A question... seperated from currently acidic threads

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

So without pointing fingers (cause there are way too many of us that fit every one of these roles) I have a question:

If you don't want the thread to be full of responses that are us fighting with each other... why do people post responses that are us fighting with each other?

Why not just continue the conversation? In all honesty this is one of the PD tendencies that I have never understood.

Example 1:
OP: Interesting Post
User 1: Discuss
User2: Discuss
DP: Fnord
User1: Discus... OMGZ there is FNORD!

User 2: Dis... DAMN YOU FNORD

DP: err, FNORD!

OP/User1/User2: MOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCH WHY THE HELL DO I EVEN TRY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE!!!!

EOT


(note that Fnord may or may not be a pinealism, in this case DP simply stands for the 'distraction' post)

I mean, the thread could go:

OP: Interesting Post

User1: Discuss
User2: Discuss
DP: Fnord
User1: Discuss
User3: Discuss
DP: FNORD!
User2: Discuss
User4: Discuss
OP: Discuss
Fnord?
User1: Discuss
User2: Discuss
DP: f...fnord... 
User3: Discuss
User6: Discuss
User7: Discuss
User1: Discuss
User8: Discuss
DP: *sneaks away and licks their wounds*
User6: Discuss
User2: Discuss
User1: Discuss
User4: Discuss
User9: Discuss


EOT

Why do many of us tend toward the first example, rather than the second? i mean, if we "Think for Ourselves", if we 'control our destiny', make our own BiP, etc etc ... why do we allow a distraction post to derail conversations? Is it a function of the Internet?
Like This:

Or is it just an automated monkey response?
Like this:

Or like TGRR mentioned in another thread... is it our egos? Are we upset because we think a thread is important and someone else appears to be belittling it?

IN the sermon on ethics and love, Eris told Mal-2 that if people didn't like it [war], they should just stop.

Why can't we do that? Can we? Can anyone? Or is it simply the way it is? Are we damned to act in ways that we don't like, promoting behaviors that we don't enjoy?

I don't know... but I think its an interesting question.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

I dont know, Rat. All I know is that i personally tend not to post in the drama threads.

but then again I'm a lurker with a 2000 or so postcount it seems.

[The Wizard]

Speaking personally, I usually do ignore assholes in threads. But when someone is either derailing the thread for kicks or because they took offense at someone disagreeing with them, then I get pissed. The problem is that we're human, and like a lot of humans we tend to take someone disagreeing with us as a personal attack.

Plus, these things tend to start off slow and build up speed. Someone makes a comment, to which another person responds to rationally and calmly, but somewhere along the line, someone gets pissed, and more people get pissed, until suddenly everyone's fighting. Its hard to ignore a fight when it sneaks up on you.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Rat, I am by nature an argumentative person.  Usually I tend to argue with people who matter to me, because I usually can't be bothered with people who don't matter to me.  I'm fairly certain that this is fairly common monkey behavior.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

I don't know about you Rat, but I came here for the passionate arguments. I think it is a cornerstone of my philosophy of discordia.

There are few places that you can have such intense verbal battles with people which don't end with censorship or physical violence.

[Whatever]

I personally just stop posting and lurk.  Not that I post much to begin with, I'm a waste of space member!

[the last yatto]

I take offence that somehow fnords are related to poptard syndrome

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I take offence that somehow fnords are related to poptard syndrome

They aren't. They are, however, related to Able-ity.

[aquemini]

I haven't figured out this FNORD! thing yet....

[Lies]

I haven't figured out this FNORD! thing yet....

Good. Don't. Ever.

[Iason Ouabache]

DON'T TELL ME HOW TO POST, HIPPIE!!!

[BadBeast]

I take offence that somehow fnords are related to poptard syndrome

I take offence that Poptard somehow got elevated to a syndrome! He is no more than a minor symptom. Of a totally tiny and minor syndrome, that is so minor it doesn't even have a fucking name yet.

[LMNO]

I usually ignore, but when it's from someone who I consider to be smarter than what they're posting, or it's an egregious error, or if I think of something funny to say, I'll respond. 

Often, I'm just asking for clarification, in case there's a fundamental misunderstanding.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I don't know about you Rat, but I came here for the passionate arguments. I think it is a cornerstone of my philosophy of discordia.

There are few places that you can have such intense verbal battles with people which don't end with censorship or physical violence.

Oh I love a good argument... btu that's not what I'm talking about here... we could easily rewrite the conversation as:

Example 1:
OP: Interesting Post
User 1: Argue with OP
User 2: Argue with User 1
DP: Fnord
User1: Discus... OMGZ there is FNORD!

User 2: Dis... DAMN YOU FNORD

DP: err, FNORD!

OP/User1/User2: MOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCH WHY THE HELL DO I EVEN TRY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE!!!!


It's not the tone of the conversation, but the ease in which anyone can completely derail a conversation or argument simply by posting offf topic/distracting topic/pinealisms/disagreement in some kind of offensive tone...

Sometimes there are discussions lamenting the lack of content, of thoughtful discourse/arguments, projects.... yet when that kind of thread gets started and something has the potential to derail it... some of the same posters that lament the lack of content, spend 10 pages focused on something completely off-topic and not very valuable as content.

I mean, arguing is fine, hell you all know that I argue... I've probably argued with you.

Sometimes though threads turn more into The Argument Clinic rather than a knock-down drag-out fight of Voidlike proportions which seems far more valuable to the content of the site.

I mean, 40some page scream at the noob/troll/poster that just stuck their foot in their mouth is fun, I guess... but it seems like a lot of focused energy that would better be spent discussing the actual topic that got derailed.

A couple of you said "Well, we're human and thats just how we are..." but is it how you want to be? If you want to argue for the sake of arguing and shit on dumbasses because thats what you're here for than great, but don't be disappointed when there's not much content and not much in the way of discussion...

I thought Charley's rant a few days ago was a great start to a thread. 3D3N post could have been an intentional shitting, or an unintentional attempt to be funnay... but either way, it completely derailed the thread and I left. Maybe its cleaned up now, but the initial interest has been overrun by poo flinging. Same for Roger's recent thread on what we're here for and Nigel's thread on Bored White People. Sometimes I feel like content is what this board does when we're bored because there's not anyone to scream at and as soon as we have an excuse to kick on the Monkey circuit, all the content takes a back seat.

I'm not trying to scold here, I'm trying to bring up a point that I think inhibits content.

[hooplala]

No, I think you have a point.  I do it a lot on here, and no it's really not who I want to be.  I'm really not sure what it is, someone will say something that pushes one of my buttons and I go berserk.  I almost always regret it immediately afterwards, but what good does that do?  None really.  It's embarrassing.