# What, I can't disagree with the premise of a thread?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [January 28, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513 "2016-01-28T18:35:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/1 "2016-01-28T18:35:54Z")
Referring to the ‘[1/28/86 - lest we forget](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782436)’ thread in MPSIMS.
It’s the ‘lest’ that defines the thread title as a premise. That elevates it from ‘memorial thread’ to ‘assertion that it it’s important that we not forget.’
I disagree with that assertion. It’s been 30 years, it was an unusually public and spectacular death, and it set our manned space program back a couple of years. But that’s the extent of it. It was only important because everybody knew about it. Consequently, there is no need for those whose lives weren’t connected with those of the seven astronauts to keep on knowing about it.
The deaths of the ~120 people who died in car crashes that day are at least as significant and important to remember as the 7 who died more publicly by a more sparsely-used means of transportation.
I object to the [moderator response](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782436).
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/2 "2016-01-28T18:46:52Z")
I would say you were fortunate not to get a warning for threadshitting.
Time and place.
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/3 "2016-01-28T18:48:11Z")
Your post smelled to me of thread shitting.
You know how many people were thread shitting in cars the day the of the Challenger explosion?
Probably none.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/4 "2016-01-28T18:49:11Z")
Yep, threadshit, I concur.
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### Author:  [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/5 "2016-01-28T18:50:55Z")
If that was in GD or the pit, you might have a point. But In MPSIMS? Yeah, that’s a textbook example of threadshitting. There’s always a bigger tragedy, and using that logic to diminish the Challenger deaths just makes you look like a jerk.
I’ll add you didn’t even get a warning, just a mod note. I see no problem with the moderator response.
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/6 "2016-01-28T18:53:33Z")
So, all of the people who think it’s a threadshit, what is the horrible fate that awaits us if we do forget? At least with the 120 people who died in car crashes that day, remembering their deaths might remind me to drive carefully.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/7 "2016-01-28T19:00:41Z")
All the people who have died in traffic accidents, and you are complaining about a Mod Note?
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/8 "2016-01-28T19:02:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> So, all of the people who think it’s a threadshit, what is the horrible fate that awaits us if we do forget? At least with the 120 people who died in car crashes that day, remembering their deaths might remind me to drive carefully.
You miss the point. The premise itself might be debatable, but it should be done in a different thread.
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### Author:  [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/9 "2016-01-28T19:02:39Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> So, all of the people who think it’s a threadshit, what is the horrible fate that awaits us if we do forget? At least with the 120 people who died in car crashes that day, remembering their deaths might remind me to drive carefully.
It was pretty clearly a memorial rather than a causal claim.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/10 "2016-01-28T19:08:34Z")
In my thinking, the reason to remember the Challenger disaster isn’t so much because 7 people got killed, but rather because it’s a very prominent and visible example of hubris, complacency and the subsequent breakdown of safety procedures and sensible engineering and safety practices.
Reading the Challenger investigation ought to be required for ALL new engineers, as should the Columbia investigation. Both were caused by complacency and hubris, and their corrosive effects on what had been (and should be) a safety-focused engineering culture.
That’s why they ought to be remembered in my mind. Otherwise, you’re exactly right- remembering 7 astronauts vs. the 120 people killed in automobile wrecks on the same day seems absurd.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/11 "2016-01-28T19:10:29Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> It’s the ‘lest’ that defines the thread title as a premise. That elevates it from ‘memorial thread’ to ‘assertion that it it’s important that we not forget.’
Nope. It means “I am posting this _so that_ we don’t forget,” not “I am posting this to assert/argue that we _shouldn’t_ forget.”
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/12 "2016-01-28T19:26:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> Nope. It means “I am posting this _so that_ we don’t forget,” not “I am posting this to assert/argue that we _shouldn’t_ forget.”
IMHO, a distinction without a difference.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/13 "2016-01-28T19:27:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> All the people who have died in traffic accidents, and you are complaining about a Mod Note?
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
Sure. And your point is…?
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/14 "2016-01-28T19:28:34Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> You miss the point. The premise itself might be debatable, but it should be done in a different thread.
OK, I can see the point of that.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/15 "2016-01-28T19:33:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> OK, I can see the point of that.
Since the OP just listed the names without discussion, I think it was pretty clear it was intended to be a memorial thread, not stating a premise about whether they should be remembered. It was implicit that the OP thought they should.
If you wanted to question the premise, I think it would have been fine to start another thread and link to the original.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/16 "2016-01-28T21:19:19Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Sure. And your point is…?
That if it is inappropriate to start a thread about the Challenger disaster because people died in traffic, then it is inappropriate to start a thread complaining about being Mod Noted, since people died in traffic accidents. Unless you believe that getting a Mod Note is more serious than seven brave people dying in the name of science.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/17 "2016-01-28T21:50:42Z")
Speaking of traffic, are you by any chance one of those guys who, when the cop says he’ll let you off with a warning this time, prefers to follow him back to the patrol car so you can continue arguing that you weren’t speeding?
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-cant-disagree-with-the-premise-of-a-thread/744513/18 "2016-01-29T14:21:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> You miss the point. The premise itself might be debatable, but it should be done in a different thread.
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> OK, I can see the point of that.
Which was exactly what I said in my mod note:
> [@1/28/86 - Lest We Forget](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-28-86-lest-we-forget/744505/10):
>
> **RTFirefly** This is a memorial thread for those who died in the Challenger crash. **You’re free to open a thread memorializing those who died in car crashes that day if it’s that sincerely meaningful to you, but keep it out of this thread.**
Emphasis added. Your comment in that thread wasn’t even a debate about the premise, but a mention of others who died on that day. You raised no issue or challenged any premise. I tried to take it it at face value that you wanted to remember others who died that day as well, not an opening for debate. Either way, a different thread would have been the proper place.