Welcome to Discussion Club!

[Perknose]

Politeness and respect for others is essential here. Friendly, civil, honest discussion is the rule.

Enjoy, and remember, be civil out there!

[shortylickens]

Is it civil to ask loaded questions, in hopes of getting a debate going?

[Charles Kozierok]

Welcome, all.. and enjoy the honeymoon.

Originally Posted by shortylickens

Is it civil to ask loaded questions, in hopes of getting a debate going?

Hard to answer this. The preference is always to put forth your own opinion on whatever the topic is. If you don't have any view on the matter at all, I suppose you could just ask a question. But that seems unlikely, if the topic is controversial. Asking a question in the hopes of getting someone else to reply only so you can then jump them would be a bit.. cowardly.

[Blackjack200]

I like that we have 1 gun control thread and 1 health care thread. Is there any possibility that we can try to keep topics more or less consolidated?

[shortylickens]

Originally Posted by Charles Kozierok

Welcome, all.. and enjoy the honeymoon.



Hard to answer this. The preference is always to put forth your own opinion on whatever the topic is. If you don't have any view on the matter at all, I suppose you could just ask a question. But that seems unlikely, if the topic is controversial. Asking a question in the hopes of getting someone else to reply only so you can then jump them would be a bit.. cowardly.

If the topic isnt controversial, there wouldnt be anything to debate.
I think thats the core problem overall, and its something we still havent addressed directly, in either P&N or here.

Thats why I was surprised to see a separate Debate forum.

What I am getting from you is you'd like us to ask basic, direct questions with as little venom as possible.

[MovingTarget]

Originally Posted by Blackjack200

I like that we have 1 gun control thread and 1 health care thread. Is there any possibility that we can try to keep topics more or less consolidated?

I do like that we don't have umpteen different threads on the same topic, but , but consolidation does have its downsides.

An Example: Gasoline price threads.

Perhaps consolidated debate threads should have an expiration date where they are closed and another allowed to open. This would keep the debate more current, imho.

[Hayabusa Rider]

I understand the main emphasis, but what about things like metacognition, that is how we think about thinking and the associated processes. We think and we believe, but why? I consider such discussions relevant to how we approach things. Is that proper here?

[Charles Kozierok]

There are no specific content inclusions or inclusions for this forum, except that I'd imagine the admins would prefer that tech-related arguments be kept to the appropriate tech forums (e.g., "the new AMD chip is going to be great" / "the new AMD chip is going to suck").

Some threads will be more concrete, some more abstract. That's cool with me. Of course, if a thread is so abstract or so specific to the poster, not much discussion may ensue...

The primary purpose of this place is to be able to present a viewpoint without getting a response like "typical liberal" or "conservatives are all paranoid or "how much are they paying you" -- or worse.

[jackstar7]

Gotta say, so far the experience in here is a nice change from P&N. Much closer to another board I frequent, and that's a positive for me. So a tip of the hat to everyone here.

[Whiskey16]

Originally Posted by Perknose

Politeness and respect for others is essential here. Friendly, civil, honest discussion is the rule.

Perknose, beyond one's post, will this also include presented avatars and signatures? There are a few around with the intention to provoke and offend.

The mission for respectful civility all around is a wonderful baseline.

[shortylickens]

Any particular reason we changed the name?

[Perknose]

Originally Posted by Hayabusa Rider

I understand the main emphasis, but what about things like metacognition, that is how we think about thinking and the associated processes. We think and we believe, but why? I consider such discussions relevant to how we approach things. Is that proper here?

Short and direct answer: Absolutely! Note the forum's subtle but significant name change.

Folks, this is an ongoing experiment we all hope succeeds. We simply want a place where thoughtful and intelligent discussion can proceed absent bad acting, deliberate trolling, and unwarranted and unwelcome personal attacks.

Welcome to the Discussion Club!

[Perknose]

Originally Posted by shortylickens

Any particular reason we changed the name?

We want to emphasize that the scope of discussion here includes the philosophical and is not limited to politics or current events.

More subtly, this forum's moderators wished to shift the emphasis here from the adversarial approach of debate to the more congenial and cooperative approach of discussion.

Think of this forum as a club and not a war zone.

[Perknose]

Originally Posted by Whiskey16

Perknose, beyond one's post, will this also include presented avatars and signatures? There are a few around with the intention to provoke and offend.

The mission for respectful civility all around is a wonderful baseline.

Good question. This forum is in the hands of its supremely capable moderators, CharlesKozierok and EagleKeeper. I am sure that they will invite those posters who insist on using their avatars and signatures to provoke or offend to post elsewhere.

[shortylickens]

Originally Posted by Perknose

We want to emphasize that the scope of discussion here includes the philosophical and is not limited to politics or current events.

More subtly, this forum's moderators wished to shift the emphasis here from the adversarial approach of debate to the more congenial and cooperative approach of discussion.

Think of this forum as a club and not a war zone.

Yeah but we still have to follow the rules for an official debate, dont we?

[Charles Kozierok]

The issue of signatures and avatars was discussed at some point. The decision was made not to get involved in that, because they are site-wide and we don't think people should have to tailor the only things that give them some personality on the site to the dictates of this room.

I suppose an exception might be if someone puts something in there specific to this room that's designed to cause trouble, but I believe that was always grounds for the admins to edit it anyway.

Shorty, no you do not have follow the rules for an official debate, because there are no such rules. There are guidelines we'd like everyone to follow to keep discussions at a high level, but they aren't formal debate procedures.

I just posted a new set of guidelines EK and I came up with, and an open discussion thread for some. Both are stickied.

[DixyCrat]

Originally Posted by Charles Kozierok

no you do not have follow the rules for an official debate, because there are no such rules. There are guidelines

Like the pirate code?

[shortylickens]

Since you guys locked the guidelines thread:

[AkumaX]

PleaseMayI

[JoLLyRoGer]

ATDC 2013 = ATOT 2000

Thanks for making this happen!