There is skepticism and, frankly, there is being an ass.

Originally posted by Mr Mask
And trust me, I am very aware of many stances you take on this site and wouldn't be shocked to learn you have no understanding of what actually "happens inside" a skeptics head.

What's all that supposed to mean? I'm not quiet the 'believer' you make me out to be, so your argument being solely based on me being a sole 'believer' is completely bunk. I think you would be very surprised with the difference between my 'stances' as you perceive them from this website and in reality.

Your post made me laugh a bit so I'll end this little charade. I can agree to disagree. You keep chuggin' your train and I'll keep chuggin' mine. But keep in mind that decorum is mandatory, even though I may be guilty of breaking this rule in my last post. Fight fire with fire!!!

Cheers mate.

Originally posted by neformore

Maybe you missed the memo?

Civility and Decorum are Required...

Also, check out the T&C

Terms and Conditions


2) Behavior: You will not behave in an abusive, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and/or racist manner, and will not harass, threaten, nor attack anyone.

Oh wow...Imagine how embarrassed and afraid I am to have to help you understand the T&C rules on this...oh man...this is weird for me.

But here goes.

1) Courtesy is being within the rules of this site. Courtesy is NOT abusing people, not being racist, not threatening people, not harassing people and NOT attacking "people".

I am fully allowed to judge content and information. All hoaxes are against the rules of this site (and my enemy) and all bogus information is to be ATTACKED!

You can not say "This mod is stupid for making this thread"

You can say "this thread's topic is asinine and wrong and a call for censorship of a type of people".

Write that down, its good information to know.

Lets move on...ok?

Civility is what separates ATS from the comments section of Youtube.

And Mods are people who do a "job" to make those types of posts disappear. MOST of my posts remain right where they are and get great feedback and/or applauds.

Not bragging, just trying to get this point into your head.

Point is- Asses are not forbidden here. The rules do not read-

"asses are not allowed. All sarcasm and/or humor is forbidden. You must sound like you take EVERYONE ON THIS SITE very seriously so you don't hurt their feelings, and whatever you do DO NOT come off as an arrogant bastard".

Heres the best way to get you up to speed-

It's Deny Ignorance, not Deny Arrogance.

I'll be damned if I'm not going to raise issues that I see that will prevent it from becoming as assinine as that, and I'm sure the other mods feel the same way.

And I'll be double-damned before any human tries to tame my wild nature of jest and tomfoolery. I know what I am worth, and I sure in hell do my share of duty around here, complete with effort and attention...even courtesy.

Now you go raise your issues (that have been raised a million times before this thread) and when you are done raising them, go re-read the T&C and post me a direct quote showing me where being an arrogant skeptic is a crime.

I'll be here waiting for that.

I hope people can understand that, but judging by some of your responses here I'm not entirely convinced that some of them will, because there Epeen, or D-Ego just gets in the way.

Epeen? Did you just make a reference to my phallus in a manner that evades the filters of this site?

Wow...two times in the same post I find myself "helping you" understand the T&Cs of ATS.


You can't evade filters and talk about my (or anyone's) penis on ATS...it is unwarranted and unwelcomed. Even an E-one.

I would kindly enjoy you to respect me in not saying such things to me in the future...thanks.

I won't be so kind about a second mistake "of that flavor", but rest assured I'll stay within the rules to bring the issue to light.

Women have men arrested for less, and people really don't expect/want that from authority in any venue or establishment ...even an E-one.


Got it? Good.

Now...back to the point...so YOU don't like people being snide little asses on ATS and think thinly veiled insults and snide rhetoric are baneful to ATS.

So answer me this...why are you doing "just that" with this thread?

And also, why is it you just used the T&C to make a point when no one here is breaking those rules (unless you count the epeen thing) and the subject is just "people being asses"? Not "people breaking the rules of ATS are bad for ATS".

Think about that...critically...because I assure you (again), I am very right and YOU dropping the ball to fish out T&C rules (while not the subject of your thread) seems like a thing done in haste not within the actions of critical thought.

Is it you just "want" me to be wrong?

Let us all hope not.

Anyways-

Being an ass doesn't mean you thirst for cyber blood and try to break everyone's face.

Being a skeptic ass means you will stick your word in there loudly and confront hogwash or farce no matter the cost, and in an arrogant way.



Want to remove my arrogance? Sorry...aint going to happen if you can't even "get what I am saying".

With that all said, nice try using the T&C in a hasty rush to back up your point.

Bad move making it irrelevant to what you were attaching it to.

Its kinda scary seeing a mod take this stance in public...even scarier knowing he has something against people who are as arrogant as me.

You should possibly watch that...may give people the wrong idea about things around here.

Sorry I had to Deny your point...but that's why I joined ATS in the first place.






[edit on 21-2-2010 by Mr Mask]

[edit on 21-2-2010 by Mr Mask]

Originally posted by neformore
This is, of course, my opinion. I'm interested in hearing yours on the subject, particularly from those people who feel the need to try and make people feel as stupid as possible - I'd love to know why you believe you need to do that.

Why on earth is the post aimed at only sceptics? (I thought you were English, how came you used American spelling for sceptics?) That post should have been aimed at the arrogant believers too, they are just as bad as the kind of sceptics you are pointing out. Let's have a bit of equalibrium, eh'?

Originally posted by Hawkwind.

Why on earth is the post aimed at only sceptics? (I thought you were English, how came you used American spelling for sceptics?) That post should have been aimed at the arrogant believers too, they are just as bad as the kind of sceptics you are pointing out. Let's have a bit of equalibrium, eh'?

No doubt, my friend...no doubt.

I think I know why this thread is only pointed at skeptics who are asses...and not believers who are asses (lord knows we have an equal number of both around this place).

But hey...what do I know? I'm a worthless ass.

I'm gonna report this thread on the grounds of discrimination against the free thinkers of the world.

I am asking everyone else who shares my thoughts to do the same.

-m0r

Originally posted by serbsta

What's all that supposed to mean? I'm not quiet the 'believer' you make me out to be, so your argument being solely based on me being a sole 'believer'

You are a believer.

Guess what!? SO AM I (spoiler alert!).

You just arn't a wacky nut-job or a con-artist, or a worthless poster.

Like I said, you do ATS a service and they are lucky to have you.

I don't need to agree with a person to value his perspective or contributions.

I think you would be very surprised with the difference between my 'stances' as you perceive them from this website and in reality.

Yknow, I am sure you are very right...we all would be shocked in person.

Heck, I can even bet once we met eye to eye we would either hang out and debate fun stuff, or you would just try to kick my ass. Either way, it would be a day!

Your post made me laugh a bit so I'll end this little charade.

HA! Humor...my only saving grace.

Lets see Phage do THAT!

I can agree to disagree.

I rather you just agree with me...but ok...I'll take your offer.

It is very fair.

You keep chuggin' your train and I'll keep chuggin' mine.

Ok..but I am going to hold you to that...you best never stop chuggin...maybe next time our trains crash we can enjoy the debate and just muck around with it.

But keep in mind that decorum is mandatory, even though I may be guilty of breaking this rule in my last post. Fight fire with fire!!!

BAH! We have BOTH been very polite here...my mom would be shocked.

Trust me, if this is how all men disagreed, murder and war would be abolished and jokes and pokes would become the new universal settler of all problems.

Cheers mate.

And same to you...salute!

Again, well played and thanks for the intelligent interaction.

See? Not always an ass...ok, always, but sometimes its not THAT vile.

Originally posted by Mr Mask
I am fully allowed to judge content and information. All hoaxes are against the rules of this site (and my enemy) and all bogus information is to be ATTACKED!

You can not say "This mod is stupid for making this thread"

You can say "this thread's topic is asinine and wrong and a call for censorship of a type of people".

Except its not a call for censorship. Its not a call to not be skeptical.

Its is a call for personal restraint and civility.

Its a call for decent discussion without resorting to schoolyard barbs and taunts.

There is a massive difference. I'm sure you can see that.

Lets move on...ok?

Fine..lets.

It's Deny Ignorance, not Deny Arrogance.

And what if that arrogance breeds its own kind of self perpetuating ignorance where the essence of the subject matter gets diluted to a point where those who are genuinely interested in it just don't bother to post anymore because they are tired of the arrogant replies they get?

Then what?

Now you go raise your issues (that have been raised a million times before this thread) and when you are done raising them, go re-read the T&C and post me a direct quote showing me where being an arrogant skeptic is a crime.

When I actually say that being an arrogant skeptic is a crime, I'll be sure to do that. If you re-read what I've said, you'll find that I haven't. What I have said is that there are degrees of skepticism. You've taken it further than that.

I'll be here waiting for that.

You'll be waiting a long time then.

Did you just make a reference to my phallus in a manner that evades the filters of this site?

Nope. I used a generally accepted internet term that can be found in the urban dictionary that refers to large online ego's.

Remember when you said

There are some wack-nuts and liars here.

To address them all without sarcasm or jokes would be harder then "ignoring them".

I can do neither.

Well actually you can. Your ego prevents you from not doing so.

Now, I have to say that you appear to have taken this thread very personally. I wish I could apologise for that, but your reaction was your choice. And yes, some of my replies are directed at points you have made, but thats simply because you made them.

If you re-read my original post, you'll see that it mentions no names. Its directed in a very open manner. It was intended as an open discussion. You may, even, - as you put value on them so much - note the stars and flags it has received as it seems I'm far from alone in my opinion.

But it is just my opinion, after all.

If calling for restraint, civility and decorum is a bad thing, then I'm a very wicked person indeed.

Originally posted by Mr Mask

Its kinda scary seeing a mod take this stance in public...even scarier knowing he has something against people who are as arrogant as me.

Well, the truth is that not only Mods have something against arrogant people. Many people, me included, dislike arrogance. And you don't need to read the T&C to be able to identify or recognize it, you know.

I understand that you want to fight against hoaxers and liars and ignorance, and that is all fine. But I have read your posts in this thread, and you come across as very patronizing. You also make this very personal, even about your own private parts. (!) I see you also managed to take a personal swing at Phage in this thread, and he hasn't been involved in this discussion at all.

In general, the second you make things personal in a thread, you can be sure that anger and hurt feelings will follow, and the original topic of discussion gets lost in the heated battle between bruised egos... That is not constructive at all. Sure, pissing contests can be entertaining, but it's not like people get any wiser from watching them. It's not like any ignorance is being denied...

You should also be aware that by being consistantly arrogant and patronizing, no matter if you are a believer or a skeptic, you run the risk of people putting you on mental ignore. Asshattery gets really, really predictable and boring after a while. You see an avatar and think: "Oh, it's that guy/girl again... I have read those condescending, aggressive, spiteful comments a thousand times before, yawn, nothing new to see here, I'll just skip to the next post..."

Change your tune once in a while. Then perhaps you won't become just that annoying, constant background noise. The noise that you just don't hear anymore after a while.

My 2 cents.

reply to post by neformore


Thats your opinion and i rspect it, but i think that everybody has the right to believe what they want, and free speech is not tolerated here by some moderators. A forum moderator should be posting new threads and adding new content to the site. They should be helping out members with their queries and they should be keeping threads alive by asking questions. just like you are doing.For instance Just becouse i dont believe that a guy can talk to a tree doesnt mean im out of topic, i ill complain about those moderatos.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
If you cannot support your claim is it really in your best interest to criticize those who point it out?

Now, if someone is belligerent in their denial and slide into name calling then that has nothing to do with the original claim.

I get a sense that you are asking for it to be ok to say stupid things and make stupid assumptions for the sake of someones feelings or to add content or something.

I don't understand your point I guess.

Skepticism is absolutely necessary when we're dealing with a subject that is over 95% lies and delusions made up to feed some part of someones weak personality or psychological desire to be seen as special without making effort to actually be special.

If you or anyone else for the matter cannot stand up to scrutiny, then it is quite clear that you are in the wrong place.

rainbows, ponies and fairy tales is a whole other forum.

Originally posted by neformore

Except its not a call for censorship. Its not a call to not be skeptical.

Seems like one...but I take your word for it...you say its not agaisnt arrogance or "assness:, I say ok.

I think we both "don't want" overly hateful or trolling people around here, so ok, got it.

Its is a call for personal restraint and civility.

And I think there is a huge level of that all over ATS.

Perhaps "we all" are a little spoiled with this enviroment. This site has the best interacting crowd I have ever witnessed...seeing the subjects at hand, it is doubly as shocking to see that same crowd remain as "civil" as it is.

Yes, a few bad apples come and go...but over all we make out like bandits on the whole "good forum crowd" thing.

Its a call for decent discussion without resorting to schoolyard barbs and taunts.

Dangerously close to stepping on my bread and butter there...but I get what you mean.

There is a massive difference. I'm sure you can see that.

Yup yup mucky pup!

And what if that arrogance breeds its own kind of self perpetuating ignorance where the essence of the subject matter gets diluted to a point where those who are genuinely interested in it just don't bother to post anymore because they are tired of the arrogant replies they get?

What if demonizing good old fashioned rhetoric and jib actually hurts the forum, making people leave in thinking they are being "singled out for being loud and flashy"?

What if ATS began removing all posts that had barbs or sarcasm as a foundation?

What if arrogant people then started considering this site unwelcoming to their kind, and they just didn't to post relevant conspiracy information here because they feared intolerance?

Then what?

Then ATS would be the most boring piece of crud on the net.

It is already one of the most "civil" forums I've ever seen...no need to remove its tangy side.

Diet-ATS not a good flavor.

When I actually say that being an arrogant skeptic is a crime, I'll be sure to do that.

Are you trying to say this thread is not about "skeptics" who are "asses"?

What I have said is that there are degrees of skepticism. You've taken it further than that.

And one degree of skeptic seems to be "unwanted" by you and singled out in this thread.

That is my point.

You'll be waiting a long time then.

Its cool...I got time.

Nope. I used a generally accepted internet term that can be found in the urban dictionary that refers to large online ego's.

Look...no.

Making a reference to my ego is not acceptable if you name it after my penis.

I dunno if you are a younger fellah who thinks hip slang like that floats with us older types...but I assure you, it doesn't.

Take my advice, try not slanging that one too often around here if you can.

The term is not as "welcomed" and "accepted" as you think it is.

Lord knows I am dodging a few terms of slang I find "appropriate" in my house, but know them unfit for this forum.


Remember when you said

Well actually you can. Your ego prevents you from not doing so.

Actually it is your ego that makes you assume why I am so uppity about attacking hoaxers.

I'd say loosing a life-long friend to a cult of Vampires who took all his money (and countless others) is the catalyst for my scorn.

Add to that "this vampire cult" is now nationwide and extremely wealthy and growing (on suckered idiot's money no less), and you have my REAL reason for battling "unhealthy" cults,hoaxes,scams both online and off.

I even do public speaking on the matter...so there ya go! Insight, so you can make accurate assumptions in the future when judging my motivations.


But hey...you are not a psychologist, so I can't blame you for being wrong again.

Now, I have to say that you appear to have taken this thread very personally.

I am sure you saw the thread I posted less then 20 hours before this one? Yeah...it was the same thread but it was calling "ass skeptics a good thing" and defending them agaisnt being trolls.

Yeah...yknow...spent 8 hours making a poster for it (wasted expensive time), got over 7 appluads for it (from mods who didn't move it), 100+ stars, and 75 flags (in under 10 hours).

Anyways...my thread was moved to BTS...it was better then this one, with professional art and a very similar thought behind it.

Yet...mine is gone (never mind it was the number one thread that day and made the front page at #1 for almost 24 hours) in BTS hell with no one to return it here.

Yet...you post, that attacks skeptics with attitude remains right here...displayed.

I guess that part is personal...I also think one of two things should result-

You should either move your post to BTS with mine (they would look so adorable together)

Or

You should start figuring out why THIS thread is allowed here but mine was removed.

Go read it...its a "corker" (im told) and got a lot of praise from many mods, admins and users. It was killer...but...yours is still here, mine is sunk and bunk.

Check it out and see if you feel good about your thread being here, and my "art and hard work" being thrown away, when both our threads are pretty identical, accept mine took over 9 hours to complete and I put my heart and soul into it in hopes to give this site good content.

ATS Troll or Enemy of Ignorance?

I wish I could apologise for that, but your reaction was your choice. And yes, some of my replies are directed at points you have made, but thats simply because you made them.

No apologies are ever needed. Save them for people who need them.

You have not attacked me directly or even stepped out of line (cept for the epeen thing, but I'm fine with that).

If you re-read my original post, you'll see that it mentions no names.

But it does detail a concern from a moderator to limit or remove "my kind of posting".

When you write something like that, you must expect some people to stand up and debate this.

Especially when being an "ass" is something we all have a right to be as long as we are in line with the T&C.

Imagine a cop posting all over town that he wished there was a way to remove cigarette smokers from town, because they smelled bad and annoyed him.

Like I said...you are a figure of authority here. Taking a stance like this is sure to arouse a few asses into posting something in reply.

Lord knows we can't have this kind of thing going unchallenged.

Its directed in a very open manner. It was intended as an open discussion. You may, even, - as you put value on them so much - note the stars and flags it has received as it seems I'm far from alone in my opinion.

Even more reason to be here and open my mouth.

I've seen posts where the OP has claimed to be from Mars, and the thread got double the stars and flags then this one...

What I am saying is...where one sees ignorance growing, its best to arrive and do your duty.

But it is just my opinion, after all.

Glad you admit that...your post made it seem like a factual thing "that all ass-like skeptics are unwanted here".

Again, you have cleared that up...and if you agree there is room for my kind here, then I can't really call you an ass-bigot.

Even though ass-bigot sounds like one hell of a comeback!

If calling for restraint, civility and decorum is a bad thing, then I'm a very wicked person indeed.

And if calling for a deafening storm of truth to descend upon the heads of ALL hoaxers and scam artists is a sin...I am the devil himself.

With that all said...have we met in the middle and built a bridge to understand each other?

If so, I applaud us both.

If not...I swear, I'll summon Phage and tell him you beleive in Nibiru.

[edit on 21-2-2010 by Mr Mask]

Originally posted by Mr Mask
I am trying not to be directly rude to anyone who may take offense here...but fact remains-

There are some wack-nuts and liars here.

I have to pose this to you Mr Mask, what makes you know without any hesitation that people are "wack-nuts" and liars? would you call me a "wack nut|? I have a stable job a lovely family, yet I know several people who witness life 'outside' of the box on a regular basis?

If I were to say to you I have had an outer body experience i.e some form of me has left my body when I was conscious, would you call me a "wack-nut'? and if I were to say that I have changed the closed minds of many people including family members in one evening, would you still call me a 'wack nut'? before you use that word brashly, rememeber that an open mind views experiences clearer.

I will end on this; A friend of mine was a very closed minded sceptical individual, a couple of summers ago we were relaxing listening to music and soaking up the sun, we were both relaxed and chilled out and then all of a sudden I felt so much misery and negative energy coming from him, bearing in mind that my friend is completely closed off 99.9% of the time I went for it and asked him if anything was up? I described what I was feeling to him in detail and all of a sudden he opened up and told me how depressed he was, From that day on he was a changed man, he went from sceptical to open minded in a few hours. Thats all it takes.

Next time your walking down the street see if you can differentiate between the wack-nuts and the ordinary folk. I will give you a clue, they don't all stand on the corner shouting gods name.

I get it all the time here on ATS but have to say that I feel that maybe people are becoming intimidated to actually standing up for other people or say their view unless someone breaks the mould and speaks up.

Originally posted by neformore
Something I've noticed lately is the notion that, in order to be skeptical about something in UFOlogy people think they need to belittle, be rude and - in some cases be downright obnoxious.

Now I'm all for healthy skepticism. Things deserve proper scrutiny. What I'm not interested in is seeing people being asses just for the sake of attempting to get a cheap laugh at someone elses expenses.

Theres an old saying - if you've got nothing good to say, don't say it.

Open, honest skepticism backed up with sound reasoning is great. I don't think anyone will ever have a problem with that kind of expression.

The sarcastic, belittling rubbish is not - in my opinion - the ATS way. We're supposed to do civilised discussion here.

Its not meant to be a schoolyard or a kindergarten.

Sometimes people see things they don't understand.
Sometimes they are mistaken.
Sometimes, however, people dp see things that are downright weird and unbelievable.

The genuine UFO sightings, the real golden stuff is likely to get drowned in a wave of sarcastic crap if we - as a community both on ATS and those interested in UFOlogy - fall into the trap of trying to stroke our own egos and appear witty at the expense of others who may simply be misguided in what they have seen, or genuinely have no clue what they have observed.

This is, of course, my opinion. I'm interested in hearing yours on the subject, particularly from those people who feel the need to try and make people feel as stupid as possible - I'd love to know why you believe you need to do that.

If people have a hard time trying to express themselves in a skeptical manner, they can simply mimic me and that should get them through without having them make any trouble for the actual believers whom are just trying to express themselves and conduct themselves with what they have a right to do on here and that is to provide us with knowledge.

I am what you could call an unusual skeptic and a genuine skeptic at the same time. I believe in extraterrestrials. I have seen extraterrestrials. But I am also a skeptic, not of my own sightings, but of others. I have to make sure that what I hear and see from other people is genuinely consistent. And in the process I can rule out sightings that are fake or made up without insulting the individual too directly, because I am also a believer and therefore I can relate to someone whom may also be a believer. However, I still expose the truth of the matter if any fraud based activities that are being portrayed.

I just happen to be better at it, since I don't seek to belittle people as such would impede a dishonesty with myself.

I believe a skeptic has to walk in my shoes to actually call himself a skeptic or otherwise his intentions are not to display skeptical opinions, but ridicule and a lack of self control and humility towards others.

"Lighten up Francis." Most are not posting their own personal findings. Having a few laughs is not necessarily directed at any OP. There's a lot of crap out there and when and if it turns out not to be crap we will all be amazed and stand corrected. Until that correction comes, enjoy life a little. It's not personal.

Originally posted by neformore
Now I'm all for healthy skepticism. Things deserve proper scrutiny. What I'm not interested in is seeing people being asses just for the sake of attempting to get a cheap laugh at someone elses expenses.

Theres an old saying - if you've got nothing good to say, don't say it.

Open, honest skepticism backed up with sound reasoning is great. I don't think anyone will ever have a problem with that kind of expression.

Neformore, good point and nicely put.
I agree that many folks here don't have a problem with true, open minded scepticism and that objectivity is a very important asset when looking into any subject, particularly the UFO phenomenon - I think the trouble is that some people you describe who invest so much time and energy complaining about (and pouring scorn and derision onto) the UFO subject are not 'sceptics' - they're something else altogether.

I think what intrigues me the most is not what the motivations of these people actualy are - its why they spend so much effort belittling the subject without ever actualy addressing specific incidents.


Its a bit cheesy but I think this is my favourite quote when it comes to excessive scepticism - if everyone just concentrated on subject matter instead of subjective matters then maybe we'd actualy get somewhere:

"Sit down before facts like a child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing."

T.H. Huxley

Collected quotes on excessive scepticism

Cheers.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

I think that humour, especially sarcasm, is the best tool to use on this site... unfortunately many have difficulty reading it the right way, hence the need for /sarc tags


But i think you can be blunt, sarcastic and take the piss out of the OP/Topic without being rude... being rude, arrogant and obnoxious doesn't really do anything for anyone... it doesn't help you win and argument and it doesn't endear people to you, not that that's what people on here want, myself included.
But we are a community and as such, we have to get on and try and figure things out together.

Loonies, Skeptics, Believers, Inbetweeners, Religious, Agnostic, Atheist.... whatever... we're all here together... we may as well Try and get along or at least understand each other.

I am one of the most sarcastic and blunt people on here, and there is nothing wrong with that... but have a little humility and admit when you're wrong and be nice occasionally

Anyway... I agree with Nef's OP but i can also see the need for bluntness and plenty of sarcasm.

I think the solution is somewhere in the middle.

People need to try and toughen up and not get offended by every personal comment and insult and on the flip-side, people need to try a diplomatic and peaceful solution first, if not.... then flame away.


Peace

Originally posted by franspeakfree

I have to pose this to you Mr Mask, what makes you know without any hesitation that people are "wack-nuts" and liars?

Hey Fran...do me a little favor.

Do a search on ATS for "mental illness, schizophrenia, delusional paranoia etc"

Then count how many users freely admit to having these problems and claim to have the paper work to prove it (some even say that mental illness is actually a gift and a higher power)

Then-

Go hereATS Hoax Forum and count the threads.

When you are done, you will have your answer to your very simple question.

I'd also like to add-

Thanks for the free PR advice, but I pay someone for such things and I tend to trust my style for the audience I cater towards. If people "more like you" want to overlook my awesome posting ability and totally wonderful insights, then that is their loss, not mine.

I have who I want reading me already reading me.

Lastly- Took a shot at Phage? Me? You do know nothing of the sort has even taken place? Makes me question your ability to follow a conversation.

I highly admire (maybe even fear) the guy and wouldn't pick a mind-fight with Phage on his worse day.



Thanks for the effort though.


[edit on 21-2-2010 by Mr Mask]



[edit on 21-2-2010 by Mr Mask]

Originally posted by Gloster
reply to post by neformore

 

Thats your opinion and i rspect it, but i think that everybody has the right to believe what they want, and free speech is not tolerated here by some moderators. A forum moderator should be posting new threads and adding new content to the site. They should be helping out members with their queries and they should be keeping threads alive by asking questions. just like you are doing.For instance Just becouse i dont believe that a guy can talk to a tree doesnt mean im out of topic, i ill complain about those moderatos.

At no point has neformore asked or even initimated that people shouldn;t express their opinions. Everyone has a right to express their opinion, it's the MANNER in which you express that opinion that he is discussing.

You can just as easily tell someone that something is untrue, a lie, illogical, false without resorting to derision or ridicule. You can also accuse someone of deliberately making something up or trying to con others without resorting to name calling, abuse, or ridicule.

Personally I try whenever possible to avoid behaving like that, tempting as it sometimes is... especially when I see some of the venom and bullying tactics used by some (particularly in the UFO forum). It is very tempting to respond in kind, and difficult to avoid, difficult enough that I mostly refrain from posting in the UFO forum nowadays, apart from the odd post. This despite discussing UFOs been one of the reasons I originally joined ATS.

I may have given in to the impulse now and again, to be honest after a few hundred posts I can't remember if/when I've slipped... but generally I try and be aware that I'm talking to other human beings. They might be on the end of a computer keyboard, on the other side of the planet, but they are human beings and worthy of being treated with respect... EVEN when you vehemently disagree with what they are saying.

Like nefornore said, and I agree, if you can't be civil, better to be quiet (or words to that effect)

Free speech is everyone's right... abusing and ridiculing another is not!

Originally posted by Hawkwind.

Originally posted by neformore
This is, of course, my opinion. I'm interested in hearing yours on the subject, particularly from those people who feel the need to try and make people feel as stupid as possible - I'd love to know why you believe you need to do that.

Why on earth is the post aimed at only sceptics? (I thought you were English, how came you used American spelling for sceptics?) That post should have been aimed at the arrogant believers too, they are just as bad as the kind of sceptics you are pointing out. Let's have a bit of equalibrium, eh'?

There is bit of a difference between the skeptics and the believers. Even though there are believers who do behave fanatically, there are less of them than the people who call themselves skeptics.

I mean all of us are skeptical minded one way or another, even the believers. It just depends on what you are being skeptical about that determines on here what you will be called. Basically you are given a label like Republican or Democrat, which really don't reflect your true nature.

I think it would be wise if we could all be a little more open minded, not just to the possibilities that are out there that may exist, but also the possibilities that may explain away some of these occurrences with a logical and sound mind. We can't just say "IT WAS THE GRAYS! Or it was the Reptilians!" We have to even as a believer be skeptical to dismissing things that may not be true even in the mind for someone who is a believer. Like for instance, "Maybe that isn't a Reptilian, maybe that is some secretive agent trying to induce misinformation by abducting a normal human being, torturing him and then hypnotizing him along with the use of narcotics." You know, brainwashing. "It could also as probably be just a highly induced hallucination." But we have to be open to the possibilities and use the philosophy of rationalism to explain what is truly going on even as someone who may genuinely believe this stuff.

We have to be open both ways.

[edit on 21-2-2010 by Dranigus]