Philosophy Discussion Forums

Could people please stop making new topics with just a vague starter question and nothing else? A couple of these are fine, but some users (cough: cynicallyinsane) are spamming them on every board. It doesn't contribute anything to make a dozen "what is?" topics. How about offering your own response along with the question.

My two cents.

I agree. And, the quality and length of forum topics is mentioned in the official forum rules.

Forum Rules wrote:Before posting a thread, search the forum and see if there is already a thread on that topic. All new threads must be at least 45 words. Do not post a thread which only asks for one-word answers. Poor quality threads will be deleted.

I will warn members who violate (or have violated) this rule. If they violate it again, I will ban them.

If anyone noticed a member breaking any rules, please tell me - but in private via a PM.

Thanks,
Scott

As a side note, I have deleted many poor quality threads and posts. You probably haven't seen the worst. If you see a low quality thread started, it means either (1) I haven't seen it yet or (2) I think it has potential to spawn a philosophical discussion.

Thanks again,
Scott

pjkeeley wrote:Could people please stop making new topics with just a vague starter question and nothing else? A couple of these are fine, but some users (cough: cynicallyinsane) are spamming them on every board. It doesn't contribute anything to make a dozen "what is?" topics. How about offering your own response along with the question.

My two cents.

Poor quality can be very subjective and arbitrary.

Try to judge my thread on pinching noses to disprove solipsism and idealism, and tell if it is low quality.

If you don't think it is low quality, then what is it to prevent you from reacting to it also in a quality massage?


Pachomius

Scott wrote:As a side note, I have deleted many poor quality threads and posts. You probably haven't seen the worst. If you see a low quality thread started, it means either (1) I haven't seen it yet or (2) I think it has potential to spawn a philosophical discussion.

Thanks again,
Scott

I would like to believe that this forum is for everyone who has a question to ask or an answer to tender, or just plain wanting to get something published and thrill to the excitement of seeing a piece of writing done by himself put on the web.

Just let people who have taken the time and labor to register, write whatever they want to write, even of the most lowest of quality philosophical writing; they just want to try their hand at writing something they want to believe is philosophy -- like yours truly.


When they come to the light and that is philosophy indeed, that writing philosophy and writing as to be legibly intelligible to themselves is not their cup of tea, they will do more thinking and occupy their time with attempts at better writing before they click on the send button.


Otherwise, many a budding Aristotle or Stove (who's that?) would be nipped in the bud instead of developing into a most readable Nietzsche* (pun intended).


Pachomius

*He says in his tomb on hindsight, nyet.

Pachomius, I think it is better to have some rules and regulations for posting. I think it is better to require a certain amount of quality from posters. We cannot please everyone, and a free-for-all would be unpleasant for the other posters who want to have productive, high-quality, philosophical discussions in an environment that is respectful, rational, and peaceful.

It would be a harsher limitation to a group of posters if the forums are flooded with low quality, inappropriate, and/or non-philosophical content.

The standards are not that strict. I believe that anyone who tries will be fine. But I will ban members who carelessly post low quality content without trying to be reasonable, understandable, and polite.

Basically, if users put effort into making good posts, then we will not have a problem.

There is only a problem when a user refuses to try to post well. Users must be willing to try to post in a polite way without using insults or personal attacks. Users must genuinely try to use the best spelling, grammar and organization in their posts (which can easily be done by using a spell-checker and proof-reading the post before posting it). Users must try to write their in a way that will be best understood by other users.

A user who refuses to try is not a budding Aristotle or a budding philosopher at all.

If a user will not put that effort into their posts here, then other users will not want to waste their time reading the posts or discussing with the user.

Thanks,
Scott