcome. You need moderators to deal with trolls (which Dio is not, mind), and you will need it to deal with Dio.
I closed both threads because they had become trainwrecks, veering from the purpose of the discussion. There were still active participants, particularly in the pepper spray thread, and I very much disliked stubbing out those, Cat Whisperer (and everyone else).
The way I see it, it had become a two-prong problem: 1. Diogenes stubbornly re-asserting his opinion and annoying everyone and 2. People going off with “Dio Show!” and, in effect pulling up lawn chairs and popping popcorn.
A solution (not the only solution) is to bring a halt to everything, which is what I did. No one likes “I don’t care who started it but it’s stopping now,” but this often is the way to end a thread derailment.
Diogenes is breaking no rule except to be annoying. No one wants us to police the content of their posts — wouldn’t everyone agree? Yet this is what you are asking to be done: when Dio starts posting stuff that annoys everyone, make him stop. Are you just as willing to have your opinion stifled, when someone else doesn’t like it? We have to apply the rules fairly.
It’s not an easy call — as many of you are noting as you’re working through what ought to be done right here in this thread. I and the other mods struggle to apply rules fairly and also do what it best for all. I am not saying closing the thread was the perfect solution … but there were many reports with people begging “Make it stop!” I got to the thread and decided the best way to reign it all in was to close.
As always Cat Whisperer or anyone else can start a new thread on the topic and we can go at it afresh. I have no wish to limit discussion, believe me.
Did you miss the part where I said that I’ve seen the staff bar other posters from threads time and time again? Rather than close the thread they ejected the offender. I’d hazard a guess that you’ve done it yourself in the past. I am simply asking that the same action be taken against Diogenes when, **in your judgment **, he derails threads in a similar manner.
The two threads in question were locked. Ergo the mods saw a problem with them. Are you really telling us that Dio was not the source of the problem in both threads? If you are then God go with you, it’s your board.
I’ve just read Ellen Cherry’s post. I found it refreshingly honest and rational, resolving any questions I had raised in my previous.
Thanks for that thoughtful and reasoned post, Ellen Cherry.
No one is complaining about your opinions. The problem is that whenever you disagree with someone, your solution to this is to follow them around telling them they are wrong until they go away or shut up. In cases where everyone disagrees with you, this means that every other post is you telling another person that they are wrong, which makes you half the thread.
And that’s not debate. “You are wrong.” Is not an opposing opinion, it’s a statement of fact, which is stupid since very little is a fact in the world, let alone if it’s a thread in MPSIMS or IMHO where the topics are not about things which even have factual answers. Telling people that they are factually wrong over and over for pages on end is not productive, it’s not a debate, and I guarantee you that no one thinks that the issue is that your opinion is opposing theirs, it’s that you’re acting like a little boy stamping his feet and trying to talk louder than everyone else.
At some point, and I’m not saying Dio is at this point, being annoying crosses the line to being a jerk, which is against the rules.
Also, in a good many cases, the content of posts is policed - what else are moderators for? If I’m posting something inappropriate for a thread or forum, or for the board as a whole, a moderator should step in.
Threadshitting is generally viewed as an actable offense. Thread derailing also is.
That’s irregardless of who is doing it.
You all are correct, whatever was I thinking?
I then suggest that when Dio starts being annoying, the posters politely ask “Dio, would you stop being such a dick, please?” Be sure to add the please!
Maybe this will throw a little water on an overheated discussion.
What was the meme going around not too long ago? Oh yeah it was: you cannot change how someone acts, only how you react to them. Or some such bs.
At least Ellen Cherry admitted that closure was not a perfect solution for those two threads. (Of course, the perfect solution lay very near to hand but I won’t belabor the point!)
What, you’ve never had a show that YOU were excited about?
I appreciate that, Ellen.
What a lame thread. Put him on your ignore list and move on with your life.