Motion to approve community based insults.

Hello,

Having used the excellent new search feature ask.abovetopsecret I have enjoyed reading lots of posts about a variety of subjects.

Something that I noticed though, and often too, was that certain labels are used to berate others during a heated debate.

Now I understand that attacking a person is against the T&Cs here but I also know that resolution only comes from conflict and during conflict emotions run high and words are used to express disdain and/or posture for conclusions to be drawn.

So, rather than have the words sceptic or believer, truther or shill bandied about outside of their given context I thought that certain community terms could be constructed which reflect the sentiment in a family friendly, and more appropriate, way and have no meaning beyond the walls of ATS.

This would not only give more belonging to the communities here as a whole but could also act as an endearing form of banter free from ridicule. A glossary could be provided which helps aid those new to the community to better understand the terms, and their reason for existing.

Think of it as only the cool kids knowing the best ways to poke fun at each other and a means to an end for venting correctly rather than defacing existing words beyond their actual meaning.

Feel free to post what you consider to be appropriate terms to classify a person from a certain community in a non-offensive way and which stays firmly within the T&Cs of ATS as well as your thoughts upon this proposal.

Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts on this.

-m0r

Its a nice idea, but i dont think it would really take off due to the fact that those words are so second nature for people to type, that it would almost seem impossible to try and get them to implement new terms. But thats just my opinion, I like how some members keep posting different ideas to help improve the boards here. Just like everything else ATS needs to evolve over time to keep it at as high a level that it is.

Just out of curiosity, do have any ideas for new words to take the places of the ones you listed?

Thanks for the replies thusfar

I don't wish to steer people towards any words in particular, I think that belongs to the community as a whole and not to me however for I will provide a couple of examples as to what could be used (I am a little far-reaching with my associations by nature and so please bear with me).

Iago; Someone who appears to be spinning certain propaganda to favour accepted mainstream beliefs over actual substantiated truth presented (To be used instead of Shill - I also only added this as the was a Shakespearean post )

Binks: Someone who appears to believe, seemingly with full resolve, whilst not accepting substantial arguments and/or evidence to the contrary and makes a huge conclusion which if followed through could be disastrous (From Jar-Jar Binks and his beginning the Clone Wars from the Star Wars Universe).

Tilk: A person who will not budge on their position regardless of evidence until one of their friends accepts said presented information (From Stargate SG1)

Done Chewing; A proposition made to someone to actually present evidence or serious opinion to back up their claims (From They Live, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum")

These are just examples and are not to be taken as actual suggestions - just in the spirit of what I would consider to be decent in-house terms.

-m0r

You can't get rid of unwelcome connotations by choosing new words. All that happens is that the new word picks up all the bad connotations of the old one.

Example; "We will get rid of the word "orphanage" and rename them "children's homes". A nice, sweet phrase which will remove all the old unwelcome associations. The result? A bad reputation was now indelibly attached to the word "Home".

Something similar happened when the old, creaky "British Railways" was renamed as the new, trendy "British Rail".

How many times has the Russian secret police changed its name?

How many times has the current euphemism for "lavatory" given way to a new one, because the old euphemism has become unusable in polite society?

If the word "sceptic" is used as an insult, then any word that replaces it will be used in the same way.

Euphemisms are a waste of time.
As long as they're not understood, they fail as communication.
Once they're understood, they cease to operate as euphemisms.

My thoughts exactly: It's not just what you say, it's how you say/use it.

I think learning to understand, and thus be better able to avoid using, fallacies would be a fantastic pursuit to better communication and understanding.

www.nizkor.org...

I think people should just grow a thicker skin. What's wrong with being called a skeptic or truther? I am both. And if I didn't think Obama was born here, I'd be a birther. Why don't people like these labels? It's not like we're calling each other dillweeds or jerkwads. They're descriptive labels that designate a person's beliefs on certain issues. I love it when people say, I'm not a birther, I just want to see Obama's birth certificate, because I'm not sure he was born here. Well, that's what a birther is. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

I personally think people should embrace their beliefs and not be ashamed to be called what they are.

This is just too PC for me. So, no. I don't think we should be calling each other gentler names so people won't be offended or have their feelings hurt. Let's just embrace our beliefs and talk about them.

JMO.

Originally posted by m0r1arty

Tilk: A person who will not budge on their position regardless of evidence until one of their friends accepts said presented information (From Stargate SG1)

It's actually spelt Teal'c

Sorry, dont mean to go off topic or anything, I'm just a huge Stargate fan

Originally posted by m0r1arty

So, rather than have the words sceptic or believer, truther or shill bandied about outside of their given context I thought that certain community terms could be constructed which reflect the sentiment in a family friendly, and more appropriate, way and have no meaning beyond the walls of ATS.

How much more family friendly do you need to be? None of those are expletives. And if they now invoke in you negative feelings it is by association that they have taken on a negative tone, and any new more "friendly" word you might come up with would eventually be seen as just as derogatory.

Originally posted by m0r1arty

This would not only give more belonging to the communities here as a whole but could also act as an endearing form of banter free from ridicule.

Yes. Because what we need on ATS is for everyone to feel perfectly safe posting any level of nonsense without any fear of ridicule.

What some do not seem to realize is that ridicule when used appropriately is a good thing. Because it is unpleasant, people fear it, and because they fear it, they actually take a moment or two to think something through before vomiting the contents of their minds out into the world for all to evaluate.

Even WITH the liberal use of ridicule in our society, people still bring forth into the world brain turds. Steaming smelly plops of mental garbage, which they have invested little to no conscious effort, researched not at all, and which logic has never even come near.

There has been a trend in society to "build self esteem" by disallowing "losing" or any negative feedback. "Every child is a winner" is unfair to both the actual winners, as it devalues THEIR effort, and to the losers, who are cheated of the mechanism by which they might find out what in the world they are actually good at, and feedback that might motivate them to improve.

Our society already asks far too little of its people intellectually. I am vehemently opposed to any suggestion that might make it easier for people to be mentally lazy, and I have no intention, personally, of pretending someones poorly formed turd of a thought is as valuable as one someone has spent time and effort crafting.

Just my two.

I would say if it's a blatant out right ignorant attack, then yes it should be dealt with by removal of the post. Otherwise, if another member is just backing up another member and not getting real ignorant like calling down or being very offensive, than just leave them alone. It can get pretty hypocritical some time in here by those that supposedly make the rules.

Spam removed by admin.

Regards.

Im more fond of just tellin it as it is...i got the points that I can accept a few warnings from the mods. I think, ( believe it or not ) that I actually have to agree with Benevolentheretic on this one ( sorry if I mispelled just a quick response)grow thicker skin, as my grandma used to say, if you cant take the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Originally posted by hawaii50th
I would say if it's a blatant out right ignorant attack, then yes it should be dealt with by removal of the post. Otherwise, if another member is just backing up another member and not getting real ignorant like calling down or being very offensive, than just leave them alone. It can get pretty hypocritical some time in here by those that supposedly make the rules.

Just know, Im starring and flagging you in spirit!

Originally posted by hawaii50th
It can get pretty hypocritical some time in here by those that supposedly make the rules.

"Those That Supposedly Make The Rules" heh.

Watch "TTSMTR" censor this euphemism or delete this post.

Motion to approve community based insults: SECONDED

I had a post deleted because I told some dork to read the thread first before making a dumb comment, then I called him a "dummy".


The problem is we have an oversensitive site with crybabies that will rat you out at the drop of a dime.


So basically it's like the real world.

reply to post by m0r1arty


It's people like you that want to spew their selfrightous ideology, strip the freedom from us Patriots and steal the money from our hard earned pockets. Why don't you pencil necked geeks go back to whatever commie country that you came from. We freedom loving Sons of Liberty don't need your kind of people telling us what to do. [Sarcasm]

Just a little illustration of what I see happening on ATS all to frequently, as ideologies solidify and reason evaporates.

Personally insults don't bother me at all but I do find it very sad that some people feel the need to categorize and marginalize others because of their own feelings of inadequacy and/or fear of differing opinions.

How ATS has changed! Once I was given a "red flag" [I miss the red flags] and a point deduction for calling someone a "mook" Now I see outright profanity being allowed; not even trying to evade the censors.

Originally posted by whaaa


Personally insults don't bother me at all but I do find it very sad that some people feel the need to categorize and marginalize others because of their own feelings of inadequacy and/or fear of differing opinions.

Thats not the only reason people insult others. You forgot trolling. Insulting for the sheer joy of watching someone else get their knickers in a twist.

This is called doublespeak and I think the idea's kinda silly, really. I love words and there's nothing wrong with coining new phrases ... that's admirable, especially if they're clever enough to become standard. But the idea to assuage bad feelings via the use of simple substitutions is, in my view, worthy of eyeball rolling and, at best, suspect. What's the difference? It's just as silly as how we can say heck, damn (presumably) and other tame words, but not the real money words. Same letters, different order. But people get freaked out. I agree, thicker skin is the answer. Also, embracing what your opposition uses to ridicule you. That's why I label myself Disinfo Agent for NWO, Inc. It's been used as a supposed slur against me and I'm all like "well, ok, then I will become precisely that" ... but all in fun, despite all the people that think it means I am actually a Disinfo Agent for NWO, Inc. (has happened many times, go figure).