# Why the Pit is necessary **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130 "2005-10-07T01:36:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/1 "2005-10-07T01:36:52Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338508), now locked by Tuba Diva… To sit around and have a high minded conversation about religion or politics is fine, but not when one of the people is on fire. In that case, you need a bucket of water. I mean this as metaphor. There are people in the world that need dousing more than they need lively discussion. I would even go so far as to say such people are on this board. Yes. There are people on the SDMB that may believe they are capable of, and deserve, a respectful discussion of the pressing issues of the day, but what they really need to be told - and told - and told, is that they are insufferable twits. Their personalities are like the proverbial elephant in the room that nobody wants to acknowledge. A strength of this board as that we CAN acknowledge it. They don’t need to be treated as worthy adversaries in an intellectual exchange. They need to be begged to stop being boorish pedants, illogical buffoons, or self-absorbed drama queens. Whatever it is they think they need to talk about is obscured by their personalities. As Emerson once said, “How can I hear what you’re saying when you are is shouting in my ear?” Hence the pit. This is where we can spot the elephants. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/2 "2005-10-07T02:07:19Z")
Fuck you, that’s why! ---
**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:** [October 7, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/3 "2005-10-07T02:07:45Z")
Also, I agree. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/4 "2005-10-07T02:47:29Z")
It never ceases to amaze me the number of Pit threads that could, after the first 10 or 12 post, be legitimate fodder for GD. Someone comes in with a chip on the shoulder, posts the grievance, then the thread evolves into what is a serious debate on what the issue is that pissed off the OP in the first place. I’ve had a small number (well, OK, _very_ small number) of threads that really became a semi-civil debate on the issue. Oh, lest I forget the obligatory response: _ELEPHANT TRUMPETING_ Thanks for your time. And because it’s the Pit, I must mention Giraffes are just silly animals. Though the hide would make for an awesome winter pimp coat! 😛😃 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/5 "2005-10-07T02:48:00Z")
The pit is a useful safety valve for keeping personal matters out of GQ and GD. On occasion, a clever rant will be posted. It provides a haven for small minded, petty, gossips. I could do without that particular characteristic, but YMwillV. The pit also gets more page views, which appeals to egomaniacs like myself. Hm. Maybe it encourages my worst tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/6 "2005-10-07T04:09:47Z")
I can’t remember the names offhand, but I have read some incredible rants in the Pit! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/7 "2005-10-07T04:40:17Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I can’t remember the names offhand, but I have read some incredible rants in the Pit! There was a legendary rant about junk phone calls by **Cervaise**. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/8 "2005-10-07T04:42:01Z")
Oh yeah, and **Scylla** has penned more than a few gems. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/9 "2005-10-07T04:42:15Z")
I got ya somethin’ necessary right here, dingbat. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/10 "2005-10-07T04:59:10Z")
No, fuck YOU! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/11 "2005-10-07T05:33:53Z")
I almost always read the Pit first to know what people are _feeling_. Only rarely have I used it for invective although I have no objection to it at all. I agree with **Mr. Moto** on this issue and trust that he and I will continue to have a place to spew the vilest of venomous insults should either of us ever need to resort to it. ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/12 "2005-10-07T05:44:01Z")
Hell, I just use the Pit as a source of entertainment. Yes, schadenfreude is bad, but hey, we all do it. 😛 And fuck you all very much. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/13 "2005-10-07T06:02:43Z")
> [@Andros\_X](#): > > Hell, I just use the Pit as a source of entertainment. Yes, schadenfreude is bad, but hey, we all do it. 😛 > > And fuck you all very much. I just wanted to post after **Andros\_X**. Carry on. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/14 "2005-10-07T06:04:29Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I just wanted to post after **Andros\_X**. Carry on. Oh, fuck off, you attention whore. 😛😉 ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/15 "2005-10-07T09:51:52Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Thanks for your time. And because it’s the Pit, I must mention Giraffes are just silly animals. Though the hide would make for an awesome winter pimp coat! 😛😃 Plus, with that long neck, you have a nice, built-in scarf! ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/16 "2005-10-07T13:55:35Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338508), now locked by Tuba Diva… > > To sit around and have a high minded conversation about religion or politics is fine, but not when one of the people is on fire. In that case, you need a bucket of water. I mean this as metaphor. There are people in the world that need dousing more than they need lively discussion. I would even go so far as to say such people are on this board. Yes. There are people on the SDMB that may believe they are capable of, and deserve, a respectful discussion of the pressing issues of the day, but what they really need to be told - and told - and told, is that they are insufferable twits. Their personalities are like the proverbial elephant in the room that nobody wants to acknowledge. A strength of this board as that we CAN acknowledge it. They don’t need to be treated as worthy adversaries in an intellectual exchange. They need to be begged to stop being boorish pedants, illogical buffoons, or self-absorbed drama queens. Whatever it is they think they need to talk about is obscured by their personalities. As Emerson once said, “How can I hear what you’re saying when you are is shouting in my ear?” > > Hence the pit. This is where we can spot the elephants. You can spot the elephants by impersonating elephants? :smack: I mean you’re not making a case here for a playpen for the kids to hurl insults at each other. No, instead you’re suggesting that the rest of us shouldn’t have to be constrained by civility and intelligent discourse when dealing with a boorish pedant. The best way to deal with a boorish pedant is to become a boorish pedant? There you go, lower yourself to their level of intellectual atrophy and go mano a mano! That’l learn 'em! It’s true that this board has it’s share of dullards. But if you have the cojones to venture into GD you should have the ability to eviserate your ‘adversary’ without _attacking the person._ Not only is that more effective, it’s intellectually pure. It’s more effective. It goes a lot further in “fighting ignorance.” It maintains the power, clarity and vitality of your argument. It’s more fun! And so now you’ll gild the lily by going to the Pit and call than a c\*cksucker? Am I the only one who sees some irony in this? You’ve rolled around in the mud with them, and now you’re both filthy. Someone veering in the thread can’t tell the difference between The Dullard and The Enlightened. You’re both hurling insults. Speaking of playpens… There was a variation of this percolating in The Other Thread, the sum of which was, “we can’t help ourselves.” Here’s a sample: > [@](#): > > It keeps the vitrol nicely contained and away from the other forums. > [@](#): > > Think of it as a safety valve. > [@](#): > > The anger and vitriol has to go someplace. If there were no Pit, it would either go offboard (which would be great, but we all know it doesn’t stay there for long, vis a vis various LJ fiascoes) or spill over into other forums, rules be damned. > [@](#): > > This way those who need that kind of thing can get it without leaving the community or bothering those of us who generally don’t want to go there. > [@](#): > > Why not keep it all quarantined,… > [@](#): > > I’ve seen many other boards that do not allow Pit-like posts anywhere and have no set aside place for them. These boards tend to have a tension running through them,…Mr. Moto’s analogy of a safety valve is excellent… > [@](#): > > …The Pit also serves as a way to vent about stupid bosses, sales clerks, and others in ways that we would never do in real life…Calling him a cunt here lets you get it out of your system… Why aren’t these simply euphemisms for what is essentially abject immaturity? Yesterday, I let someone in in traffic and they didn’t acknowledge my charity, someone else cut me off, a customer who owes me money has stopped taking my calls, I didn’t get combo meal 3, _which I clearly ordered,_ an employee didn’t lay down drop cloths and soiled a customer’s carpet, someone else out sniped me on ebay, and I misplaced my daytimer. Lest my lilting, melodic, SDMB voiced be laced with tension, one of them **must** be Pitted. Not just pitted, but it is _required_ that I call them every filthy name I know. (and a few I don’t know) It’s an intellectual colonic! Of course, that’s nonsense. **Liberal** is right. The Pit doesn’t sanitize the other forums; it is raw intellectual sewage running right through the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/17 "2005-10-07T13:59:14Z")
> [@the raindog](#): > > Why aren’t these simply euphemisms for what is essentially abject immaturity? Wait just a minute. You mean there are immature people on the internet? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/18 "2005-10-07T14:04:41Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Wait just a minute. You mean there are immature people on the internet? > > :eek: Of course not. It is a bastion of truth, maturity and unphotoshopped beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/19 "2005-10-07T14:12:42Z")
_In Russia, Pit fucks you!_ Ok, I’ll stop. I just came in here to cast my vote for liking the Pit, and keeping it…I am not a huge participator and people really annoy me here sometimes, but I still think it’s useful and necessary. And honestly, who cares if it’s useful and necessary? Someone takes away the Pit, next the \*\*asshole \*\* is going to go after my beloved MPSIMS, because that’s not strictly useful or necessary. And then I’ll be \*really \* pissed. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130/20 "2005-10-07T14:14:31Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > _In Russia, Pit fucks you!_ > Ok, I’ll stop. I just came in here to cast my vote for liking the Pit, and keeping it…I am not a huge participator and people really annoy me here sometimes, but I still think it’s useful and necessary. And honestly, who cares if it’s useful and necessary? Someone takes away the Pit, next the \*\*asshole \*\* is going to go after my beloved MPSIMS, because that’s not strictly useful or necessary. > > And then I’ll be \*really \* pissed. You’re not a member of the NRA by chance? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-pit-is-necessary/325130.md?page=2)