# What happened to the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 18, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170 "2018-07-18T21:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/101 "2018-07-19T15:12:56Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > The president we share (yes, it is your president too) is plenty qualified, maybe not in your perception where you would like someone kissing every other country’s leader between the ass cheeks like your beloved demigods Hillary and Obama. Interesting. Trump behaves around Putin as if he believes the latter has a sprig of mistletoe pinned to his coattails. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/102 "2018-07-19T15:24:30Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > You’re basically the exact same ignorant person you were when you joined (the first time you joined). So if the learning’s what’s keeping you here, then there’s not really anything keeping you here. You aren’t coherent. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let’s explore that: What have you learned here, and in what way has your mind been changed? Well, finally a good question. I’m now in favor of an expanded safety net and I’m open to a universal basic income. Of course I’d tie that to eliminating the minimum wage though. Chronos and a few of the others with more physics and math education have also explained several scientific things I was previously ignorant of. Though I am still not convinced that there is a singularly in a black hole. Discussions on this very board influenced my vote to a non Republican at least two times. I’ve learned several recipes here in the Pit. Una had several educational posts with regards to transgender issues. That’s just a few off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/103 "2018-07-19T15:34:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > NO, it is NOT. > > Nuclear annihilation of the human species would have also kept her out of the WH, and it would not have been worse than what we got. I believe that you are exaggerating a bit. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/104 "2018-07-19T15:34:46Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I suspect that he will evade this question by giving an answer about something negative he’s “learned” about the SDMB or “liberals” in general. Wrong! Unlike you, you big dummy, I’m open to to changing my mind if I see convincing evidence to do so. What I won’t do is is change my mind or how I express my opinions in order to please random internet misanthropes. And I think that and the presence of the counterproductive and psychopath enabling pit where the unhinged can gather and engage in a consistent pattern of dishonest ad hominem attacks leads to these ridiculous perceptions of those who don’t join the hive mind. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/105 "2018-07-19T15:53:50Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Wrong! > > Unlike you, you big dummy, I’m open to to changing my mind if I see convincing evidence to do so. What I won’t do is is change my mind or how I express my opinions in order to please random internet misanthropes. And I think that and the presence of the counterproductive and psychopath enabling pit where the unhinged can gather and engage in a consistent pattern of dishonest ad hominem attacks leads to these ridiculous perceptions of those who don’t join the hive mind. Anyone who regularly refers to the board membership as a ‘hive mind’ can safely be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/106 "2018-07-19T15:59:10Z")
Well, we’re not complaining about Dubya as much, so _that’s_ different. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/107 "2018-07-19T16:00:46Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Wrong! > > Unlike you, you big dummy, I’m open to to changing my mind if I see convincing evidence to do so. What I won’t do is is change my mind or how I express my opinions in order to please random internet misanthropes. And I think that and the presence of the counterproductive and psychopath enabling pit where the unhinged can gather and engage in a consistent pattern of dishonest ad hominem attacks leads to these ridiculous perceptions of those who don’t join the hive mind. This is a test of the octopus changing his mind and demonstration of not having a hive mind. > **[Which Republicans Oppose Trump's Family Separation Policy? Laura Bush Isn't...](https://www.bustle.com/p/which-republicans-oppose-trumps-family-separation-policy-laura-bush-isnt-the-only-one-9482824)** > > Donald Trump is under combined Democratic and Republican fire for his administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that leads to families inevitably being separated at the border. In fact, several top-ranking Republicans oppose Trump's… > [@](#): > > In spite of growing concern and outrage, Trump administration officials have justified the presence and practice of keeping immigrant children in detention centers. Spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kenneth Wolfe told Wall Street Journal, “HHS is legally required to provide care and shelter for all unaccompanied alien children referred by [Department of Homeland Security], and works in close coordination with DHS on the security and safety of the children and community.” > > But not everyone in the party agrees the department is going about that in the right way. Here are several well-known Republicans calling Trump out for his immigration policy. > [@](#): > > 1. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford > While Trump’s administration has justified its practice of tearing families apart by turning to the Bible, Republicans like Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford have called Trump out for the act. Lankford told channel KOCO 5, “I have some phone calls — in fact, I have some calls today even — with DHS that will be coming up talking about this, how do we make sure we keep as many families together as possible.” > > 2. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch > On Twitter, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch said that he understood the administrative hurdles when it came to reaching a sound, humane, and legally cohesive immigration policy but he noted he did not agree with Trump’s family separation policy. “A policy that leads to separating children from their families is wrong,” Hatch said. > > 3. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham > South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN that Trump could end the policy “with a phone call” although the “blame” for America’s immigration system was on both parties. “If you don’t like families being separated, you can go tell DHS stop doing it,” Graham said. > > 4. Texas Rep. Will Hurd > Texas Rep. Will Hurd told CNN, “We should not be using kids as a deterrent policy. This is something I think is actually unacceptable, and is something that as Americans we shouldn’t be doing.” So, do you still think it is just the liberals and democrats of the SDMB the ones with a hive mind? ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/108 "2018-07-19T16:22:22Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This is a test of the octopus changing his mind and demonstration of not having a hive mind. > > [Which Republicans Oppose Trump's Family Separation Policy? Laura Bush Isn't The Only One](https://www.bustle.com/p/which-republicans-oppose-trumps-family-separation-policy-laura-bush-isnt-the-only-one-9482824) > > So, do you still think it is just the liberals and democrats of the SDMB the ones with a hive mind? Yes. But as I said before they aren’t the only hive mind in town. And of course there is going to be overlap between different groups in a goofy two party system. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/109 "2018-07-19T17:20:36Z")
Well I guess I could set aside the CBT work and see if I can spark a coupla months of mania. Seems like I came up with some pretty interesting content back in those days. I have a feeling nobody around here has the patience for my shit anymore, though. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/110 "2018-07-19T17:24:01Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > All I’ve seen lately are posts akin to these; No, you simply haven’t just seen posts like these. The majority of threads aren’t even on these topics and those that are are mostly balanced and nuanced. Of course those are unlikely to annoy you as much and as such you apply confirmation bias to inflate the prevalence of those that do. > [@](#): > > 1.) Russia is to blame for everything! A minority opinion. Most people would say they have malign intent and are self-interested and that 'twas ever thus. > [@](#): > > 2.)White people are to blame for all that goes wrong in society and everything is racist. No, there are some who do see racism and racist intent round every corner but they are the minority. And you can’t be surprised at such a position when the white majority in many western countries have been the major instigators of racist policies. > [@](#): > > 3.)Anyone who voted for Trump has a moral and intelligence deficiency because “we are the unequivocal elite standard of morality and intelligence”. again, a minority position and a made up quote that I’ve never seen written down. > [@](#): > > 4.)Ignoring crime statistics and therefore inconvenient facts. This is the dope, you are supposed to question stats and facts and not just accept the easy conclusion. It is tempting for some to see high rates of crimes in certain demographics and use it to draw a causal link. If you learn anything you should learn that “Correlation is not necessarily Causation”. Where you have historical prejudice and bigotry you get disadvantaged groups and where you have disadvantaged groups you have crime. I live in a pretty much totally white area where the disadvantaged group are white…guess what? That’s where the crime is. > [@](#): > > 5.)Police are agents of evil. + The justifying of breaking laws. Police are held to a high standard of conduct and where they are actively acting in a racist, bullying, violent way then quite rightly people lose their collective shit. However, I’ve never seen people talk about police in such sweeping terms, let alone that such a position is prevalent and I’ve certainly not heard it used as a justification for law breaking. All you’ve done is taken the occasional extreme post that annoys you and extrapolated from that to think that the above positions are common. They aren’t. The threads on these subjects are the minority and these extreme positions within those threads are the minority. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/111 "2018-07-19T18:01:42Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yes. But as I said before they aren’t the only hive mind in town. > > And of course there is going to be overlap between different groups in a goofy two party system. The emergency broadcasting system gives a [klaxon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5mOT57ghM) to the molusc. 🙂 No, really, your “divisions” of what groups have a hive mind have the consistency of baby poop. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/112 "2018-07-19T18:29:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Take a look at what Trump has done. While he’s done a lot of shit, let’s just take one: the child concentration camps. He separated children from their parents at the border and put them in underfunded camps–as a fucking negotiating tactic. > > If you still support Trump after that, then you deserve to be treated like garbage. If your bullshit about maybe doing better financially under Trump matters more to you than those children, then you get my first “FUCK YOU”. I never mentioned anything about my financial status before or since Trump or any policy decisions pre or post Trump. I was just responding to what I thought was the way the poster responded to the OP. As I read further into the thread I saw he or she wasn’t the only one that wasn’t just angry, but seemed full of hatred for the OP. To me the OP was just making an observation. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/113 "2018-07-19T18:58:30Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You aren’t coherent. I think the real problem here is that you’re stupid. Have you tried not being stupid? It would make my post much more coherent. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/114 "2018-07-19T19:39:41Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > Seriously concerned. > > All I’ve seen lately are posts akin to these; > > 1.) Russia is to blame for everything! > 2.)White people are to blame for all that goes wrong in society and everything is racist. > 3.)Anyone who voted for Trump has a moral and intelligence deficiency because “we are the unequivocal elite standard of morality and intelligence”. > 4.)Ignoring crime statistics and therefore inconvenient facts. > 5.)Police are agents of evil. + The justifying of breaking laws. > > Even GQ has a deficiency of in-depth topics lately. > > Thoughts? > Inevitable insults? > > What gives? Isn’t there anything else to talk about these days or has it dried up? Speaking of GQ, what I find kind of annoying is when there’s a decent, informative conversation going about some topic, but then some Know-It-All jumps in with their opinion and a chip on their shoulder when it’s explained to them how they are mistaken. Sometimes, we’re even lucky enough to have a bona fide expert in the house who reasonably tries to educate the KIA, often to no avail. Really derails the convo and I’d hate to think it might keep people from looking to GQ for informative answers. [Here’s](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=856919) a good example. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/115 "2018-07-19T20:18:01Z")
I intermittently mulled it over today and it occurs to me that if you’re going to play the “I was asking in honest sincerity” card (and I wouldn’t recommend it under any circumstances anyway, since it adds nothing to the discussion and will likely be seen as _in_sincere), you have to make a better effort at affecting the posture of a detached observer. The OP blew it by instantly getting politically insulting the moment the respondents became politically insulting, and it was fairly obvious they quickly would. Next time, at least try to seem clinical in response to insult, i.e. try saying “when you claim that I clearly have a preference that the dick shoved into my mouth be first dipped in vodka and the dick shoved into my ass be first dipped into the tears of refugee children, on what basis did you form _that_ conclusion as opposed to, say, the reverse?” ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/116 "2018-07-19T20:19:58Z")
I gotta say, I always thought being in a hive mind would involve a lot more ‘knowing what other people are thinking’. For myself I still, despite my best efforts, don’t seem to have _even one bit_ of telepathy. I’m forced to conclude that I’m not part of the hive mind, because honestly that seems like the kind of thing one would notice if it were happening - seeing out other people’s eyes, talking with the voice of legion, et al. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/117 "2018-07-19T20:33:18Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I gotta say, I always thought being in a hive mind would involve a lot more ‘knowing what other people are thinking’. For myself I still, despite my best efforts, don’t seem to have even one bit of telepathy. > > I’m forced to conclude that I’m not part of the hive mind, because honestly that seems like the kind of thing one would notice if it were happening - seeing out other people’s eyes, talking with the voice of legion, et al. No, that’s a pretty fair summation of the hive mind. You’re reception is crystal clear. Hey, nobody ever said the hive mind had its shit together. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/118 "2018-07-19T20:50:14Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Speaking of GQ, what I find kind of annoying is when there’s a decent, informative conversation going about some topic, but then some Know-It-All jumps in with their opinion and a chip on their shoulder when it’s explained to them how they are mistaken. Sometimes, we’re even lucky enough to have a bona fide expert in the house who reasonably tries to educate the KIA, often to no avail. Really derails the convo and I’d hate to think it might keep people from looking to GQ for informative answers. > > [Here’s](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=856919) a good example. Wow, that was an interesting thread. \*\*anomalous1 \*\*really is useless and stupid (which helps explain why he’s a Trump supporter, I guess). Though he did contribute to the thread, by being so persistently wrong that other people felt compelled to correct him with additional information, which was to the reader’s benefit. I guess he does have a purpose. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/119 "2018-07-19T21:05:54Z")
_Scene:_ a shabby apartment downtown, dark but for the garish neon flash of a peep show sign outside a window nearly opaque with grime. Over the hiss and blare of city traffic, the muffled shouts of hookers and johns soak through the cardboard walls. It’s stifling hot. A man with red-rimmed eyes and a face that hasn’t seen a razor in a week sits slumped over a dime store card table. On it, the tools of the trade. Rye bottle: empty. Ashtray: “full” doesn’t begin to cover it. Colt .38: loaded, naturally. \* Jesus Christ\*, thought **anomalous1** , fingering the pile of spent butts. _What happened to the SDMB_? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170/120 "2018-07-19T23:21:24Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > \*\*anomalous1 \*\*really is useless and stupid (which helps explain why he’s a Trump supporter, I guess). Though he did contribute to the thread, by being so persistently wrong that other people felt compelled to correct him with additional information, which was to the reader’s benefit. I guess he does have a purpose. That’s the same purpose he serves in this thread that he started, which ought to be retitled, “Behold the brain of a Trump voter”. I’m sure the witless cretin [must be delighted with how it’s going for him](https://earlyrecovery.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/wile-e-coyote.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-sdmb/818170.md?page=7)