I don’t see why anyone would feel stupid in GD. Most arguments there are based on gut feelings about politics and religion. If you have those, you’re qualified to post. My problem is that it’s turning into an old married couple who don’t like each other anymore. Most arguments there are more about personal feuds than trying to discuss politics and religion in a civilized manner, though tomndebb tries his best to keep things from getting personal.
I’m familiar with everyone who’s posted so far. You’re all smart enough to contribute and lord knows the forum needs new voices. Right now it’s running more on rage and arrogance than reason. Of course you may simply not want to engage, a feeling I completely understand and support.
GQ, now that’s where I feel like an idiot. I lurk there and occaisionaly ask questions, but I’ve never felt I can answer a question better than most everyone else.
GD is usually only enjoyable from the outside. If you dare dive in, any of these happening are a sure bet:
Your point will be largely ignored.
Your point will start fairly innocently, then turn into an exercise in inexhaustible pedantry.
Your point will get so misconstrued by someone, that it turns into a war of who’s “more righter”.
If your point is in the minority, then bend over and grease up for the pile-on.
GD is rarely satisfying on the inside, but it does help to sharpen and crystalize why it is you’ve come to think the things you do, and sometimes even sway where you stand on things. No one’s safe in GD. No one.
I’d love to do more debates. I can’t really participate in the politics threads since they’re so US-centric. What I want to be involved in are very general debates about, say, ideology, ethics, that sort of thing. I rarely find a discussion that interests me, though, and last time that happened this pot started calling the kettle black and then the thread died.
Another problem is that certain people seem hell-bent on bringing their personal pet issues into every thread, no matter how tangentially related they are. The Cafe Society thread about Dennis Hopper’s politics is a prime example. Could have been a lighthearted thread, but no, the political sniping had to commence with zero delay. That’s just… tiring.
No, I tend to think most of the regular posters in GD turn into total goobers when they go in there, while they act like perfectly normal people in the other forums. I generally have a good idea of what’s going on in there, but I mainly read threads about my pet issues, and don’t contribute because I don’t have much to say that needs to be said anyway.
Okay, hands up honest it’s more the latter. I see debates that I feel I could contribute to but it involves wading through so much intellectual treacle that I can’t be bothered. I’ve started a few debates myself and will kick around those because (by definition) they’re something I have an opinion of or experience in.
I’ve also wondered, as Anaamika has, what the point of hacking away at someone with an opposing opinion to yours is. I genuinely wonder whether some of the people in debates are really debating or just using the forum as a platform for their own polemic.
Fair enough, but to do that implies you feel particularly strongly about the topic being discussed, and there are very few things that I feel so passionately about that I have the need to tell others about it at length.
Not to mention it’s very difficult to get an honest debate going on.
Someone will ask a question. “What do you think of this?” And some posts in, someone else will say, “How about this?” and mention some totally different topic.
Uh…is that really answering the question? What does that have to do with the question? Can we stick to the topic? It’s just like the political thing. Someone comes in and says"McCain does this - what do you hink" and one of the answers always is “Well, Obama does this!” That is not useful. And what’s worse is so often the topic will just get hijacked into the side topic.
And the nitpicking! Someone will post a long, well-reasoned debate, and make one mistake in it. Post after post will be discussing the mistake.
And then it also depends on where it comes from. VC03 had some topics I thought were legitimate but no one would answer them with any sort of sense.
GD is what first got me to join this message board and I still think it’s a terrific resource. Count me in, though as someone who sometimes feels stupid there. I still remember the time I asked Diogenes the Cynic how much I knew about the Bible! I am amazed by how much people know and how well thought out some people’s positions are.
Cafe Society got me to join the board and it’s still my favorite place, Siege. The fact that I can read almost any obscure book and have people show up out of the blue who have not only read it but have complicated viewpoints on it…heaven.