- Mabian
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- Exalted Mythic Member
- gamertag: Mabian
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"Whatever exists, whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent. These anonymous creatures may seem little or nothing in the world. Yet the smallest crumb can devour us. Any smallest thing beneath yon rock out of men's knowing. Only nature can enslave man and only when the existence of each last entity is routed out and made to stand naked before him will he be properly suzerain of the earth."
Posted by: CNC MadDogg
So rather than be part of the problem, I will leave it at that and go try and start a new one.
But then we have less fun here. And I want more fun.
Posted by: elmicker
I refer you to my comment on boring one sided circle jerks.
Groups provide a different environment than the public forums, one which is unfortunately, almost always 1-sided and reclusive, but tha's just the nature of the beast.
And it sucks too. I keep driving away all of my members. I’m glad there’s one guy who is willing to hang out and provide another side. Otherwise I would have to start doing it, and that’s so hard.
Posted by: necare
debates go one of two ways on this forum - they degenerate into a flame war (public forums) or they escalate into who can use the most complex words to make themselves sound smarter (most groups). If you find a place that has a discussion without ending up like either of these two, let me know :-)
I’m not going to devote my life to such a search, but if I happen to come upon such an anomaly I’ll give you a call.
Posted by: Savag3Shadow
Now, on to my next point.
Just the fact that we are debating about a debate forum proves the feasability of it's existance. So, those of you who don't want a debate forum are in fact helping along it's chances by debating about it. To add to that, if you don't oppose it, then it will look like all the members want one. So, what we have here is a classic Catch-22. You support a debate forum if you argue against it, but if you don't argue against it, you are still supporting it.
XD
I find two holes in that argument:
1) We are not exactly the best example of the member base. It might be a bit akin to trying to take a poll of general knowledge, but only asking college professors. In order to know whether a debate forum is feasible or not, you have to have this debate occur in every forum. That way you get a sample of the general population.
2) If members don’t oppose it, they like it…Which means that an idea that receives no replies must be the greatest idea, because 100% of the members who made a vote voted for it.
But on to the actual point of the thread itself.
A forum devoted to debate can only become one of three things. The first two necare has already mentioned. The third is that it will become a revolution of the same topics. Hot topics, I’m thinking the ones mostly on the religious and political side, will be the only topics being debated, because someone has two cents they wish to put in, or a debate is never settled, which just makes it a perpetual topic. We could try to make threads, but they’d just get pushed down by all of the other topics. And since I’m sure there are plenty of people who want to discuss politics and religion on the main forums, it could be as chaotic as the Halo 3 Forum. Sure, in groups you tend to have more one-sided debates (with the one or two people who insist on hanging about in order to provide an opposing view), but at least you can follow them. A good debate, in my view, needs to be slow-paced, where the participants have plenty of time to consider the opponent’s point(s), deliberate, and form their counter-point(s). With a debate forum, by the time you’ve read your opponent’s point(s), you potentially have another three to consider from other posters.
Multi-point debates are long and confusing. It is best to avoid them whenever possible. Therefore, I vote nay.