# What the hell is THIS doing in GD? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414 "2005-06-22T18:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/21 "2005-06-22T23:36:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But now I’m going to read the whole thing to find out how many people were taken in by it. How do you propose to distinguish between “taken in by it” and “doing a very good job of following the premise of the thread”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/22 "2005-06-22T23:38:21Z")
I’m mind-boggled that so many people froth at the mouth over where threads end up on a message board. “This thread _doesn’t belong_ here!” “Does too!” “Does _not_. It belongs over _there_!” “That’s stupid. I never read over _there_.” “Then you’re stupid.” “Am not!” “Are _too_!” Here’s a clue, folks. Forum placement doesn’t carry any weighty, hideous implications. It’s just a loose categorization where stuff can be read. It’s just a message board. Nobody’s rearranging your closets or using your toothbrush. Shit, cruising around the various forums (okay, it’s _fora_, but that sounds so pretentiously stuffy) doesn’t require a visa. No one’s eyes or brain will be sullied for life by (gasp!) reading a thread in the Pit, or MPSIMS, or GD, etc. Sheesh. Just what we needed: Forum agorophobes.\* Veb - though, with apologies to Godwin, Forum Nazis is tempting ---
**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:** [June 22, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/23 "2005-06-22T23:45:18Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > I’m mind-boggled that so many people froth at the mouth over where threads end up on a message board. > . . . > > Here’s a clue, folks. Forum placement doesn’t carry any weighty, hideous implications. It’s just a loose categorization where stuff can be read. It’s just a message board. Nobody’s rearranging your closets or using your toothbrush. > > Shit, cruising around the various forums (okay, it’s _fora_, but that sounds so pretentiously stuffy) doesn’t require a visa. No one’s eyes or brain will be sullied for life by (gasp!) reading a thread in the Pit, or MPSIMS, or GD, etc. > > Sheesh. Just what we needed: Forum agorophobes.\* > > Veb > > - though, with apologies to Godwin, Forum Nazis is tempting You just know that the Forum Socialists, Forum Anarchists, and Forum Nihilists are going to seize on this the next time one of them gets scolded for posting in the wrong forum, doncha. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/24 "2005-06-22T23:54:53Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You just know that the Forum Socialists, Forum Anarchists, and Forum Nihilists are going to seize on this the next time one of them gets scolded for posting in the wrong forum, doncha. 😉 Actually the comparison that sprang to mind was _catalogers_. (Professional in-joke.) Catalogers can be so anal they make engineers look like careless, crack-smoking bon vivants. I’ve seen catalogers reduced to red faced, pop-eyed sputtering rage over subject headings. It was probably good training, at that. ::shakes head in slow wonder:: I was tempted to slip them some Xanax too. ---
**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:** [June 22, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/25 "2005-06-22T23:57:11Z")
Well, I tried to suggest a more serious take on the subject (i.e. the legal ramifactions of genetic engineering, which I expect will be faced within the next hundred years) but I’m not going to _force_ it on people, or criticize them for preferring the more lighthearted approach. i.e. the OP of this thread is a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/26 "2005-06-22T23:59:58Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Here’s a clue, folks. Forum placement doesn’t carry any weighty, hideous implications. It’s just a loose categorization where stuff can be read. It’s just a message board. Nobody’s rearranging your closets or using your toothbrush. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/27 "2005-06-23T00:16:19Z")
Well, I still think it belongs more in IMHO or Cafe Society, but I also see some excellent and thought provoking serious posts, too. So- I withdraw my mini-rant. :o However, I also agree with Colibri. Dudes will point to this and say "why was my thread moved?!? :mad: " Ah well, you can’t please everyone. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/28 "2005-06-23T00:47:41Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Yet. Okay, I have to go actually _read_ my registration agreement now. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/29 "2005-06-23T02:19:07Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Okay, I have to go actually _read_ my registration agreement now. On a completely unrelated topic, did you know that we can change it every time you renew? ---
**Author:** ![Library\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@Library\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Library_Boy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/30 "2005-06-23T05:36:11Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Actually the comparison that sprang to mind was _catalogers_. (Professional in-joke.) Catalogers can be so anal they make engineers look like careless, crack-smoking bon vivants. > > I’ve seen catalogers reduced to red faced, pop-eyed sputtering rage over subject headings. > > It was probably good training, at that. > > ::shakes head in slow wonder:: > > I was tempted to slip them some Xanax too. What, AACR2 and LC Classifications aren’t your idea of light beach reading? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/31 "2005-06-23T09:54:09Z")
Giant Squids everywhere agree: philosophical debates about hypotheticals belong in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/32 "2005-06-23T19:00:47Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > …I’m mind-boggled that so many people froth at the mouth over where threads end up on a message board…Here’s a clue, folks. Forum placement doesn’t carry any weighty, hideous implications. It’s just a loose categorization where stuff can be read. It’s just a message board. Nobody’s rearranging your closets or using your toothbrush… What’s mind boggling is the inconsistency. If “forum placement doesn’t carry any weighty, hideous implications” than either: 1. Leave all non-newbie threads in the forum the were posted to & end this erratic movement policy _or_ 2. Be consistent and move all the misplaced OPs to their correct [pretentious stuffiness]fora[/pretentious stuffiness] _or_ 3. Scrap forum descriptions entirely and let the fight against foragoraphobia commence. My complaint comes not as a _poster_ to the boards - but more as a _reader_ of the boards. Is it somehow ignorant to expect the moderators to make the boards readable? Christ, when I purchase a book, I assume the chapters and pages will be in some sort of order. [Public Service Announcement] This frothing-at-the-mouth, Xanax moment was brought to you by the all the past posters who’ve bitched about their threads being moved. [/Public Service Announcement] ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/33 "2005-06-23T19:02:35Z")
And, yet again “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/34 "2005-06-23T19:20:04Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > And, yet again > > “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” Conceded. Crude classifications and false generalizations aside, SDMB threads can now be classified into three major categories; those that don’t work, those that break down and those that get lost. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/35 "2005-06-24T02:59:45Z")
That would make an interesting MPSIMS thread, **John** - categories of SDMB threads. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/36 "2005-06-24T15:21:08Z")
For a completely non-serious post that doesn’t contribute anything to the subject: Who wants to sign up with me to be a Forum Anarchist? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/37 "2005-06-24T16:27:58Z")
What exactly would a Forum Anarchist do? ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/38 "2005-06-24T16:30:09Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Giant Squids everywhere agree: philosophical debates about hypotheticals belong in Great Debates. Maybe this one needs mutant gaint squids that can turn anything colored blue into yellow? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/39 "2005-06-24T16:40:28Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > What exactly would a Forum Anarchist do? Topple the government of the SDMB? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414/40 "2005-06-24T16:45:41Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Who wants to sign up with me to be a Forum Anarchist? Ooh me, me!!! Where’s the rulebook? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-doing-in-gd/309414.md?page=3)