OP/ED: Reacting and Not Reading

Excellent comments, I have taken them in and will abide by the rules accordingly. My sincere apologies to the moderators, and other posters for any offending remarks that could be taken out of context.

Originally posted by Umbrax

If you dislike Bush you must support the Democrats.

9/11 conspiracy theorists believe that Bush is the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.

9/11 “debunkers” are plants or closed minded.

WoT conspiracy theorists are terrorist sympathizers

Anyone who speaks out against radical Islam must be a bigot and thinks all Muslims are out to get them.

UFO debunkers don’t believe in aliens.

Wanting to reduce Green House Gasses means you support and promote everything Al Gore has to say.

I’m sure some of you have also noticed other leaps of false conclusions about fellow members.

Those are some very fine points, and a lot of people would do well to note them. Especially "UFO debunkers don’t believe in aliens" and "WoT conspiracy theorists are terrorist sympathizers ", people often use kneejerk reactions to people who disagree with them without actually reading what is being said. They build up straw men, creating a problem where there isn't one.

And that is exactly the problem. Peoples strong opinions blind them, and instead of making them more open minded they become close minded and believe that everyone who disagree's with them is part of a certain group, lumping them into separatist ideologies. When you do this you are stereotyping people into groups that dont really exist apart from in your own mind, which is purely subjective anyway, and thats when your previously open minded views start to become myopic.

I try to never do that, there is no real diference between a conspiracy theorist, a ufologist, a skeptic, a debunker, a truther, at the end of the day we're all human.


[edit on 3-2-2008 by ZeuZZ]

Was the star system introduced so that people could skim through a long thread and find those posts deemed most relevant to the discussion?

If so, it's a good idea, but the problem is that anyone can give anyone else a star. Which means people might give stars for someone having the same opinion rather than for having raised useful new discussion points.

A one sentence posting that says something like 'Bush is an *&!@' could get several stars from Bush haters.

If we had another system whereby truly interesting threads could be given a 'thumbs up' or a 'light bulb' it would be more helpful. It would require that only forum moderators could award this mark of distinction.

And, unlike the star system which is only relevant to a single post, this moderator-driven mark could be tied to the individual in addition to his/her single postings. That way, the individual could, over time, develop a high rating based upon the quality of his/her discussion points. At some point, with enough of these marks, the user could be allowed to join moderators in doling out this award to others.

It wouldn't be about the quality of writing -- people shouldn't be hindered just because an aptitude for the written word isn't their strong point. It should all be about what insight and useful thoughts you bring to the thread.

That way, if you wanted to explore a thread, you could concentrate on those postings with this new mark, knowing it was awarded for excellent content.

For the serious user, you could have private threads with admittance for only those that have achieved a certain rank. The public forums are the lifeblood of content, but maybe every now and then those seeking meaningful debate would like a private place in which to conduct it.

reply to post by AJ Lavender


I see you are a fairly new member, and while we welcome member suggestions, it does not follow the topic in this particular thread.

OP/ED: Reacting and Not Reading

No worries, but for future reference, anytime you have a comment or suggestion you feel needs to be heard, hit the MemCenter button on the toolbar above ^^^^^^.

In your member center you will find on the left hand side a link labeled

Complaints / Suggestions

Click on that and you can place your ideas there.

For your convenience here's a quick link Suggestions/Complaints

Welcome to ATS

Feel free to U2U me or other Staff with further questions or concerns.

JacKatMtn
ATS Member & Forum Moderator



ed:add link


[edit on 2/3/2008 by JacKatMtn]