The Five Pillars of Discordia

[Doktor Howl]

The house of Eris is held up by five pillars, five concepts that have kept this board and this way of life going for 8 years now.  Not everyone has any use for all five of these, but to attempt to eliminate one or more of them is to begin the gradual destruction of the user base (this is already happening, after the no-fluff crusade a month or so ago).

These five pillars are:

The First Pillar:  Discord.  Drama and infighting have always been a part of PD, right from the very beginning.  Sometimes it's low key, sometimes it's mad screeching and hollering, all over the board.  It's not ALL of what Discordia is, but it IS an intrinsic part.  If this makes you pull up your skirts and shriek, maybe you should find out wherever Paes scurried off to, and join him.  Eris wants no sissies.

The Second Pillar:  Fluff.  Fluff has also always been part of PD.  It's where we get some of our best ideas, and it's also a way people have fun.  Remember fun?  That thing you used to have before you became srsly srs?  Now, I'm not advocating a return to the days when Hugh and Malaul ran through EVERY THREAD babbling about cookies and pie and tequila stabbity stabbity, but fluff threads themselves are pretty fucking obvious, and if you don't like it, don't click. 

The recent attempt at a crackdown on fluff cut our user base by a third, and did not increase content.  In fact, content went down with it.  Nobody likes being humiliated publicly when their thread name is changed to some demeaning shit, or when someone comes onto a thread where people are having a conversation and berates them for having that conversation.  Fluff never hurt a fucking thing, and it's actually half the reason many of our longer-term users still come here.  If you're that butthurt by people having an innocent conversation, then an exciting new career in the cat-herding field, or perhaps the Mormon Church, may be for you.

The Third Pillar:  Rants.  This is fairly self-evident, but there's a couple of issues here that ought to be addressed.  The first is that nobody is actually required to read your rants, or having read them, respond to them.  Sometimes people don't have time or energy to dish out a page and a half describing your greatness and wit, and they express themselves with mittens.  It's better than nothing.  Granted, it IS disappointing to pound out a thousand words and get no responses, but life is full of little disappointments like this.  If you can't handle it, go save the world with blogs.  Or take over for Krugmann when he retires.

The other thing is derails.  Threads ARE going to derail, but why fucking hurry it?  Think before you post; if your gem of wisdom has nothing to do with the actual OP, start a new thread.  On the other hand, when a legitimate point in a response causes the thread to drift, it's not the end of the world.  The point is the discussion, not an endless rehash of the OP.  If, however, you just feel the need to fuck with a thread to show how zany you are, don't cry when you get your very own unlimited thread.

The Fourth Pillar:  Discussions/Projects/Pranks.  If they're political, God help you.  That being said, if you're bringing up the same argument for the 30th time, expect the same rebuttal for the 30th time.  Also, if you're trying to convert people to libertarianism, Catholicism, Liberalism, Conservativism, etc, then you are probably at the wrong place, and while you are by all means welcome to remain, perhaps you should evangelize elsewhere.  Of course, that's not what's going to happen, so wear a fucking helmet.  And as for you who are offended by the 500th Libertarianism thread in a month, again, don't fucking click.  How goddamn hard is it?

The beautiful thing about PD is, you can bring your latest genius idea here, whether it be political theory or an idea for a prank, throw it to the howling masses, and watch them tear it to bits.  If it survives this place, it's almost certainly a valid idea.  But don't whimper when it's ripped to bits.  If that really bothers you, you probably should post it on a board that's already dedicated to something similar, where everyone will tell you what a genius you are.

The Fifth Pillar:  Friends.  Many of us have been here for years, and I consider many of you just as much of a friend as anyone in "real life" (with the exception that I probably haven't puked on you).  If you're one of those people who thinks that treating people here like shit is okay and hilarious because "it's only the internet", then you're probably better off at 4Chan or Camp Idiot, among other psychopaths of your kind.

Now, please don't take the above as an order for certain types of people to vacate.  Instead, think of the above as a set of suggestions as to where you might have better luck posting certain things or behaving a certain way when you feel the need.  Eris' house has many rooms, and not everyone has to do everything in the bathroom.  Fucking perverts.

Okay for now,
Dok

[LMNO]

In my personal experience, pillars Three and Four are the most contradictory to Human Nature™.  That is, people want to be told their work is valid and hate for their effort to be ignored; and people don't want their precious ideals™ to be dismissed.

But no one said this place would be easy.

[Cramulus]

that was great, man! I've thought for a while that this place needs something like a mission statement, and this works pretty well. I think it's actually a pretty good description of what we do here.

If I could change anything, I'd expand "pranks" into "projects" or "collaboration", because sometimes we work together on books and images and magazines and websites and things which aren't necessarily pranks. (I guess trolling is a form of pranking.)

Is it fair to say we put a high value on documents which can be distributed? Energy which carries our energy outside of PD and spreads the Good Word?


and how does the newbie fit into all of this?

[Doktor Howl]

In my personal experience, pillars Three and Four are the most contradictory to Human Nature™.  That is, people want to be told their work is valid and hate for their effort to be ignored; and people don't want their precious ideals™ to be dismissed.

But no one said this place would be easy.

Well, that's exactly it, and I can't count the number of times I've sat fuming because my latest turd-stained bucket of brilliance didn't gather 20 replies in the first 30 minutes.  But then you get over it, and do something else.  If the replies will come, they will come.  Nobody is owed an audience, here or anywhere else.

If people want it easy, there's always the Myspace crowd.  Or somewhere on the big boards.  Easy is for lazy monkeys.

[Doktor Howl]

If I could change anything, I'd expand "pranks" into "projects" or "collaboration", because sometimes we work together on books and images and magazines and websites and things which aren't necessarily pranks. (I guess trolling is a form of pranking.)

Right.  I like that.  Hang on and I'll edit it.  Pranks are a form of project, I think.

[Dimocritus]

and how does the newbie fit into all of this?

Good question, I'm glad you asked.

I have no idea.

On topic,   @ the OP

[Doktor Howl]

and how does the newbie fit into all of this?

I didn't think of that.  I was addressing this more for the people who have been around a while, and become dissatisfied, or have developed the idea that the board has to be a certain way.  Specifically, the people complaining about fluff and drama.

It's always had fluff and drama. 

However, it does also apply to noobs.  A warning, if you will, that this isn't the Myspace Candyland Discordian crowd.

[LMNO]

How it applies to N00bs:

Be honest, be clever, and hang the fuck on.

[Doktor Howl]

How it applies to N00bs:

Be honest, be clever, and hang the fuck on.

Exactly.  Discordianism should require a hard hat, safety glasses, double-bagged condoms, and asbestos gloves.

[Triple Zero]

The house of Eris is held up by five pillars, five concepts that have kept this board and this way of life going for 8 years now.  Not everyone has any use for all five of these, but to attempt to eliminate one or more of them is to begin the gradual destruction of the user base (this is already happening, after the no-fluff crusade a month or so ago).

This is great. sort of an eye-opener, and definitely totally right.

The five individual points were good too, complete (at least they seem complete for now, I have to think about it a bit).

On the subject of Cram's "Mission Statement", this might be a brilliant introduction on the frontpage, or linked from there?

Hey we could even paste it on top of the "license agreement" thing when signing up (except nobody ever reads those).

And on the subject of pranks. I like pranks a lot, it's a deep fundamental thing in Discordia for me. So could it be Discussions/Projects/Pranks? (even if pranks are of course projects)

[Mangrove]

Dok,

Nicely put. In fact, I think I've stuck around all these years because of all 5 pillars.

Sometimes my level of activity varies. I haven't been the biggest 'content producer' but then, I never tried to stake a claim to that.

What I think is happening to the board is that it's undergoing a phase of renewal. During the era of Hugh et al, it was pretty much fundamental pinealism all channels all the time. And I will be the first to admit that early on, my posts and posting style was in that mode. Not sure when, but somewhere along the way I shed that and adopted the approach that I have now which is, for the large part, my usual voice.

After 'the War' and the arrival of BIP, the board moved into a more austere version of it's former self. I think we were all so concerned to not become the people we despised (ie: outlandish types) that a much harder, more confrontational style emerged.

For a while, I think this was necessary. Purging the forum of endless re-runs of OMG, I JUST SUNK YOU11!! was essential. Now, it seems that the board is moving to perhaps a little more centrist position. It accepts conflict, it accepts fluff. It's starting to take on better communication and discussion habits.

I've noticed that people are trying to discuss subjects, sometimes this is successful, sometimes not. What I've noticed lately, and something which I didn't expect to see to be honest, is that there's more apologies and pleas for rationality and generally chilling the fuck out when things get a little too wrought.

When people complain about drama or infighting on the board, perhaps they don't realize how short lived it is now compared with how it was in 2005 when a single post could result in months of trench warfare.

Right now, I think the board is exiting it's hard ass phase and is moving onto what I hope, is a new level of maturity & insight. Yes, there will still be fluff and weird shit and no doubt a lot of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments but I hope that the responses to same will be of a more subtle nature.


Or perhaps I should just go fuck myself 

[Doktor Howl]

And on the subject of pranks. I like pranks a lot, it's a deep fundamental thing in Discordia for me. So could it be Discussions/Projects/Pranks? (even if pranks are of course projects)

Done.

I don't mind this going on the front page, but it was really written for the regulars.

[Doktor Howl]

When people complain about drama or infighting on the board, perhaps they don't realize how short lived it is now compared with how it was in 2005 when a single post could result in months of trench warfare.

God, yes.  It's hard to believe how bad things were back then.

Right now, I think the board is exiting it's hard ass phase and is moving onto what I hope, is a new level of maturity & insight. Yes, there will still be fluff and weird shit and no doubt a lot of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments but I hope that the responses to same will be of a more subtle nature.

That's my hope, too.

Or perhaps I should just go fuck myself 

WEBCAM OR GTFO.

[LMNO]

Mangrove, are you saying PD.com is entering the Age of Horus?





Blowing SSOOKN kisses,

LMNO.

[Mangrove]

Mangrove, are you saying PD.com is entering the Age of Horus?





Blowing SSOOKN kisses,

LMNO.

Oh how I so don't want to leave Crowley references in a decent topic, especially when the OP is Dok 

But to answer your question, no. (To avoid thread drift, I will address this elsewhere)