# What has become of SDMB, especially GD’s? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304 "2005-12-19T16:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/101 "2005-12-21T04:01:52Z")
Don’t know you Drmark and don’t particular care if you are a past asshat or not. The thread in question got silly pretty fast but some of that was assessments that people had about bricker and his motives more than anything else. Debate, to be worthwhile, requires that a poster be willing to back up any assertion with facts when asked to, or the logic that justifies the conclusion. A poster should be able to clearly differentiate what the basis of an assertion is, be it facts, or logic, or humble opinions and personal value judgements. The poster making the assertion has the job of providing the cites for that assertion. If they fail that then they deserve ridicule. Bricker has an authoritarian bent and the thread got repetitous so fast that I quit reading it early. The op had simple central questions: is immorality decided by consensus? is immorality a sufficient basis for illegality as long as coercion is not invloved? how much weight does the value of personal freedom have in our society? To the degree that bricker just answered “it just is” he embarrassed himself. To the degree that he failed to self-identify the difference between personal opinions and facts he discredited himself as a debater. Why anyone else kept going after that I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/102 "2005-12-21T04:36:09Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Hilarious!\*Heh.\*How I love a man that respects the truth!No shit. Purify the boards! From now on, dumbfucks only! Dumbfucks like US only. All like us ONWEEEE! :dubious: Aren’t you being a bit too blatant? Aren’t you worried your mark will tumble to the shell game? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/103 "2005-12-21T04:58:25Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Aren’t you being a bit too blatant? Aren’t you worried your mark will tumble to the shell game? The point being that, all along, I’m really making fun of **drmark2000**? Not so. Although I don’t endorse everything he’s written in the thread 100%, I’m on his side here. But Puck isn’t going to make fun of one side without deconstructing the entire notion that _any_ of this back-and-forth deserves a whole lot of respect. **drmark2000** is kidding himself if he expects too much in the way of an “information exchange” from the Dumbfuck AI that is SDMB Dialectic. But he is, in fact, the intellect and attitude I respect here, with the others (some like the great **lissener** excepted) truly worthy of the appelation “dumbfuck.” ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/104 "2005-12-21T05:08:00Z")
And I’m sorry I’ve got to spell it out like that (kinda kills the magic), but unless I make it all CRAYON CLEAR, the dimwit mods who have posted in this thread will say, “You’re trolling Aeschines, we’re shutting down this thread. The thread is moved! locked! You’re suspended! banned!” Fuckin’ tools. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/105 "2005-12-21T05:14:16Z")
Ah, I see. I posited a subtlety that does not exist. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/106 "2005-12-21T05:21:29Z")
No, you’re obviously not a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/107 "2005-12-21T05:23:02Z")
That was for **Aeschines**. Fight the power. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/108 "2005-12-21T05:24:21Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Ah, I see. I posited a subtlety that does not exist. > > Never mind. Thanks. And never go fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/109 "2005-12-21T05:25:47Z")
> [@AlbertRose](#): > > That was for **Aeschines**. Fight the power. Thanks, dood. RAWK AWN! Heavy metal! ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/110 "2005-12-21T05:56:11Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > First, regarding the OP title itself, I’m not sure that there has been such a great decline in the last two years (I’ve been a member for 2). But I was not here that long before the board went P2P, so my viewrange is shorter-term. SDMB went commercial in August, 2002. I was optimistic about this, at first. But, as I’ve stated previously, idiots have plenty of money and credit cards. $15 per year isn’t going to weed them out. > [@Aeschines](#): > > At the same time I have increased my own pleasure on the boards by working on my own strategies for attaining it while avoiding pain. You strike me as yet an idealist, **drmark2000** , one who has not yet accepted that people are dipshits and assholes, especially online. You’ve nailed it, and in just few words! I have been idealistic about boards like these. Here, we can say what we think, without the editing necessary in usual human communication. I had hoped that this would result in a positive unbridling of our individual and collective intellect, to the benefit of all. Instead, these, and other, boards, are made merely forums for the stupid, by the stupid, to join together in stupidity, and to gang up on the intelligent, just like in “real” life. It’s a sad state of affairs, but there are still those, including yourself, who make the effort of grinding through the tons of ore worth the priceless button of gold. > [@Aeschines](#): > > I like you, I like your style. The pissy little girls in this thread just _hate_ the idea that you might be condescending to them–oh the nerve! For we are _all_ equals, and the greatest sin one can commit in this age is to imply or _gasp_ explicitly assert one’s superiority. > > _You_ are the pyschologist. You are the educated one. You are the success. They are the pissed-off wannabes, the resentful invalidators, the self-esteem-impaired little bitches. > > So they gang up, high five each other, and squeal, “Ban him! Ban him!” > > _Fuck that_. The fact is, I probably have more formal education than at least 98% of the posters here. If that, in and of itself, makes me “superior,” then I’m superior. However, I don’t think that the case is as simple as that. What makes me superior is the willingness to think, and to challenge, and to hang in with my challenges. No amount of education can instill that. The “pissed-off wannabes, the resentful invalidators, the self-esteem-impaired little bitches,” are just that way, but only because they have not realized that intelligence depends on challenging oneself, rather than focusing on another’s education. > [@Aeschines](#): > > Before the bitches come squealing back about how there are genuine intellects on SDMB, and I suck, and you suck, let me say that, yes, there are. There are even a few asshole intellects. But, in the main, the intellects have found their niche here and don’t engage in all the childish shit you are pointing out. Quite right. There are good intellects here, and they make it all worthwhile. They don’t engage in the “childish shit” I have highlighted. But, oh, how it takes time to find them. They are beaten down and thwarted by the norm around here. > [@Aeschines](#): > > You will soon get slammed for saying this, but you are close to the mark. “Cite?” is used about 65% of the time as a stalling or harrassment technique. The biggest sin is to call “Cite?” when one is not even really in doubt over a point’s veracity or a document’s existence. If people call “Cite?” about basic facts or background information that is not in dispute, then they are indeed open to the charge of asking others to do their research for them.I don’t know if I have really noticed this phenomenon. Well, I’ve noticed it. As soon as you present an opinion at variance with anyone else’s, suddenly “cites” become an issue. And this is, strictly, a stall. > [@Aeschines](#): > > I’ve got to disagree with the implications of your point here, though. Human nature and the _mean_ out there requires that a board like this be full of idiots and dickheads, so there’s no point in griping about it.Yes, to me too it’s worth being here. Approaching participation here with idealism, however, leads to great frustration. I think there’s a point in griping about it. By doing so, the fools are made aware of their foolishness, and can never engage in it again with quite the same conviction as they had previously. They can try, but they know they won’t succeed. This is to everyone’s benefit. ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/111 "2005-12-21T06:01:30Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > And I will keep bailing water from the ocean and pouring it on the shore! The phrase I’ve always favored is, “Shoveling sand against the tide.” ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/112 "2005-12-21T06:12:47Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > All? ALL? > > I won’t stand by everything I’ve said in my posts, but I will sit./QUOTE] Stand, man, stand! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/113 "2005-12-21T06:26:37Z")
I have a kitty-cat. She is brown and has soft fur. ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/114 "2005-12-21T06:34:48Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > The point being that, all along, I’m really making fun of **drmark2000**? I suspected that you might be, but I actually respect your effort, as opposed to those of some others. I’m not sure exactly what to make of you, which pleases me to no end. > [@Aeschines](#): > > Not so. Although I don’t endorse everything he’s written in the thread 100%, I’m on his side here. But Puck isn’t going to make fun of one side without deconstructing the entire notion that _any_ of this back-and-forth deserves a whole lot of respect. Nobly put! > [@Aeschines](#): > > **drmark2000** is kidding himself if he expects too much in the way of an “information exchange” from the Dumbfuck AI that is SDMB Dialectic. But he is, in fact, the intellect and attitude I respect here, with the others (some like the great **lissener** excepted) truly worthy of the appelation “dumbfuck.” If I understand you correctly, even though you consider the “Dumbfuck AI that is SDMB dialectic” to be just that, still, you’re here. Kudos, to you, and me. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/115 "2005-12-21T07:51:09Z")
My sympathies too are with **Bricker**. With friends like **drmark2000** he certainly doen’t need enemies! ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/116 "2005-12-21T08:02:03Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Boy, I sure hope we can get **Aeschines** ’ opinion on _all_ the posts in this thread. That would be so awesome! > > Still, though, I think it’s nice that he and **drmark2000** have found each other. Two sanctimonious twats, united against the world! Message board evildoers, beware! > > (Sigh.) No one is united against anyone else. That’s your deal, no one else’s. ---
**Author:** ![drmark2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@drmark2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drmark2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/117 "2005-12-21T08:04:48Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > My sympathies too are with **Bricker**. > > With friends like **drmark2000** he certainly doen’t need enemies! I disagreed with him, you imbecile. i sympathized with the type of responses he has received. Like yours. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/118 "2005-12-21T13:09:23Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > We’re the only tools so far. I feel special. > [@Aeschines](#): > > Ladies and gentleman, Left Hand of Dorkness has provided us with the ultimate _tool_ post. Giraffe and Frank are really going to have to study this one to upgrade their own tooldom. But that’s gonna be hard, because all three of you are _SUCH_ TOOLS! Booyah, motherfuckers. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/119 "2005-12-21T13:49:19Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Booyah, motherfuckers. > Daniel Yes, we all HATE each other now. Oh, the rancor! [dalek]Exterminate, exterminate! Ignore list, ignore list![/dalek] Bannings all round! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304/120 "2005-12-21T13:55:20Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Yes, we all HATE each other now. Oh, the rancor! [dalek]Exterminate, exterminate! Ignore list, ignore list![/dalek] Bannings all round! What is your actual point? Do you just enjoy spewing hate and crap or do you think you are making some actual point? Very few people appear to bother with using the ignore function. No mod has issued a warning and there is no good reason for them to close this thread. If you just want people to respond to you, then congrats. You got responses. Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-become-of-sdmb-especially-gd-s/336304.md?page=7)