Forum Decorum | Feedback Please

[Ralf11]

politeis good

 

"unwanted" is more than problematic as some posters here cannot tolerate anyone who disagrees with them, most especially when they post irrational things

 

be sure you aren't giving some what they want because they throw temper tantrums online

[Ralf11]

what sets this site apart is that engineers and scientists post here

 

there are lots and lots of sites where crazy notions are posted with the veneer of science slapped over them - if CC wants to sanitize his site form science and make it safe for any sort of irrational claim he can, but IMO it would lose its value

 

the problem lies with people who so badly want a free fire zone for those types of claims (maybe because no one in the real world will listen to them)

[Ralf11]

19 minutes ago, mansr said:

"Rajiv's massive thread" begs to differ.

 

since that sort of thing already exists, how will a new proposal alter things?

[Ralf11]

BTW, some forum software allows replacement of prohibited words with &*&*(*& etc.

 

I am thinking of the apparent prohibition of the Fword but allowing bull 'pucky' in the last day or two

 

 

[Ralf11]

2 hours ago, Jud said:

Having spent several years hanging out at evolutionary biology and climate science blogs, there seem to me to be two types of people who derail discussions and cause problems in those forums:

 

- Those who discount science entirely in favor of their own subjective “truth.”

 

- Scientists and engineers from other disciplines who feel exposure to science or engineering of any type qualifies them to comment authoritatively on any other type.

 

So yes, scientists and engineers are a great advantage for a forum - when they talk about what they know well. And of course when they exercise good forum citizenship.

 

Getting back to the original post: Most of the proposals seem reasonable. I don’t agree with downvoting or other permutations of it, anonymous or otherwise, because it’s too easily abused to chase away anyone a group of people dislikes for any reason, justified or unjustified. Anything that leads to a ban ought to require going through you from the outset, @The Computer Audiophile - even though I know that’s a burden on you, unfortunately.

 

Some of these proposals will tend to minimize some fruitful interchanges. Even so, I wonder if unfortunately they’ve become necessary.

 

There is an error here, and a fundamental one.

 

However, anyone who has taken 2 years of physics (physics majors, and chemistry and biology majors) is well versed in the fundamentals of classical physics, and therefore easily able to "comment authoritatively" on violations of fundamental laws of classical physics, i.e. cable threads.

 

Engineers take (or used to take) a different physics than physics majors, but any EE or EE will also be able to "comment authoritatively" on such matters.

 

Analogies to evolutionary biology or climate science, in large part, are inapposite.  As someone who has worked for decades in those two areas, I am able to "comment authoritatively" that the analogy does not hold.

[Ralf11]

7 hours ago, mansr said:

It is often useful to simplify a problem, provided the approximations are "safe." For example, suppose someone claims their car does 0-60 in two seconds. If we assume ideal conditions of zero friction and constant maximum engine output, and the calculated acceleration for the mass of the car still gives us a 0-60 figure of five seconds, we can be certain that the real-world result will not be any better.

 

indeed it is necessary sometimes - and only someone in the area of research knows whether such simplifications are valid or not

 

Firedog, Jud used "comment authoritatively" - I agree it is not proof

 

ARquint's attempt to compare progress on the frontiers of science with the hoopla in audio engineering - a field using electronics that has long been well understood is simply more deflection from him

[Ralf11]

11 hours ago, Dutch said:

One can exaggerate and call it ‘heavy policing’ but the very thread we’re posting in right now is monitored and actively moderated. Though some off topic posts have been removed, everyone seems to behave and still participate just fine.

 

some on-topic posts appear to have been removed as well

[Ralf11]

8 hours ago, mansr said:

Well, you're the expert on thread disruption, so I'll have to take your word for it.

 

most problems seem to emenate from one time zone, so rather than split the forum into 2 groups of Subj/Obj or Modded/Unmodded, perhaps it would be best to give one time zone its own sub-forum

[Ralf11]

Any Moderator should be someone who never posts...