# Why are the moderators here biased and intellectually dishonest? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 1, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149 "2010-07-01T02:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/181 "2010-07-02T13:05:34Z")
**Do Peer-Reviewed threads exist supporting skepticism of “Doper-made” wrong-forum posting alarm?** Proponents of moderator action to regulate GD posts all in the name of preventing a “Doper-made” wrong-forum posting “catastrophe” will declare that no peer-reviewed threads exist supporting skepticism of “Doper-made” wrong-forum posting alarm. I argue this is not true, **[750 Peer-Reviewed Threads Supporting Skepticism of “Doper-Made” Wrong-Forum Posting](http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=568429)** > [@](#): > > I am Straight Dope Member Rhythmdvl, and I have here a list of two hundred seven moderators who are known by the Admins of the Dope as being members of the Wrong-Forum Posting Party! > > Who nevertheless are still shaping the policy of the Dope! > > I demand an answer, Mister Zotti! There will be no covering up, sir! No covering up!!! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/182 "2010-07-02T13:09:49Z")
I’m going to censor myself to the coffee machine and get another cup. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/183 "2010-07-02T13:32:00Z")
I’d love to stick around, but I need to censor into work - I’m late. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/184 "2010-07-02T14:09:40Z")
> [@Poptech](#): > > It was suppressed and deleted (censored) from the Great Debates forum. So you’re the one accusing others of intellectual dishonesty when you can’t seem to get the definition of censorship correct, even when it’s very clearly pointedf out to you? That’s rich. btw, your above statement is incorrect. Your thread is still available in GD although it says moved. Clicking on it in GD has the exact same result as if it hadn’t been moved. Few will take your whining about intellectual dishonesty serious with this as your own example. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/185 "2010-07-02T14:09:47Z")
Sorry I’m late-I was having a bowel censorment. Did I miss anything? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/186 "2010-07-02T14:15:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Sorry I’m late-I was having a bowel censorment. > Did I miss anything? 😃 best one yet. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/187 "2010-07-02T16:09:53Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > One thing is clear about Poptech: he/she is a one trick pony. Out 268 posts, 268 are about climate science/global warming and complaining about how he/she is treated when posting about those topics.. Not only that, every single one of **Poptech’s** posts has been in the five threads that he started himself. Even though almost 150 threads have mentioned “global warming” since his join date, he’s never commented on any one of them other than his own. I note that the [Registration Agreement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423183) contains the following: > [@](#): > > The board is not intended to furnish you with a forum for promoting your personal agenda. We reserve the right to ask you to limit postings on a particular topic, or to refrain from posting on such topics altogether. ---
**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 2, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/188 "2010-07-02T16:27:43Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not only that, every single one of **Poptech’s** posts has been in the five threads that he started himself. Even though almost 150 threads have mentioned “global warming” since his join date, he’s never commented on any one of them other than his own. > > I note that the [Registration Agreement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423183) contains the following: Spot on, I was not kidding when I inferred that he is also virtually spamming his dubious list in many of the science message boards and blogs. He also fails to convince the main members or posters, and yes, he also complains about censorship when he does not get his way or that he is victorious everywhere even when many others make mincemeat out of him. The Black Knight indeed. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/189 "2010-07-02T18:16:54Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > One thing is clear about Poptech: he/she is a one trick pony. Out 268 posts, 268 are about climate science/global warming and complaining about how he/she is treated when posting about those topics. > > He/she is also - how can I put it? - very vehement when discussing those topics. From what I’ve seen on this board, posters like that **tend to burn out spectacularly and quickly.** Not quickly enough. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/190 "2010-07-02T18:32:14Z")
**Poptech** , your join date says that you are new here (March this year). Your complaints suggest you are not familiar with the rules and culture of this board. > [@](#): > > It was censored from the Great Debates forum based on lies and fraudulent charges. My goal was not appropriate for Great Debates? A belief that can have policy implications totaling trillions of dollars is not worthy of the Great Debates forum? No, the topic of policy for AGW is worthy of debate. So is the question of if there are real scientific papers that are skeptical of the man-made nature of GW. But if I understand the reasoning of the moderators correctly from the comments made, the reason why they moved your thread from Great Debates to The BBQ Pit was because you were not engaging in debate. You were apparently not listening to your opponents and responding to their actual points, but getting caught up in side issues (like the meaning of “few months”) and repeating your own talking points. Now I didn’t read enough to weigh in on whether that is an accurate summary, but I point this out to explain what I take from what is said. The point is that if you are not engaging in reasoned debate, then you are more ranting about your topic of interest. Here’s the thing: the Straight Dope is set up with different forums to group different kinds of topics and discussions to make finding things easier. In this case, the moderators felt your discussion style was not debate but rather rant. Ergo, they decided to move the thread to the “rant” forum, i.e. the Pit. Same way if someone were to post a debate topic in MPSIMS it would get moved to GD, or if someone posts a question about a TV show in GQ, it will get moved to Cafe Society. That is sorting. There’s no censorship - the post is there, the discussion is included in full. If you feel your topic deserves to be in GD, I would suggest you consider the style of your interaction, and perhaps request clarification on what you should do differently (though I gather the mods made suggestions in the thread itself). > [@](#): > > Only a few were moderated, the rest allowed even though they are direct personal attacks simply because the moderators support these attacks. They are using their personal beliefs to bias their moderation as they believe AGW skeptics to be deniers and supports or creationism or conspiracy theories. Regardless some were directly ignored and not moderated and excuses used to justify it. My point about ignoring them is how they presented the argument, they do so in the context as if I was all me and the ones whom they let personally attack me did nothing wrong. I read your previous list. It has already been pointed out that several of the remarks were made after the thread was moved to The Pit. Personal insults are allowed in The Pit, so those are discounted. Also, a couple of the items you listed were actual attacks, and those were also moderated - the moderator explicitly told the people who made those statements that they were out of line.\* The rest of your list consists of remarks that, while addressed to your person, are not insults or rules violations by the interpretation of this board. If you read other threads in GD, you will find similar comments that are treated the same way all over. If you find yourself being characterized as a conspiracy theorist or as debating _like a creationist_, perhaps you should consider the method of your presentation and find out what it is you are doing that is getting you cast in that light. - Is it your expectation that the punishment should have been harsher? Well, that just shows your lack of familiarity with board policy and custom. Often the mods will start with a strong reminder that certain behavior is out of line - generally that works to get things back on track. If a poster has a history of ignoring those remarks or continues to violate that instruction, that is when the mods escalate to “official warnings”. **ivan astikov** said: > [@](#): > > So, if an editor of a newspaper takes a controversial science report and buries it among the sports pages, there is nothing really wrong with such an action? If the underlying pretext of this hypothetical is correct, then yes, there is something wrong with an editor burying a science report in the sports pages. But your hypothetical does not relate to this instance, because this was not a science report. The analogy fails. > [@](#): > > More like “I moved your article to the sports pages because I think it is unworthy of being in the real news section.”, but I agree, it’s hardly burying it… except in terms of killing it as a real subject of merit. But they’re not saying the _topic_ is unworthy, just that the _article in question_ did not belong in the “news” section because it clearly was an opinion piece. Gad I hate analogies. They always suck. The inherent nature of an analogy is to be similar in some way, but can’t be identical or it wouldn’t clear anything up. So there’s always something along the margins or the underpinnings where the analogy is faulty, and invariably somebody gets caught up in those margins rather than the part that is accurate. [/whine] ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/191 "2010-07-02T22:22:25Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I think it’s great that Soulfrost is still trying to make sense of this. Keep it up, dude. And they say that OCD isn’t good for anything… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/192 "2010-07-03T02:20:33Z")
I really do not think of myself as a censor, but more as a thurifer. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/193 "2010-07-03T02:38:51Z")
For some reason, I read this whole thread. If I read the word “strawman” one more time, I’m going to throw up. (and to think, The Wizard of Oz was on tonight.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/194 "2010-07-03T02:57:39Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I really do not think of myself as a censor, but more as a thurifer. Raised Catholic, so I’m ashamed at having had to look up that word. On the other hand, having done so, I must say good show, man, good bloody show. ---
**Author:** ![Poptech](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poptech/32/7292_2.png) [@Poptech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poptech)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/195 "2010-07-03T02:58:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **ivan astikov** , you’re making a bad comparison here. Sports and science articles are kept separate so people can find them more easily. There’s no rule that would keep a global warming thread out of the Pit. There have been global warming threads in the Pit before. The main difference between the Pit and Great Debates is the style of discussion, not the kinds of topics: if people want to talk about the fine points of policy they can do it in GD, and if they want to wail and nash their teeth about the stupidity of their opponents, they can do it in the Pit. It’s pretty normal to see a GD thread and a Pit thread about the same topic at the same time. No he made an excellent comparison. The style of discussion is determined by those commenting on the post. What you are saying is if the commenters want to bury something they just have to behave like those did in my topic. I attempted to prevent this by reporting posts of which you allowed and then used against me to bury the topic or as Ivan clearly pointed out, declare it unworthy of discussion in the Great Debates forum. ---
**Author:** ![Poptech](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poptech/32/7292_2.png) [@Poptech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poptech)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/196 "2010-07-03T03:02:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Back on topic; **Poptech** , can you stop your complainning about moderation for a second and tell us who _you_ think is responsible for cattle mutilations? Definitely not aliens or whatever the UFO-ologists believe. I don’t support any conspiracy theories, 911, JFK ect… or believe in the paranormal. I am not religiously agnostic and support evolution theory. Any other labels you want me to dismiss? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/197 "2010-07-03T03:11:38Z")
> [@Poptech](#): > > Definitely not aliens or whatever the UFO-ologists believe. I don’t support any conspiracy theories, 911, JFK ect… or believe in the paranormal. I am not religiously agnostic and support evolution theory. Any other labels you want me to dismiss? This is a strawman. Especially since I believe in CT’s that pertain to JFK and 9/11 specifically. How your claim that you do NOT support these CT’s is in no way relevant to the topic at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Poptech](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poptech/32/7292_2.png) [@Poptech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poptech)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/198 "2010-07-03T03:12:53Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > But if I understand the reasoning of the moderators correctly from the comments made, the reason why they moved your thread from Great Debates to The BBQ Pit was because you were not engaging in debate. You were apparently not listening to your opponents and responding to their actual points, but getting caught up in side issues (like the meaning of “few months”) and repeating your own talking points. Now I didn’t read enough to weigh in on whether that is an accurate summary, but I point this out to explain what I take from what is said. It is an inaccurate statement. I addressed every relevant point of argument to the initial discussion. I attempted to report posts that dragged the debate offtopic but when the moderators refused to moderate, I was forced to respond to various unsubstantiated allegations. > [@Irishman](#): > > If you find yourself being characterized as a conspiracy theorist or as debating _like a creationist_, perhaps you should consider the method of your presentation and find out what it is you are doing that is getting you cast in that light. Are you serious? You are obviously new to this debate. Any question of the science of AGW gets you labeled like this. It is a propaganda tactic that has again worked very well. > [@Irishman](#): > > But your hypothetical does not relate to this instance, because this was not a science report. The analogy fails. The topic was scientifically and politically relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Poptech](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poptech/32/7292_2.png) [@Poptech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poptech)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/199 "2010-07-03T03:15:20Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Especially since I believe in CT’s that pertain to JFK and 9/11 specifically. > > How your claim that you do NOT support these CT’s is in no way relevant to the topic at hand. That is great, I don’t as I [explicitly](http://www.populartechnology.net/2009/06/debunking-911-conspiracy-theories.html) mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Poptech](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poptech/32/7292_2.png) [@Poptech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poptech)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149/200 "2010-07-03T03:16:23Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I really do not think of myself as a censor, but more as a thurifer. You are just dishonest and lack intellectual honesty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-moderators-here-biased-and-intellectually-dishonest/545149.md?page=11)