Can ATS Be A Think Tank?

There is a group thought process called brain storming where thoughts and questions are entertained without reservation. There is no such thing as a stupid question or a bad idea. Everything is put on the table and everyone is allowed to express their ideas and thoughts concerning the issues. This is done without name calling or anger. This process has been used successfully for decades by many organizations and businesses in their problem solving.

I wonder why it has become so hard to approach issues here on ATS in a like manner? When did consideration of all possibilities become demonized? Scientific advancement has occurred because people have been willing to consider all possibilities. Everyone knows the earth is flat, that it’s the center of the solar system, and that man can never exceed the speed of sound. However, there were people who could think outside the box and even with great opposition from skeptics demonstrate the truth of what is possible.

ATS is a think tank that needs to work as a team. Considering all possibilities is a legitimate endeavor. It requires all of us to contribute and participate. These forums should not become a wall of graffiti, of name calling and ridicule. ATS should be a place where we can inspire one another and explore this amazing world we live in. I hope it doesn't become a battleground of egos and dogma but a place of mutual discovery. I believe the moderators certainly would prefer we handle ourselves with dignity and respect.

Thanks for letting me share.

reply to post by grayeagle

and that man can never exceed the speed of sound

I did that last week

reply to post by Spacespider


I wonder how many people have been lucky enough to do so?

I have come close in the military.

Can ATS Be A Think Tank?,


only if you can weed out the trolls.

It's certainly a place where thinking tanks, so yeah - sure.

Simple and sad answer,

No

Too many people these days get offended by the slightest thing or get offended on other people's behalf for them

I can think of quite a few ideas that would probably get me banned if I even thought them in the same room as someone else.

It's a great shame because the opportunities and possibilities are endless if only people would act like adults.

If ATS started to work as a team, it would be a threat to the present power structure of the countrys and the governments would shut it down. It could be construed as a terrorist site if it interferes with the present economic and political system. As long as we discuss things argumentatively, we are safe.

reply to post by rickymouse

Sadly what you say could be a very real issue. As long as we stay divided we have very little power. A house divided will fall becomes an ever increasing possibility for this world.

reply to post by grayeagle


I think that ATS could very well produce the occasional "Think Tank". But it have to be heavily moderated in my opinion.

Recently there was a thread on how to cut into a pressurized petroleum pipeline in a safe manner. That just smacks of criminal or even possible terrorist activity to me. And people answered!

But a Think Tank post that is staff approved could very well, have benifits as well to others.

And to be truthful, ATS is already a Think Tank of sorts.

It can pretend, just like it pretends to "deny ignorance." And it could probably work in terms of crowd sourcing, where intelligence and consensus aren't really necessary. One huge problem here is that ATS members have drunk the liberal Kool Aid and believe "equality of opportunity" equals "equality of achievement." This is such a huge belief that if someone ostensibly has achieved more, it must be because they cheated. It could not possibly be because they are smarter or made smart choices allowing them advantages.

In a Think Tank, the members are in some way vetted. They have to pass some sort of hurdle that proves they have at least studied the issues sufficiently well to express them in a coherent matter. It's usually an academic hurdle, something they earned elsewhere. The products of a Think Tank are normally documents which reflect the consensus of the Think Tank itself. Though there may be internal differences of opinion, the members of a Think Tank basically support the conclusions the Think Tank offers.

Naturally, Think Tanks cross political boundaries. You have conservative Think Tanks and liberal ones, perhaps even reaching opposite conclusions because their assumptions are so different. And certainly they have agendas. But the basic process of vetting, compiling and processing, and presenting information is the same. Also, those who actually have positions in a Think Tank have the luxury of being paid to work full-time in researching their issues.

ATS, of course, has none of that. Anyone can play and no one even knows who you are. Opinion is presented as fact. Evidence meets no verification tests. It's a maelstrom of activity, of course, but people who feel they are getting the "real!" news here that is sequestered elsewhere are delusional. This is NOT the place to come for truth. ATS does not have the reputation nor the stature to offer a worthwhile contribution to the world's issues. ATS may think it's pretty special in its own mind, but to the rest of the world it is a "cranky conspiracy site."

No one else takes it seriously.

reply to post by schuyler


Lose the political dichotomies and I'd be prone to agree with you. What a think tank actually is in practice today and what it is meant to be are two different things. One of the things that my grandfather (former NAF Chief of Staff) warned me away from was involvement with think tanks because they do tend to be swayed by somebody's agenda at some time. He viewed them as corrupt as Congress and that was 20+ years ago.

However, a truly beneficial think tank would not be so inclusive in a specific type of person but one that is widely diverse. Being too intellectual can be just as troublesome as being an average Joe Blow and god knows, Joe Blow may have a perspective that the intellectual does not. Wisdom does not solely come from book learning but from experience as well. Or as Thoreau once put it so astutely, "In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil." What an exceptional think tank would entail would be diversity, not homogeneity, coupled with an attitude that no question or course of observation is "stupid" and a strict adherence to the principle of charity and the avoidance of fallacious thinking and discourse.

However, those things are precisely why ATS tends to fail as a think tank because those who participate in the discussions have a tendency of engaging in fallacious behavior. Most common faults are pleas to authority, ad hominems, and confirmation bias. That said, if someone began a thread with a subject of discussion and a request to avoid the above, who knows what would happen? I personally think that there is no greater time in which we need a think tank that actually represents "the people".

reply to post by TDawgRex

I agree with you, I believe we are already an unofficial think tank. I peruse many threads and have gained insight and information that has influenced my thinking. Perhaps a problem could be offered each month in a Think Tank Forum that would allow ATS'ers all around the world to join in with possible solutions. Just a thought.

reply to post by WhiteAlice

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Who knows what solutions we might come up with if we had the diversity of the world contributing?

reply to post by grayeagle


We could become the New World Order! hee hee hee hee Sorry, had to be said. Really, open and solution driven discourse would be something that I would love to see happen where we take our collective knowledge and respect each other to work together on finding solutions. The problems here in the US aren't so different from the problems in countries in other parts of the world. Much of what we are facing has global implications The difference would be that we would be working for the betterment of the People in a world where we have no lobby and are seemingly to quickly lose our representatives. At the end of the day, we have little choice but to unify if only to be heard.

reply to post by WhiteAlice

I am in total agreement. I think it is becoming more and more evident that we need a world wide participation if we are to make real progress in saving this world and giving our children and grandchildren a chance to have a quality life.

reply to post by grayeagle

Can ATS Be A Think Tank?,

I wonder why it has become so hard to approach issues here on ATS in a like manner? When did consideration of all possibilities become demonized?

These forums should not become a wall of graffiti, of name calling and ridicule.

Hard thing to be a Think Tank,at least for some people.

I wonder who was/is the most contested and attacked member on ATS.

If you want get rid of your enemies just open a thread where your enemies will come and attack you.

Do not answer their posts,as it is your right stipulated in the t&c's.

And this way they will let you be.

But unfortunatelly I still have 5 or 6 enemies that are attacking me ,and this mean that I should try harder to escape of them,with one of them added recently.

But I promise I will escape even those to finally post threads in peace.

This if I will still be here because probably I will be gone very soon ,and of course that my death will make them happy.

reply to post by grayeagle

I hope you don't mind if I offer a suggestion. Actually, you offered it yourself:

I agree with you, I believe we are already an unofficial think tank. I peruse many threads and have gained insight and information that has influenced my thinking. Perhaps a problem could be offered each month in a Think Tank Forum that would allow ATS'ers all around the world to join in with possible solutions. Just a thought.

Perhaps you could find a problem, put "Think Tank" in the title, then, in the first paragraph of the OP, explain the think tank concept as you have presented it here.

I would also suggest that you alert certain members ahead of time, maybe a day, so they could consider the question and make the beginning posts reasonable so as to set an example for other posters coming to the thread.

You may want to alert the Mods to what you're trying to do and ask them to keep their "Off Topic" stamps handy.

reply to post by charles1952

Charles, I like what you have suggested. I will be willing to start it off and then perhaps others could offer another Think Tank Problem as we move forward. I will take the next week to get organized. I will post it here in the members forum until I hear from the mods otherwise. Thanks again!