Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely

[pErvinalia]

rEvolutionist wrote:

...So I'm going play it by ear and see what I can get away with in destroying your idiotic presence here. I'd only ask that the moderator(s) please give me a warning first if I am overstepping the mark....

Here is your warning. "your idiotic presence" could be seen as a personal attack, so tone it down a little...

Jeez, that didn't last long.

[JimC]

"Idiotic argument" is always a possible replacement...

[pErvinalia]

It's the same thing. His presence here is his posting/arguments.

[JimC]

It's the same thing. His presence here is his posting/arguments.

I beg to differ.

And remember the "absolute power" thing...

[pErvinalia]

This is getting silly.

[devogue]

"Idiotic presence" means everything about you here is idiotic, ergo you are defined as an idiot. That's a personal attack.

"Idiotic argument" means that a particular point of view you gave us is idiotic while not in any way suggesting that the sum total of your personality, contribution and intellect equates to you being an idiot. That's an attack on your argument.

That's how I see it.

[pErvinalia]

"Idiotic presence" means everything about you here is idiotic, ergo you are defined as an idiot. That's a personal attack.

No it's not. Someone could be an idiot here but non-idiotic in real life. If we follow your reasoning we can't say someone is lying as that suggests they are largely a liar. This is of course a silly line of reasoning.

Take me for example. If someone said to me online "you are argumentative and aggressive" they'd be absolutely right. But in real life I'm nothing of the sort. Well, I can be a bit argumentative if I know someone well enough to risk confrontation. But in general I'm pretty friendly and relaxed.

[pErvinalia]

To put it another way, what's the rationale for being able to say that 25% or 50% or 75% or 100% of someone's posts are stupid? If I said your presence here, minus one post, is idiotic, is that acceptable?

[JimC]

"Idiotic presence" means everything about you here is idiotic, ergo you are defined as an idiot. That's a personal attack.

"Idiotic argument" means that a particular point of view you gave us is idiotic while not in any way suggesting that the sum total of your personality, contribution and intellect equates to you being an idiot. That's an attack on your argument.

That's how I see it.

That is precisely what I was thinking, but expressed cogently and well...

However, it is a nuance, really, and it is minor as PAs go in the scheme of things. Not enough for a holiday, anyway...

[pErvinalia]

It's not expressed cogently, though, as my reply showed. Unless this forum is the totality of someone's life, then calling them, say, a perennial liar here says nothing about their total personality.

[pErvinalia]

Fuckit, don't reply. I've spent years arguing with moderators about how to implement a more rational approach to moderation. No one gives a fuck. Just keep doing what you want.

[Hermit]

I always suspecte Exi of being a seth sock, it seems my suspicions are being validated

Exi5tentialist consistently bemoaned the absence of democracy. Seth consistently condemned democracy as the tyranny of the majority. The two views do not mesh, so I don't think one is the sock of the other.

[pErvinalia]

Exi has been here far longer than Seth, unless I'm mistakenn (not going to check). Seth is too proud to not use his usual username, unless he is forced to by being banned.

[devogue]

"Idiotic presence" means everything about you here is idiotic, ergo you are defined as an idiot. That's a personal attack.

No it's not. Someone could be an idiot here but non-idiotic in real life. If we follow your reasoning we can't say someone is lying as that suggests they are largely a liar. This is of course a silly line of reasoning.

Take me for example. If someone said to me online "you are argumentative and aggressive" they'd be absolutely right. But in real life I'm nothing of the sort. Well, I can be a bit argumentative if I know someone well enough to risk confrontation. But in general I'm pretty friendly and relaxed.

That's why I wrote "everything about you here" because this rule can only apply to your persona on the open forum.

You can call somebody on Rationalia an idiot to your friend over a beer in a pub, you can even do it in a private message to another member here, but you can't do it on the open forum.

Is it arbitrary? Of course it is, but it's the one sacred rule that has carried over from the mists of legendary forums past. Consider it a bit like the "Holy Ground" rule in Highlander - none of the immortals fuck with it, not even the Kurgan, because it is a fundamental aspect of their universe going back to time immemorial, an irrational tradition with potentially crucial benefits for all the protagonists.

The "no personal attack" rule is our holy ground.

[pErvinalia]

Calling someone's arguments idiotic isn't the same as calling a person an idiot. If it was, then you wouldn't be allowed to say it about one even post.

Don't reply. I'm sick dealing with irrational arguments in this sphere. I've tried for years to get some mods to see reason, but they have no incentive to. I'm over it.