# Warning for "Dial down the crazy." **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 1, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553 "2011-07-01T20:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/1 "2011-07-01T20:55:45Z")
This was warning-worthy? What? > [@](#): > > Dear CitizenPained, > > You have received a warning at Straight Dope Message Board. > > ## Reason: > > Personal Insults > > ## This is a warning for your “dial down the crazy” comment to Diogenes the Cynic. It’s a personal insult and not allowed outside of the Pit. > > Original Post: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13976248](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13976248) In the Good Cop/Bad Cop God thread, I said ‘dial down the crazy’ in response to Dio saying that God’s son had been born of rape, e.g, God never had a son. It was a _joke_, and certainly no more insulting to those who say God is made up and everyone who believes in God is a whackjob…which is a popular sentiment around here. > [@God: Just kidding, killing is AOK with me. And here's a list of people to whack!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-just-kidding-killing-is-aok-with-me-and-heres-a-list-of-people-to-whack/587324/110): > > It was a passage _approving_ of rape. There are many other passages actually commanding it. Yahweh was all about rape. Even his son was a rape baby. [quote=“CitizenPained, post:111, topic:587324”] > [@](#): > > HaShem had no son. Dial down the crazy, would ya? > [@God: Just kidding, killing is AOK with me. And here's a list of people to whack!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-just-kidding-killing-is-aok-with-me-and-heres-a-list-of-people-to-whack/587324/113): > > I’m only commenting on your own batshit Bible. > [@God: Just kidding, killing is AOK with me. And here's a list of people to whack!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-just-kidding-killing-is-aok-with-me-and-heres-a-list-of-people-to-whack/587324/123): > > You’re both out of line for Great Debates, and I’m warning each of you. If you can’t converse in a reasonable way, then ignore each other or just post in the Pit. Nobody wants their threads hijacked by read page after page of this nonsense. _What_? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/2 "2011-07-01T21:17:40Z")
Well, saying ‘dial down the crazy’ there is against the forum rules. My guess is that you got a warning because of cumulative insults that culminated in this post (the Mods keep track and also keep track of reported posts, even if they don’t say anything all the time). What you should have done is reported DtC’s post to a Mod and let them handle smacking him down. That’s what the report feature is for, and he was definitely over the line there, even though I’m more sympathetic to his view point than a theists viewpoint. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/3 "2011-07-01T21:19:00Z")
You may have known it was a joke, but there was nothing in your post that communicated that it was a joke. So it looked like a personal insult and I treated it as one. You’re not allowed to call someone crazy in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/4 "2011-07-01T21:40:26Z")
On top of “dial down the crazy” and **Diogenes the Cynic** ’s accusation that you were lying, there was plenty of rhetoric from both of you that was hostile, rude, and more appropriate for the Pit than GD. I could go quote more, but “Dial down the crazy” is enough to deserve a warning on its own. If you are going to joke with someone, make sure it’s going to be clear to them that it’s a joke and that it’s not going to be taken as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/5 "2011-07-01T22:54:21Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Well, saying ‘dial down the crazy’ there is against the forum rules. My guess is that you got a warning because of cumulative insults that culminated in this post (the Mods keep track and also keep track of reported posts, even if they don’t say anything all the time). > > What you should have done is reported DtC’s post to a Mod and let them handle smacking him down. That’s what the report feature is for, and he was definitely over the line there, even though I’m more sympathetic to his view point than a theists viewpoint. > > -XT Well, I didn’t know that _Dial down the crazy_ would be against any rules as I’ve been trying to stay on good behavior, and I honestly would not have thought, given the context, it would ever be reported! _I_ am an atheist and **Dio** knows it. And if **Dio** is an atheist who thinks that God is both made-up and evil (a bit impossible to be both imo) than surely a God who has a [man-child for sacrifice](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13972739&postcount=66) is a shade out of normal. > [@Marley23](#): > > You may have known it was a joke, but there was nothing in your post that communicated that it was a joke. So it looked like a personal insult and I treated it as one. You’re not allowed to call someone crazy in Great Debates. That is stretching it, **Marley**. \*Dial down the crazy \*is not calling a person crazy, though apparently you/mods are fine with people saying I [can’t](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13973499&postcount=88) read as those always go unchecked. It is [Dio’s favorite insult](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=614208&page=2) and one that occurs in every exchange. _Dial down the crazy_ is another way of saying calm down or let’s stop the madness. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/6 "2011-07-01T23:05:53Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > It was a _joke_, This is probably the most common excuse offered when someone is warned for insults: “But I was only joking!” If a remark that at face value appears to be insulting (as yours clearly was) is intended as a joke, it really is incumbent on the poster to make that crystal clear by use of a smilie or other disclaimer. You may think it’s a joke, but the person you are responding to may not, and neither may the other posters in the thread. In any case, even with a disclaimer, it’s not a good idea to make insulting jokes in the midst of a heated argument. It certainly didn’t look like you were “just joshing around” with **Diogenes**. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/7 "2011-07-01T23:10:17Z")
Have you considered the possibility that you’re just fun to warn? I mean, a moderator looks at you crosswise and you go off and make polls about whether you should leave or not. You start threads exclaiming at the injustice of it. Makes for great TV but I bet if you rolled with the punches and stopped being so incensed, you’d get warned less. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/8 "2011-07-01T23:15:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This is probably the most common excuse offered when someone is warned for insults: “But I was only joking!” If a remark that at face value appears to be insulting (as yours clearly was) is intended as a joke, it really is incumbent on the poster to make that crystal clear by use of a smilie or other disclaimer. You may think it’s a joke, but the person you are responding to may not, and neither may the other posters in the thread. In any case, even with a disclaimer, it’s not a good idea to make insulting jokes in the midst of a heated argument. It certainly didn’t look like you were “just joshing around” with **Diogenes**. Yes, well, I think that being told I can’t read isn’t a joke, but whatever. The joke was not _at_ Dio, but _to_ Dio, as in, ‘neither one of us believe in that business, so let’s make a funny’. Apparently a sense of humor is underrated here. :o ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/9 "2011-07-01T23:20:46Z")
For all you lot jizz yourselves with your distinctions between addressing the poster, and addressing what is said, you have missed the boat on this one. “You are crazy” is addressing (however fucking mildly) the poster “Dial down the crazy” is addressing what the poster said. No fucking way is that an insult, and if it stands, I would say it gives creedance to **Citizenpained** previous claims of a witchhunt. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/10 "2011-07-02T00:02:00Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > “You are crazy” is addressing (however fucking mildly) the poster > > “Dial down the crazy” is addressing what the poster said. I tend to agree with this. It’s a blurry line for me with this question, though. I’ve posted “that argument is crazy” (paraphrasing - I might have said “idiotic”, “moronic” etc.) many times, and as long as I indicate it is the idea specifically, so far I seem to have stayed within the acceptable bounds. If I said “dial down the idiocy”, I would have meant it the same way - but I probably would have reworded it, sensing that I might cross that blurry line inadvertently. When communicating in a forum each conversation is kind of in a bubble anyway. And already understood to be limited to the confines of that one thread and what has been said so far. So any criticism that doesn’t literally begin with “You are…” could be considered an attack on the ideas expressed and not the person. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/11 "2011-07-02T00:59:40Z")
Looks like an attack on the argument, not the poster. Oh, and remember kids–put half-a-dozen smilies in every post. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/12 "2011-07-02T03:51:43Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Yes, well, I think that being told I can’t read isn’t a joke, but whatever. No one said you “couldn’t read” in the post you linked to. > [@](#): > > The joke was not _at_ Dio, but _to_ Dio, as in, ‘neither one of us believe in that business, so let’s make a funny’. From his response, it doesn’t seem that **Dio** took your remark as a light-hearted jest. > [@](#): > > Apparently a sense of humor is underrated here. :o As you often seem to do, you miss the point. First, it wasn’t exactly a great joke to begin with, even if it was intended as one. Second, taken at face value it was insulting remark. Third, you gave no indication it was meant as a joke. If you are going to claim that you have a sense of humor, you need to 1) make your jokes funny rather than insulting, and 2) make it clear they are jokes (which would be a lot easier if they were funny). ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/13 "2011-07-02T04:22:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No one said you “couldn’t read” in the post you linked to. Linking me to a website that helps kids learn to read is not an insult? I’m sorry; what? I’m a teacher and parent. I didn’t even have to click on the starfall link to know what it was as I first started using that when I taught special ed. :rolleyes: But you also warned me not to tell someone they just made my ignore list (which I didn’t realize was outside of the rules, so I won’t do it again - I think I figured it was polite to tell someone not to bother) but didn’t warn **Dio** for his assertion that yet again, [I can’t read](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13978762&postcount=57). Are you going to give him a warning? He does this often. > [@](#): > > From his response, it doesn’t seem that **Dio** took your remark as a light-hearted jest. Oh, right, like when he commented on my (mine? I’m Jewish; there’s no Jesus in there.) ‘batshit Bible’. > [@](#): > > As you often seem to do, you miss the point. First, **it wasn’t exactly a great joke to begin with,** even if it was intended as one. Wasn’t aware that bad jokes were worthy of Warnings. Noted. > [@](#): > > Second, taken at face value it was insulting remark. No. Taken at face value, it was a joke. Parse it out like you’re in fourth grade English: _Dial down the crazy._ _The crazy **what**?_ _Commentary._ > [@](#): > > Third, you gave no indication it was meant as a joke. It wasn’t necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/14 "2011-07-02T04:27:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If you are going to claim that you have a sense of humor, you need to 1) make your jokes funny rather than insulting, and 2) make it clear they are jokes (which would be a lot easier if they were funny). I think I get the joke after it was explained as: > [@CitizenPained](#): > > _I_ am an atheist and **Dio** knows it. And if **Dio** is an atheist who thinks that God is both made-up and evil (a bit impossible to be both imo) than surely a God who has a [man-child for sacrifice](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13972739&postcount=66) is a shade out of normal. > [@CitizenPained](#): > > The joke was not _at_ Dio, but _to_ Dio, as in, ‘neither one of us believe in that business, so let’s make a funny’. Someone establishes an outlandish premise. “That cow was riding a bicycle.” It is understood between them and their audience that they realize this is outlandish. Another person says: “No, that cow was riding a moped” The first person replies “Oh c’mon be realistic! (or ‘dial down the crazy’) A cow can’t turn a key to start a moped. Sheesh!” It might not make it to Letterman but it’s not an uncommon model for a joke. But it seems like this was all genuinely-held belief and bitter arguments leading up to that moment of levity and a smiley would have gone a long way if that is what it was intended to be. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/15 "2011-07-02T04:31:15Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > The joke was not _at_ Dio, but _to_ Dio, as in, ‘neither one of us believe in that business, so let’s make a funny’. This is not helping your case. > [@](#): > > Are you going to give him a warning? He does this often. This has become a standard defense for you - “yes, but he did it too/worse”. Why do you feel the need to test the board limits? Just post your thoughts and forget about the personal aspects. Just my two cents. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/16 "2011-07-02T04:39:38Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > This is not helping your case. It isn’t hurting it. I was _addressing_ Dio…but Dio probably reports half the things I say as he angrily types about my barbaric and illiterate ways. :dubious: > [@](#): > > This has become a standard defense for you - “yes, but he did it too/worse”. Why do you feel the need to test the board limits? Just post your thoughts and forget about the personal aspects. > > Just my two cents. 🙂 Uh, it is not my defense. I was pointing out the double standard that is the mark of Mods around here. I report \*\*Dio \*\*when he goes off on a rant but my complaints of **Dio** have never gone anywhere, so I usually just say, “Hey. Stop telling me I can’t read/stop insulting my religion/stop saying things I didn’t/calm down with the swearing” etc. It’s ridiculous that I was ‘testing limits’ as that is so far removed from being testy. Unless you’re looking to complain about me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/17 "2011-07-02T04:45:52Z")
Okay, I told you this once. Maybe you’ll get it this time. Dio is not breaking the rules. You are. Because you do not have the experience necessary to do what you keep trying to do. Pushing the limits is what experienced posters can pull off. You are on very, very thin ice. You’ve gotten more warnings in your short time here than most people have in 10+ years. THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TO BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR OR YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT! Honestly, I personally think that this warning should have come with a suspension. A short one, but one that would let you know you can’t keep flouting the rules. I mean, I think this place is unfairly moderated\*, too. But even I know to back off when I’m getting on people’s nerves. Like I said, people are not treated equally here. People who have multiple warning are not given as much slack. Oh, and if you want to have a fight with **Dio** like you seem to be in so many threads lately, use the Pit. That’s what it’s for. If you get mad, you go there to fight it out. Stop getting into fights in threads that are not for fights. Please! \*Though it’s a lot better now than it was when I was complaining all the time, and much, much better than a few other boards I could name. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/18 "2011-07-02T04:49:07Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Linking me to a website that helps kids learn to read is not an insult? I’m sorry; what? That was a lot closer to being a joke than what you wrote. > [@](#): > > But you also warned me not to tell someone they just made my ignore list (which I didn’t realize was outside of the rules, so I won’t do it again - I think I figured it was polite to tell someone not to bother) but didn’t warn **Dio** for his assertion that yet again, [I can’t read](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13978762&postcount=57). > [@](#): > > Are you going to give him a warning? He does this often. After reading through the thread, I have issued him a warning for insulting remarks and a personal attack, but not for that, which I regard as rather mild. These I think were out of line for GQ: [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] So your assertion that the SA discriminates against Jews is ignorant, paranoid bullshit. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Your ignorance is eclipsed only by your arrogant zealotry. [/QUOTE] In any case, I note that you did not report any of his posts in that thread, which you have been advised to do instead of retailiating in kind. > [@](#): > > Oh, right, like when he commented on my (mine? I’m Jewish; there’s no Jesus in there.) ‘batshit Bible’. Yes. > [@](#): > > Wasn’t aware that bad jokes were worthy of Warnings. Noted. Again, you deliberately miss the point. You wouldn’t have received a warning if your joke was merely bad; it was also insulting. [QUOTE=CitizenPained] Parse it out like you’re in fourth grade English: [/QUOTE] You regard criticizing someone’s reading comprehension as an insult, is that correct? I just want to be clear on this. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/19 "2011-07-02T04:52:07Z")
Explain to me how I can get warned for insulting someone’s reading skills (I had been posting for like three days) and that’s against the rules, but if someone else does it, it is not. Explain how the **fuck** saying a statement is silly is against the rules. This one **completely** took me by surprise. No, really, **BigT**. My comment was in NO WAY near breaking the rules. **Anyone** who knows **Dio** know he is a rabid atheist and anyone who has spoken to me on the subject (don’t think I’m really known for it) knows I’m an atheist who just doesn’t assault theists as they don’t bother me. So if Dio says, “The Flying Spaghetti Monster is condoned rape so that his man-child could be born”, I think it’s pretty safe to say, “Dial down the crazy!” Good grief. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553/20 "2011-07-02T04:53:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You regard criticizing someone’s reading comprehension as an insult, is that correct? I just want to be clear on this. Actually, I don’t and you said it is not, but I have been told by\*\* Marley\*\* that is against the rules. Fourth grade English is when you diagram sentences, so if you parsed out the sentence, it is even more obvious that ‘the crazy’ is referencing words. I don’t make a thing of reporting **Dio** as it’s never gotten anywhere, but my two warnings in 24 hours were both shockers. I really have been aware of what I was saying. I didn’t know about the ignore rule (tried to look it up, but it must not be in an obvious place) and I would’ve never thought my OP comment was insulting. At all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-for-dial-down-the-crazy/587553.md?page=2)