To our Administrator James, and rpenner

Discussion in 'Site Feedback' started by paddoboy, Feb 13, 2017.

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  1. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    I've certainly been in my share of heated arguments with Paddoboy.

    But having said that, I have to say that I kind of like him and hope that he sticks around. He's passionate and provocative and I enjoy arguing with him.

    And I found many of his science news items were very interesting. I'll miss those too.

    Hey Paddoboy: When you calm down and start missing this place, I hope you come back.
     
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  3. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    If - big if - everything paddoboy wrote in the OP had been wholly correct, would you still consider the post unacceptable? And if so, why?
     
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  5. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Name calling.
     
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  7. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    If the epithets had been rephrased? With no reference to the present targets, if someone is a liar I think you would find it acceptable to call them such. Your objection is to calling someone a damned liar, or a bloody liar, etc. Have I understood you correctly?
     
  8. The God Valued Senior Member

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    Who decides that it was wholly correct?

    And bigger question, Does the accused/convict has the right to publicly abuse the judges?

    And even if accused feels aggrieved and he attempts to approach the larger audience, should he use the expletives for judges?

    To me it appears that you wish to support Paddoboy, I do not think he deserves any sympathy for the kind of abuses he throws and he has thrown in the OP. You seem to be a flaming kind of person, creating issues where none exists


    I am not equating judges with moderators...but some sort of reference can be drawn.
     
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  9. The God Valued Senior Member

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    Who decides that it was wholly correct?

    And bigger question, Does the accused/convict has the right to publicly abuse the judges?

    And even if accused feels aggrieved and he attempts to approach the larger audience, should he use the expletives for judges?

    To me it appears that you wish to support Paddoboy, I do not think he deserves any sympathy for the kind of abuses he throws and he has thrown in the OP. You seem to be a flaming kind of person, creating issues where none exists


    I am not equating judges with moderators...but some sort of reference can be drawn.
     
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  10. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    Whomever you wish. I simply stipulate that in this hypothetical scenario it is wholly correct. Do you find that problematic? If so, why?

    Clearly, in some circumstances, they have the opportunity.

    Also, is a wholly correct statement of fact necessarily abuse? If I could prove that President Trump was a narcissistic liar would it be abusive to say so?

    Expletives are a powerful linguistic device. If the accusations were wholly correct - the scenario I was dealing with - for what reason would you object to the use of rhetorical devices to make a point?


    I have very little responsibility for your perceptions. My intention was to better understand Seattle's objection to the OP.

    I was, and remain, interested as to whether these should be considered abuses if the assertions are true. Do you believe that calling someone a scurrilous bastard is an abuse if they are a scurrilous bastard? If so, what is your rationale for that belief?

    What issue do you think I am creating here? I simply wished to find out, with more precision, what aspects of the OP Seattle found objectionable.

    You appear to be.
     
  11. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    I don't think posting a public message with "gutless and pompous" in the title was called for.
     
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  12. The God Valued Senior Member

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    There is a hint of anarchy in your post. There are rules and there are procedures. The procedure is that a decision of moderator can be taken up through PM only, however aggrieved one may be. Here not only the poster confronted mod and superior mod actions publicly, but used unacceptable language too.
     
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  13. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    As a generic situation I can see there could be times it is appropriate. You disagree. Fair enough.
     
  14. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    I thought it was quite well organised. I think you may be investing too much effort in reading sub-text that is not present.

    I wasn't discussing that. I was focused on ensuring a clear understanding of Seattle's views on the matter. Thanks to his responses I have been able to do so.

    You of course are free to interpret rules and procedures as you wish and to form whatever opinions about those you choose to.
     
  15. The God Valued Senior Member

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    Your pointed post and follow up post were quite clear and were kind of justifying pushing aggression and name calling to Mods, if one is aggrieved.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2017
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  16. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Adjectives such as pompous, gutless (or narcissistic or scurrilous) are not objective; they cannot be proven to be true. They can serve no purpose but as a vehicle for emotional outlet.

    Not that that's a problem, Paddoboy is certainly expressing frustration at several members; I'm simply addressing Ophie's query of whether the post can be objectively analyzed.
     
  17. rpenner Fully Wired Valued Senior Member

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    Paddoboy would have the burden of supporting his own factual claims. In the opinion of James R, Bells, and myself he fell far short in many respects.
     
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  18. rpenner Fully Wired Valued Senior Member

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    Also, on the Internet, hyperbole seems like the rule rather than the exception. Also, sometimes one has to consider the source:

     
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  19. The God Valued Senior Member

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    This was a pointer to Ophiolite...
     
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  20. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    In my opinion, I suspect (with no evidence) that Paddoboy's frustration comes from a crushing disillusionment.

    (Note: I am simply reporting what I have observed, and guessing at perceptions. I neither defend, nor cast fault, nor take any side.)


    I observed Pad doing two things:

    1] Suiting up to purge SciFo of what he saw as cranks, wooers and trolls. He felt that some members were hurting the quality of the forum, and took it upon himself to remedy the situation, ideally by driving them away.

    2] Supplementing SciFo's science content with PlasmaInferno-type science content posts.


    I think it's safe to say that Pad felt he was manifestly improving the quality of the site with these two personal initiatives, and that he thought he had the implicit backing and support of the forum officials.


    When he ran afoul of the mods, he realized that he was not afforded special privileges to treat perceived cranks/trolls with less adherence to the rules than others (special privileges that he thought some officials *were* afforded). Where he was expecting praise, what he got was 'you are overstepping your bounds'.

    I think his animosity is due to the disillusionment that he spent a lot of time doing what he thought would be appreciated, but in fact, was not asked for, and was not appreciated (by not only the officials, but by some of the plain ol' members as well).

    That probably hurt him lot.


    I have no business speaking for Paddoboy, nor have I ever had any discussion with him about it, I speak only from reading that which is available to all.
    Nor do I have any judgement either way on the right or wrong of any of it. (If any of my words suggest I do, then I've expressed myself wrong.)
     
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  21. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Having had a limited conversation with him outside the public eye, I can say, Dave, that you are partially on-target. He was disillusioned with the apparent free-reign given to cranks and trolls and what he saw as an unequal application of the rules - in large part the rules regarding substantiating claims and providing compelling evidence. Case in point - we have certain members that will demand extraordinary evidence for even the smallest claim (and often then refused to acknowledge said evidence when it is provided), but when asked to present evidence for THEIR claims, will whine and moan and generally refuse to provide it (or, in even more aggravating cases, tell you to go find it yourself or demand you provide even more evidence for your counter claim instead of even attempting to support their claim).

    This tactic is, in my humble opinion, in very poor taste and in violation of the rules governing standards of evidence, vexatious posting, trolling, and others...

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
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  22. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    If it's not yours, then whose is it? And if it's not yours then it is unsurprising when generally solid members say "screw this for joke" and leave. And that is certainly my business as a member of this forum.
     
  23. Schmelzer Valued Senior Member

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    Of course, paddoboy had weak points, he liked to argue ad hominem a lot, and clearly simply because he, as a layman, was unable to argue about the scientific content.

    Nonetheless, he posted from time to time quite interesting links to some articles. So, for the forum this will be a sort of loss. Maybe the standards of discussion in the scientific parts of the forum will increase, with more discussion about content and less ad hominem. But, on the other hand, there will be much less traffic.
     
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