On the rise and fall of empires (or, "What goes up must come down")

[East Coast Hustle]

I hope I'm not the only one who's okay with people having conversations about whatever they damn well please.

I missed the part where anyone else even remotely implied otherwise.

Where does the problem lie, then? What is wrong with having a similar conversation again and again, if everyone doing so chooses to do so? I don't see how it's bringing PD down, nor how it shows that the people posting are stupid/impulsive/shortsighted, etc.

Just because nobody's telling you that you can't doesn't mean that you should.

Sort of like voting for president.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Gotta disagree with the 'symptom of a deeper malady' comment. There have been drug threads that run like this ever since I've been on PD.

I don't really understand this depression either. Post what you want to post. Talk about what you want to talk about. If lots of people join you, great... if they don't, why give a fuck? I've poured heart and soul into some posts and gotten mittens and not much else. I've made some half assed comment and started 50 pages of flame wars... its just how PD works and has always worked.

Back when Cram and me and some others always whined about treatment of noobs and lack of 'projects' and other things... we got told that PD isn't what YOU WANT IT TO BE... it is what it is. If you want it to be about other discussions, then start other discussions. If someone wants to discuss Discordianism, then start a damned thread on some interesting topic related to Discordianism, I'd far prefer to post there than in the 'beat RWHN with a bloody stump' thread.

Even so, how often do our discussions of Discordian topics turn into 50, 100 pages of OKK OOK UNNNGGGHHHHH?

This board is what it is...*


* in some sense. 

[East Coast Hustle]

Jesus fucking christ you assholes.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT GODDAMN PD DOT COM OR GODDAMN THREADS ABOUT REEFER OR ANY OF THAT SHIT. IT IS A GODDAMN POLITICAL OBSERVATION DISGUISED AS A METAPHOR. STOP BEING SO FUCKING LITERAL YOU PACK OF SIMMERING FUCKTOILETS.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I hope I'm not the only one who's okay with people having conversations about whatever they damn well please.

PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Jesus fucking christ you assholes.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT GODDAMN PD DOT COM OR GODDAMN THREADS ABOUT REEFER OR ANY OF THAT SHIT. IT IS A GODDAMN POLITICAL OBSERVATION DISGUISED AS A METAPHOR. STOP BEING SO FUCKING LITERAL YOU PACK OF SIMMERING FUCKTOILETS.

You just aren't being SERIOUS ENOUGH about peoples' CLOSELY HELD BELIEFS.

We'll have no friviolity about this sort of thing, my good man.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I hope I am not the only person who has been ignoring that thread.

Actually, yes.

JOIN US.

JOIN US.

For serious? I have better things to do with my time than rehash old arguments. So do you guys.

Speak for yourself. I'm 300+ miles offshore running on 4 days of no sleep. It's either this or take an impromptu swim call.

And what do YOU have to do that's so important?

Join us.




JOIN US.

On Thursday morning I leave for Pittsburgh. It will, if I accept it, be my first freelance consulting job. Short term, at a museum, doing high definition photography.

In August, I start a PhD program.

In between, I am reading and writing and talking about SCIENCE, none of it relevant to what is going on here right now. Which seems to be rehashed arguments that people can't seem to stay away from because they see other people talking about it and have no self control to just ignore threads that aren't worth looking at. Contrary to what I might have wished to do down in Scientism. Far more useful for me to post science on Facebook, where people will read and converse with me about it. And incidentally, includes many PD'ers.

And right now I'm off to sleep. Night.

Well, goodbye, I guess.  Have fun on facebook. 

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Jesus fucking christ you assholes.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT GODDAMN PD DOT COM OR GODDAMN THREADS ABOUT REEFER OR ANY OF THAT SHIT. IT IS A GODDAMN POLITICAL OBSERVATION DISGUISED AS A METAPHOR. STOP BEING SO FUCKING LITERAL YOU PACK OF SIMMERING FUCKTOILETS.

Bonus for use of the word "fucktoilets". 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Drug thread appears to be over.

So does posting in general.

[Epimetheus]

I hope I'm not the only one who's okay with people having conversations about whatever they damn well please.

I missed the part where anyone else even remotely implied otherwise.

Where does the problem lie, then? What is wrong with having a similar conversation again and again, if everyone doing so chooses to do so? I don't see how it's bringing PD down, nor how it shows that the people posting are stupid/impulsive/shortsighted, etc.

Just because nobody's telling you that you can't doesn't mean that you should.

Sort of like voting for president.

I get that much. You didn't answer my question.
What I hear you saying is "I'm okay with people having any conversation, but they shouldn't have that one."
I'm asking why not.

Because it means people like myself, and Kai, and Roger, and no doubt many others go "fuck it, what's the point in contributing, when we can just discuss Roger's inflamed gonads for another 150 pages".

It says "we care more about rehashing stale old arguments which never get resolved than we do about rants, in depth discussion threads or, I don't know, maybe talking about discordianism.*"

But it doesn't say that.
Maybe it's just me, but I see all of the preferred discussions happen too. It's not like they're mutually exclusive AS SOON AS YOU POST IN THOSE THREADS YOU CAN NEVER OFFER INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION AGAAAAIIINNN!!

I hope I'm not the only one who's okay with people having conversations about whatever they damn well please.

PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS.

The cellar ones? Because I don't see a second floor in this house. I'll just sit out back, if that's cool with you.

Drug thread appears to be over.

So does posting in general.

You and your self-fulfilling prophecies, man.
I can't help but notice that a decent proportion of that thread's posts were about how dumb and useless the thread is and WHY ARE WE PUTTING OUR ENERGY INTO THIS??. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

You and your self-fulfilling prophecies, man.

KATHY IRELAND WILL NOW APPEAR AND SIT ON MY FACE.


...

[East Coast Hustle]

Why not?

because it's fucking retarded, that's why not. Because literally nothing productive has ever come from it, with the possible exception of me coming up with the "simmering fucktoilets" insult. Because there's only so much time and intellectual energy people can put into a forum on the internet, and those stupid fucking threads end up taking way too much of both away from what is otherwise an awesome site full of otherwise awesome people.

[Epimetheus]

Why not?

because it's fucking retarded, that's why not. Because literally nothing productive has ever come from it, with the possible exception of me coming up with the "simmering fucktoilets" insult. Because there's only so much time and intellectual energy people can put into a forum on the internet, and those stupid fucking threads end up taking way too much of both away from what is otherwise an awesome site full of otherwise awesome people.

This is a perspective thing, man. At least some of the people posting in the thread thought they were deriving benefit from having the discussion, even if only as an exercise in debate. This is why I'm emphasizing that people are choosing to post there rather than being swept by some magic spell. The people who choose to post do it for a reason which includes some benefit somewhere.
Oh no, the threads other people want to post in are different from the ones you think are worthwhile. Whoooooptydoo

Speaking of time and energy, you don't think you're wasting yours just as badly by all your THAT THREAD IS STOOPID posts?

[Epimetheus]

You and your self-fulfilling prophecies, man.

KATHY IRELAND WILL NOW APPEAR AND SIT ON MY FACE.


...

Now you have to do something to self-fulfill it.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Why not?

because it's fucking retarded, that's why not. Because literally nothing productive has ever come from it, with the possible exception of me coming up with the "simmering fucktoilets" insult. Because there's only so much time and intellectual energy people can put into a forum on the internet, and those stupid fucking threads end up taking way too much of both away from what is otherwise an awesome site full of otherwise awesome people.

This is a perspective thing, man. At least some of the people posting in the thread thought they were deriving benefit from having the discussion, even if only as an exercise in debate. This is why I'm emphasizing that people are choosing to post there rather than being swept by some magic spell. The people who choose to post do it for a reason which includes some benefit somewhere.
Oh no, the threads other people want to post in are different from the ones you think are worthwhile. Whoooooptydoo

Speaking of time and energy, you don't think you're wasting yours just as badly by all your THAT THREAD IS STOOPID posts?

Hey, look...This is EASY.  The thread is in Bring & Brag.  You can go down there and post if you want to.  We can post THIS FREAD IS A TOOLBOX if WE want to.  That's the fucking beauty of free speech.

It pains me that I have to explain that.

[Epimetheus]

Why not?

because it's fucking retarded, that's why not. Because literally nothing productive has ever come from it, with the possible exception of me coming up with the "simmering fucktoilets" insult. Because there's only so much time and intellectual energy people can put into a forum on the internet, and those stupid fucking threads end up taking way too much of both away from what is otherwise an awesome site full of otherwise awesome people.

This is a perspective thing, man. At least some of the people posting in the thread thought they were deriving benefit from having the discussion, even if only as an exercise in debate. This is why I'm emphasizing that people are choosing to post there rather than being swept by some magic spell. The people who choose to post do it for a reason which includes some benefit somewhere.
Oh no, the threads other people want to post in are different from the ones you think are worthwhile. Whoooooptydoo

Speaking of time and energy, you don't think you're wasting yours just as badly by all your THAT THREAD IS STOOPID posts?

Hey, look...This is EASY.  The thread is in Bring & Brag.  You can go down there and post if you want to.  We can post THIS FREAD IS A TOOLBOX if WE want to.  That's the fucking beauty of free speech.

It pains me that I have to explain that.

That's....exactly what I'm saying, I thought.