Entering a debate and not answering questions

[pcgeek11]

Why not? Because that's the single biggest reason (IMO) P&N is such a pointless cesspool. If people were required to actually support and defend their positions, it would quickly cut off the trolls and sock puppets so we could have more productive discussions. As it stands today, there is no real attempt to discuss issues, and no accountability for making astoundingly stupid and dishonest statements. If you get cornered in some piece of BS, just ignore the comment and keep on trollin'.

Pragmatically, I don't think Anandtech has the resources or the passion to moderate for content. It would be a monumental challenge, both in the sheer effort required and in trying to do so in an impartial manner. That's unfortunate but understandable. Still, it gets frustrating when a thread gets off to a good start with interesting discussion, only to be trashed by a predictable handful of idiots who can't contribute anything beyond what might fit on a bumper-sticker.

See your sig:

If you never encounter anything in your community that offends you, you're not living in a free society.

 

[erikistired]

Speak for yourself.

it's why i avoid p&n. i think i've posted there 3 or 4 times in the entire time i've been posting on the forums. it's just too full of garbage.

 

[DominionSeraph]

that`s not true at all....
In order to enforce something like that the moderators would all of a sudden have to decide whether a link posted in support of an issue has merit..is unbaased...etc...
It`s a no win proposition.

The interesting thing about P&N is anybody if they try hard enough can find a link or even a link to a blog that supports their stance or opinion on an issue.

Then it makes the mods job more work than it is worth.....IMO...

I don't think you've ever seen a good board before.
When a clueless redneck with a bee under his bonnet enters a forum with genius philosophers and scientists, the difference is obvious.
Partisan sources are also easy to spot, and a link itself is not support.

 

[zsdersw]

As with most things, this is an "expectations game" problem. If you participate in a free online forum and don't see what you like, yet continue to peruse it instead of finding a forum more to your liking, you're losing the expectations game.

I, on the other hand, like many here, don't expect much from P&N; our expectations are so low they've already been met so, accordingly, we don't really have a problem with "trolls" and their ilk. That's called winning the expectations game.

Your complaint is the online analog to complaining about who's playing at a free concert, yet still attending it.

 

[Bowfinger]

that`s not true at all....
In order to enforce something like that the moderators would all of a sudden have to decide whether a link posted in support of an issue has merit..is unbaased...etc...
It`s a no win proposition.

The interesting thing about P&N is anybody if they try hard enough can find a link or even a link to a blog that supports their stance or opinion on an issue.

Then it makes the mods job more work than it is worth.....IMO...

If you read the rest of my post, all the way down to the second paragraph, you'll find that's essentially what I said.

 

[Bowfinger]

See your sig:

If you never encounter anything in your community that offends you, you're not living in a free society.

What's your point? I never suggested trolls don't have a right to troll (though given AT is private property, they have no actual rights beyond what Anand chooses to give). I simply pointed out why P&N has so little productive discussion.

 

[Bowfinger]

it's why i avoid p&n. i think i've posted there 3 or 4 times in the entire time i've been posting on the forums. it's just too full of garbage.

Umm, 34 times according to Search ... but who's counting?

 

[erikistired]

Umm, 34 times according to Search ... but who's counting?

that many? interesting. i'll have to go back and see what i posted. it's possible some of those were threads that started off in OT and got moved to P&N. (edit: looking at the threads, about 90% of them)

also, this thread should be moved to OT, it's got potential.

 

[shortylickens]

Within reason, trolling seems to be allowed in P&N.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I don't think you've ever seen a good board before.
When a clueless redneck with a bee under his bonnet enters a forum with genius philosophers and scientists, the difference is obvious. -- depending on your point of view, those who YOU would call philosophers and scientists, could also be full of smelly stuff and spreading it very eloquently!!
Partisan sources are also easy to spot, and a link itself is not support.

I am a member of several good boards. This one included.....just because the powers that be allow P&N to have a like and to allow people of all view points whether right or wrong doesn`t measn this is not a good board!!

Me thinks you think you really have no clue what you are talking about...
You need to define good.....
It`s like trying to define the word "fair"......
In P&N the truth of the matter; using the Middle East as an example - there actually are more than two sides to some of these issues.

Nobody is forcing you to venture inside the hallowed halls of P&N!!! When you do, you better have thick skin because all of us are very opinionated and rightly so!!

It`s funny when people say P&N is too full of garbage....
Mainly it`s because they attempt to get involved in a heated discussion/argument and they get shot down because they did not like the response to something they said or they thought they would waltz right in and be accepted as the savior of P&N...lol

 

[JEDIYoda]

If you read the rest of my post, all the way down to the second paragraph, you'll find that's essentially what I said.

Tru Dat Bee!!

 

[DominionSeraph]

I am a member of several good boards. This one included.....just because the powers that be allow P&N to have a like and to allow people of all view points whether right or wrong doesn`t measn this is not a good board!!

Me thinks you think you really have no clue what you are talking about...
You need to define good.....

I only need to define it if the person I'm dealing with is an idiot who can't decipher my meaning from context.

We're talking debate, so other criteria like how good a forum is for social networking or feeding your child porn habit are outside the scope.
Zoom in more on |debate| and you exclude the junior leagues in which various types of arguing are merely the method by which people are jockeying for social position.
Pure debate is nothing more than the examination of the strength of a proposition. So a real debate board is one in which the people actually test the proposition, and a good debate board is one in which they test it well.

Junior leagues are junior league because they cannot focus in on the question.
P&N doesn't even qualify as junior league -- it's just a bunch of people grouping by initial stance and flinging feces at each other across the divide. All it does is teach mental defensiveness -- the strongest of which being mastering ignoring anything they don't want to hear.
Banning unresponsiveness removes the peak from the defensive arms race and rips open a seam down its side. If retreating into defensive psychology gets you banned then there is no choice but to develop offensive techniques. With no invalid defenses to hide behind, weak offenses fall to stronger ones. It's the evolution not just beliefs, but the methods of reaching those beliefs.

You say it has value just in a place for expression. But such passivity in allowing for expression creates the impression that what is expressed has innate value -- that just holding the belief is good enough. Two such beliefs collide in a system with no internal or external regulation system and the defensive arms race brings things to a stalemate that is only broken when it erupts into violence.

We have the growth of anti-intellectualism because nobody is holding anybody to reason. The average idiot doesn't WANT to reason -- it's too hard and they're not very good at it. And in the darkness of unreason all beliefs look the same.

It`s funny when people say P&N is too full of garbage....
Mainly it`s because they attempt to get involved in a heated discussion/argument and they get shot down because they did not like the response to something they said or they thought they would waltz right in and be accepted as the savior of P&N...lol

Now I am sure that you have either never seen a good board or lack the analytical skill to differentiate.
P&N is a joke. Heck, you can find a higher level of discourse on /b/.

 

[JEDIYoda]

P&N is a joke.

Your opinion....
You probably claim its a joke because you know no better.
Most people who claim P&N is a joke do so because they don`t have the intelligence to go to hang with the big boys!!
or they get their feelings hurt to easily..lol

 

[DominionSeraph]

Your opinion....
You probably claim its a joke because you know no better.

Sorry, this isn't reversible.

You: "2 times 2 is no joke. Man, that is hardest thing ever!"
Me: "No, it's a rather simple multiplication problem. It is just at the limit of your ability, so you can't put it into a wider context."
You: "No, you just don't understand how hard it REALLY is. Nothing could be tougher than this!"


P&N is on the level of the AOL Christianity board. It's just Fundie fights.

If you think it's good it is only because you are not.

 

[zsdersw]

Your opinion....
You probably claim its a joke because you know no better.
Most people who claim P&N is a joke do so because they don`t have the intelligence to go to hang with the big boys!!
or they get their feelings hurt to easily..lol

Of course P&N is a joke. I never expect more out of it than that.. and, as a result, it continues to amuse me.

"How's that free discussion board working out for you?" .. someone asks.

I reply: "Worth every penny."

 

[pcgeek11]

What's your point? I never suggested trolls don't have a right to troll (though given AT is private property, they have no actual rights beyond what Anand chooses to give). I simply pointed out why P&N has so little productive discussion.

You see my point in your sig. It is called Freedom.

 

[erikistired]

Sorry, this isn't reversible.

You: "2 times 2 is no joke. Man, that is hardest thing ever!"
Me: "No, it's a rather simple multiplication problem. It is just at the limit of your ability, so you can't put it into a wider context."
You: "No, you just don't understand how hard it REALLY is. Nothing could be tougher than this!"


P&N is on the level of the AOL Christianity board. It's just Fundie fights.

If you think it's good it is only because you are not.

I love watching someone drink their own kool-aid. You don't need a congregation when you worship yourself I suppose.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I love watching someone drink their own kool-aid. You don't need a congregation when you worship yourself I suppose.

Now that is funny, but sadly true in so many ways!

 

[mnewsham]

Is the person who started this even reading this thread anymore? Kind of ironic.