Is this a bible thumper's site or a science site?

M

Motor Daddy

Valued Senior Member
There seems to be more interest in debating religion than debating science on this site. Religion, philosophy, and politics seem to dominate the "new posts" link when I click on it. Very few science related discussions compared to the amount of discussions of the previously mentioned topics.

Why is it that I post a science related thread with diagrams, equations, calculations, concepts, and just plain facts in the "Alternative theories" section and the thread gets locked, but religious, political, and philosophical discussions are not only tolerated, but they thrive on this site?

I post math and science threads and they get locked, but random thoughts are encouraged?

Is this a science site or a religious site?
 
Ha! Because religion, philosophy and politics are more interesting, and more pertinent for more people than science.
 
wynn said:
Ha! Because religion, philosophy and politics are more interesting, and more pertinent for more people than science.
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That may be true, but you do realize this is a science site, right?

Do you go to a political site to talk about science? Do you go to a vegetarian site to talk about hunting?
 
These subjects are not as different as you might think. Not that science is a religion, but both science and religion address the basic questions and premises of our existence.
 
You said it well! This place seems like a magnet for religious and political whack jobs. It's the same discussion in nearly every thread. Good posters, who I won't mention, either get banned, or leave due to constantly getting warned for virtually nothing.

I mean hey, I still frequent the place, but man, you should have been here in the glory days.
http://www.sciforums.com/encyclopedia/Sciforums'_glory_days

Did you ever see this thread?
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=63588
Most of the pictures are gone. but some remain.

ahh the glory days...
 
Is this a science site or a religious site?
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Well for awhile it was a free for all, flaming, sock puppet filled chaotic forum that was a true anarchy run by the inmates that dwelt within these sub forums., kinda fun in a strange sort of way. I try to post scientific stories that I find interesting but few people here bother to express any thoughts about whatever it is I've posted. I think that the religious aspect that is now being discussed has moved into the main position of relevancy here. I guess that we have gone from total anarchy to total dictatorship, which also seems to be the path of America.
 
Motor Daddy said:
There seems to be more interest in debating religion than debating science on this site. Religion, philosophy, and politics seem to dominate the "new posts" link when I click on it. Very few science related discussions compared to the amount of discussions of the previously mentioned topics.

Why is it that I post a science related thread with diagrams, equations, calculations, concepts, and just plain facts in the "Alternative theories" section and the thread gets locked, but religious, political, and philosophical discussions are not only tolerated, but they thrive on this site?

I post math and science threads and they get locked, but random thoughts are encouraged?

Is this a science site or a religious site?
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I participate on three 'science' forums and the same observation you have made holds true on all three.

How these topics are moderated is more variable between the forums.
 
I find it extremely ironic that MD is complaining that there should be more posts about science here.:D
 
Ref. Original Post . . . . don't worry . . . there is plenty of "science" expounded ("thumped") when we OOB'ers try to post our ideas . . .
 
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Motor Daddy said:
There seems to be more interest in debating religion than debating science on this site. Religion, philosophy, and politics seem to dominate the "new posts" link when I click on it. Very few science related discussions compared to the amount of discussions of the previously mentioned topics.

Why is it that I post a science related thread with diagrams, equations, calculations, concepts, and just plain facts in the "Alternative theories" section and the thread gets locked, but religious, political, and philosophical discussions are not only tolerated, but they thrive on this site?

I post math and science threads and they get locked, but random thoughts are encouraged?

Is this a science site or a religious site?
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I took a look, and it appears to me that your threads are locked BECAUSE this is a science site. It seems that you are looking for a pseudoscience site where any theory or hypothesis, even if known to be false or nonsense, can be discussed as if it were valid.

Personally, I like having a site where I can discuss many subjects with science-minded people. I have ~ 35 years invested in physics and engineering. There is more to life, but internet discussion generally can be too wild to be useful or enjoyable.

In 2003 I walked away from SF because it was just nuts here. I am thrilled to see things have siginificantly improved but with moderation loose enough to allow adults to have adult discussions.
 
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Motor Daddy:

Motor Daddy said:
There seems to be more interest in debating religion than debating science on this site.
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And yet, there are only 46,000 posts in the Religion forum, as compared to 61,000 posts in General Science. Go to the front page and do the comparison yourself.

Religion, philosophy, and politics seem to dominate the "new posts" link when I click on it. Very few science related discussions compared to the amount of discussions of the previously mentioned topics.
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Maybe that's just a perception. Maybe it's a passing phase.

Why is it that I post a science related thread with diagrams, equations, calculations, concepts, and just plain facts in the "Alternative theories" section and the thread gets locked, but religious, political, and philosophical discussions are not only tolerated, but they thrive on this site?
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Religious, political and philosophical threads tend to get locked for the same reasons that science and pseudoscience threads get locked.

I post math and science threads and they get locked, but random thoughts are encouraged?
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Well, we have a Free Thoughts forum, so yes, they are encouraged.

Is this a science site or a religious site?
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Both.

Read the first few paragraphs of the site rules. They are available in the announcement posted at the top of every subforum topic list.
 
This the way I see this phenomena. In many science sites, science is often treated like dogma that cannot be questioned. For example, if the BB theory is considered right, any challenge, even in good faith to spark discussion, will be mean circling the wagons.

Since it is a science site, anything not science will not be protected like dogma. This allows more room for anyone to say anything, especially if it challenges the status quo in religion. Since these areas are more open to any type of discussion, it attracts more people who feel more comfortable being able to participate in their own unique way.

If you went to a religion site the opposite dogmatic priority will often occur. The religion will have their dogma and will also circle the wagons if the discussion gets threatening. But since it is a religion site, if science and evolution are discussed any contrary idea is welcome so more people feel free to participate by presenting their own unique ideas.
 
Of course the theory is well defended, but that doesn't mean it cannot be questioned. It's just well established, so any counter argument should be pretty extraordinary.
 
MD, you chose to talk about science, an area where evidence and logic reign supreme. You chose to talk about special relativity, an area so central to so many things in physics that it's required learning by any physics undergraduate and something any particle physicist or relativist will know inside out on a quantitative level. You chose to come to a website where numerous physics and applied mathematics undergraduates, post graduates, post docs, professionals and even the occasional academic frequent. As such you put yourself in the position you find yourself in.

The specific nature of your claims are easily addressable by any one of the groups I just listed and given your frequent threads on the matter you've had them addressed many times. Your claims about relativity are demonstrably ignorant and thus repeating them amounts to trolling. Your assertions about reality are also demonstrably ignorant and false. Every one of your claims have been shredded numerous times by numerous people, JamesR being one of them. You don't even attempt to talk about reality, you construct your own little universe in your mind and declare it reality. That isn't how you should be doing it.

It's possible to construct any number of logically/mathematically consistent conceptual models. Newtonian models and Lorentzian/Einsteinian models being two very well known examples. Both are mathematically sound. So how do we tell which, if either, actually applies to reality? By experiments. Experiments exclude the former but not the latter.

Now consider what you do. You say "Here's a thought experiment I think backs me up". You don't actually do relativity, you do your own little model. As such showing your own little model says something different to relativity has no impact on relativity, just as showing Newtonian systems don't agree with relativity. The only way to justify your model over relativity is with an experiment. Experiments do not align with your claims.

This has been explained to you time and again. Simply starting up another thread on it doesn't add anything but noise to the forum. No one really wants to have to walk you through the same concepts you failed to understand last 5 times and will just ignore again. At least in the religion forum different people are involved each time, for the most part. In your threads its usually you versus everyone who didn't sleep through physics class. Threads asking for clarification of how some relativistic result is obtained are fine. Threads discussing how some relativistic prediction is tested are fine. Threads examining why competitors to relativity are not considered much are fine. Threads where you repeat the same ignorance and lies for the 10th time are not fine.

At least random thoughts don't sound like a broken record player. You do. When you demonstrate you've actually read and understood what people have said to you and have gotten past your current pile of repeated mistakes you'll be welcome to start new threads in the physics/maths subforum on relativity. Just repeating the same tired crap will just get you another locked thread.
 
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