Why so little serious debate?

[Humorme]

You are in the wrong place. No one here will expend that kind of time for an internet forum. If that is what you want, I suggest a venue that is devoted to people whose activities are a serious policy debate, not relaxation.

expend that kind of time for an internet forum.

The seriousness of debate or discussion is not a function of time. It is a function of intellectual and discursive integrity, which are things that one can exhibit and permit to be time consuming or not.

No, it is a function of worth and time. People come to forums like this for many reasons. I've been a member of this forum for while now.

I can tell you that a majority of them come here for the thrill of insulting people. Many of them are trying to lift insults to an artform, as witness the flame zone. Others, as have already replied in this thread, come here for fun and entertainment. Often, that is in the form of insulting. Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum.

I started frequenting internet forums in early 2000 when the new defunct MSNBC forums were active. I have been on many of them, from CNN, ABC, Yahoo, and of course, Hannity. They all have one thing in common. No one is there for long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses. I did all that when I was getting My undergrad degree, and put up with some snobbish professors when I was working on My Masters. The one thing they had in common, the research had a goal.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources based upon bias. Even you, with your scholarly references, would refuse any reference that was not written by biased, university professors who follow a peer review policy that is nothing more than crony academia.

So, unless you are willing to pay Me for My time, I'll reserve the academic research for letters and white papers I send to My Senator and Congressmen, not that I think they'd make the effort to change anything. It would, however, be a much better use of My time.

Well, short and sweet is something to keep in mind when writing your essays.

I think that somewhere between a college thesis and tweet should be acceptable.

In my mind the problem is that people put a little thought in creating a post of say ten paragraphs only to have one or two children multi quoting that post with responses like "you're a moron" or "imbecile"... or such like. If you take the time to match them insult for insult, your reply gets deleted and the post that was initially offending gets to stay up.

Isn't that what this thread is really about?

No, it's about Xelor dreaming up neurotic stuff to whine about. He conflates propaganda from 'academic' hacks with genuine intellectual analysis, never mind you can hire a 'scholar' to reach whatever per-conceived biases you want them to, and that has been the case for a long time now; where do you think all those 'think tanks' and the hacks they hire to write come from?

Throw in that most such 'viewpoints' can easily be summed up in a paragraph or less, you have to note that anybody who takes 20 to say it is most often just spamming and attempting a cover up, not looking for a discussion. That is also why it never requires more than a sentence or two in response. Many people here are more than educated enough to spot that sort of gaming. Start off with a false or deliberately loaded 'viewpoint' it doesn't matter how much spam you throw in afterward to make it look 'intellectual n stuff'.

With that last response he made to me, I got the point.

 

[ChrisL]

You are in the wrong place. No one here will expend that kind of time for an internet forum. If that is what you want, I suggest a venue that is devoted to people whose activities are a serious policy debate, not relaxation.

expend that kind of time for an internet forum.

The seriousness of debate or discussion is not a function of time. It is a function of intellectual and discursive integrity, which are things that one can exhibit and permit to be time consuming or not.

No, it is a function of worth and time. People come to forums like this for many reasons. I've been a member of this forum for while now.

I can tell you that a majority of them come here for the thrill of insulting people. Many of them are trying to lift insults to an artform, as witness the flame zone. Others, as have already replied in this thread, come here for fun and entertainment. Often, that is in the form of insulting. Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum.

I started frequenting internet forums in early 2000 when the new defunct MSNBC forums were active. I have been on many of them, from CNN, ABC, Yahoo, and of course, Hannity. They all have one thing in common. No one is there for long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses. I did all that when I was getting My undergrad degree, and put up with some snobbish professors when I was working on My Masters. The one thing they had in common, the research had a goal.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources based upon bias. Even you, with your scholarly references, would refuse any reference that was not written by biased, university professors who follow a peer review policy that is nothing more than crony academia.

So, unless you are willing to pay Me for My time, I'll reserve the academic research for letters and white papers I send to My Senator and Congressmen, not that I think they'd make the effort to change anything. It would, however, be a much better use of My time.

Well, short and sweet is something to keep in mind when writing your essays.

I think that somewhere between a college thesis and tweet should be acceptable.

In my mind the problem is that people put a little thought in creating a post of say ten paragraphs only to have one or two children multi quoting that post with responses like "you're a moron" or "imbecile"... or such like. If you take the time to match them insult for insult, your reply gets deleted and the post that was initially offending gets to stay up.

Isn't that what this thread is really about?

In my mind the problem is that people put a little thought in creating a post of say ten paragraphs only to have one or two children multi quoting that post with responses like "you're a moron" or "imbecile"... or such like. If you take the time to match them insult for insult, your reply gets deleted and the post that was initially offending gets to stay up.

Isn't that what this thread is really about?

No.

Look at the thread title. Then look at my response to ChrisL's question and the date upon which I first expressed my purpose for participating here. The look at my join date.

This thread was created for no purpose other than as an attempt to get direct answers to the title question, ideally from individuals who do not engage in serious debate.

I can as well as the next person speculate about why there's so little serious debate on USMB. I don't need to start a thread to do that. Mind you, I can also complain about or laud the death of serious debate, but I don't need to ask an obviously non-rhetorical question to do that.

So, you are asking the ones who are never serious to seriously answer your questions. Makes a lot of sense. Not.

 

[ChrisL]

You are in the wrong place. No one here will expend that kind of time for an internet forum. If that is what you want, I suggest a venue that is devoted to people whose activities are a serious policy debate, not relaxation.

expend that kind of time for an internet forum.

The seriousness of debate or discussion is not a function of time. It is a function of intellectual and discursive integrity, which are things that one can exhibit and permit to be time consuming or not.

No, it is a function of worth and time. People come to forums like this for many reasons. I've been a member of this forum for while now.

I can tell you that a majority of them come here for the thrill of insulting people. Many of them are trying to lift insults to an artform, as witness the flame zone. Others, as have already replied in this thread, come here for fun and entertainment. Often, that is in the form of insulting. Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum.

I started frequenting internet forums in early 2000 when the new defunct MSNBC forums were active. I have been on many of them, from CNN, ABC, Yahoo, and of course, Hannity. They all have one thing in common. No one is there for long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses. I did all that when I was getting My undergrad degree, and put up with some snobbish professors when I was working on My Masters. The one thing they had in common, the research had a goal.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources based upon bias. Even you, with your scholarly references, would refuse any reference that was not written by biased, university professors who follow a peer review policy that is nothing more than crony academia.

So, unless you are willing to pay Me for My time, I'll reserve the academic research for letters and white papers I send to My Senator and Congressmen, not that I think they'd make the effort to change anything. It would, however, be a much better use of My time.

Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth.

There is only the truth, not your truth and/or my truth.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
― William F. Buckley Jr.​

The one thing they had in common, the research was a goal.

Your programs were, then, quite different from mine. For my profs and me, the research was but a means to an end, not the end itself.

long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses.

I too am not keen to perform hours of research to post here, so I understand that others also would not care to do so. The most I'll do is bother to provide references that credibly corroborate the assertions I make. Truly, the only reason I do that here is because I'm unwilling to yield my anonymity -- in the "real world," I don't need to do that for when I'm presenting my thoughts on a topic, the audience members are already certain that I know what the hell I'm talking about. Here, nobody knows who I am or what specific achievements I've made in my life or in what disciples I'm expert; thus it's incumbent on me to present credible references to corroborate what I write. That's nothing more than one of the many manifestations of discursive integrity, and it's a manifestation of respect for others' intelligence.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources

Each of us must define our goals. You're better than I can, for yourself, answer that question.

I don't do "academic level" research for my posts. I merely reference content I'm already aware of prior to posting. To be sure, I do not and will not conjure a topic for discussion here, head off and research it, and then here post a "academic level" essay on the topic. Insofar as I won't for posting here do that, I hardly can expect others to do so.

So, what is your goal by being here?

Political and public policy analysis and discussion is not new to me. It is an unavoidable aspect of the type of work I do. You can't really deliver a quality industry or competitive analysis to a company or industry association without discussing the statutory and political factors affecting them.

Even though I'm not new to political pondering, this is my first time on a political forum, or forum of any sort for that matter. The social media thing just never interested me; however, after watching this past election and seeing the incessant use of Twitter and hearing about the banter on forums like this one, I decided to see for myself. I hope to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum. I'm also curious to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters.

Heh! You must feel pretty disappointed.

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

 

[Damaged Eagle]

....because they are too busy trying to be funny (and it's not working)

Would you rather they be all serious, aggressive, and abusive?

*****CHUCKLE*****

 

[Bonzi]

....because they are too busy trying to be funny (and it's not working)

Would you rather they be all serious, aggressive, and abusive?

*****CHUCKLE*****

That's not serious!

 

[usmbguest5318]

The seriousness of debate or discussion is not a function of time. It is a function of intellectual and discursive integrity, which are things that one can exhibit and permit to be time consuming or not.

No, it is a function of worth and time. People come to forums like this for many reasons. I've been a member of this forum for while now.

I can tell you that a majority of them come here for the thrill of insulting people. Many of them are trying to lift insults to an artform, as witness the flame zone. Others, as have already replied in this thread, come here for fun and entertainment. Often, that is in the form of insulting. Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum.

I started frequenting internet forums in early 2000 when the new defunct MSNBC forums were active. I have been on many of them, from CNN, ABC, Yahoo, and of course, Hannity. They all have one thing in common. No one is there for long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses. I did all that when I was getting My undergrad degree, and put up with some snobbish professors when I was working on My Masters. The one thing they had in common, the research had a goal.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources based upon bias. Even you, with your scholarly references, would refuse any reference that was not written by biased, university professors who follow a peer review policy that is nothing more than crony academia.

So, unless you are willing to pay Me for My time, I'll reserve the academic research for letters and white papers I send to My Senator and Congressmen, not that I think they'd make the effort to change anything. It would, however, be a much better use of My time.

Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth.

There is only the truth, not your truth and/or my truth.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
― William F. Buckley Jr.​

The one thing they had in common, the research was a goal.

Your programs were, then, quite different from mine. For my profs and me, the research was but a means to an end, not the end itself.

long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses.

I too am not keen to perform hours of research to post here, so I understand that others also would not care to do so. The most I'll do is bother to provide references that credibly corroborate the assertions I make. Truly, the only reason I do that here is because I'm unwilling to yield my anonymity -- in the "real world," I don't need to do that for when I'm presenting my thoughts on a topic, the audience members are already certain that I know what the hell I'm talking about. Here, nobody knows who I am or what specific achievements I've made in my life or in what disciples I'm expert; thus it's incumbent on me to present credible references to corroborate what I write. That's nothing more than one of the many manifestations of discursive integrity, and it's a manifestation of respect for others' intelligence.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources

Each of us must define our goals. You're better than I can, for yourself, answer that question.

I don't do "academic level" research for my posts. I merely reference content I'm already aware of prior to posting. To be sure, I do not and will not conjure a topic for discussion here, head off and research it, and then here post a "academic level" essay on the topic. Insofar as I won't for posting here do that, I hardly can expect others to do so.

So, what is your goal by being here?

Political and public policy analysis and discussion is not new to me. It is an unavoidable aspect of the type of work I do. You can't really deliver a quality industry or competitive analysis to a company or industry association without discussing the statutory and political factors affecting them.

Even though I'm not new to political pondering, this is my first time on a political forum, or forum of any sort for that matter. The social media thing just never interested me; however, after watching this past election and seeing the incessant use of Twitter and hearing about the banter on forums like this one, I decided to see for myself. I hope to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum. I'm also curious to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters.

Heh! You must feel pretty disappointed.

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

 

[Damaged Eagle]

....because they are too busy trying to be funny (and it's not working)

Would you rather they be all serious, aggressive, and abusive?

*****CHUCKLE*****

That's not serious!

Too them it is.

*****SMILE*****

 

[ChrisL]

No, it is a function of worth and time. People come to forums like this for many reasons. I've been a member of this forum for while now.

I can tell you that a majority of them come here for the thrill of insulting people. Many of them are trying to lift insults to an artform, as witness the flame zone. Others, as have already replied in this thread, come here for fun and entertainment. Often, that is in the form of insulting. Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth. This is one of the reasons I come to this forum.

I started frequenting internet forums in early 2000 when the new defunct MSNBC forums were active. I have been on many of them, from CNN, ABC, Yahoo, and of course, Hannity. They all have one thing in common. No one is there for long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses. I did all that when I was getting My undergrad degree, and put up with some snobbish professors when I was working on My Masters. The one thing they had in common, the research had a goal.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources based upon bias. Even you, with your scholarly references, would refuse any reference that was not written by biased, university professors who follow a peer review policy that is nothing more than crony academia.

So, unless you are willing to pay Me for My time, I'll reserve the academic research for letters and white papers I send to My Senator and Congressmen, not that I think they'd make the effort to change anything. It would, however, be a much better use of My time.

Others yet come here to ensure that the voice of the opposition does not go unanswered based on the notion that if only one side is voicing their opinion, then they must be speaking the truth.

There is only the truth, not your truth and/or my truth.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
― William F. Buckley Jr.​

The one thing they had in common, the research was a goal.

Your programs were, then, quite different from mine. For my profs and me, the research was but a means to an end, not the end itself.

long, protracted debates that require hours of research to justify given responses.

I too am not keen to perform hours of research to post here, so I understand that others also would not care to do so. The most I'll do is bother to provide references that credibly corroborate the assertions I make. Truly, the only reason I do that here is because I'm unwilling to yield my anonymity -- in the "real world," I don't need to do that for when I'm presenting my thoughts on a topic, the audience members are already certain that I know what the hell I'm talking about. Here, nobody knows who I am or what specific achievements I've made in my life or in what disciples I'm expert; thus it's incumbent on me to present credible references to corroborate what I write. That's nothing more than one of the many manifestations of discursive integrity, and it's a manifestation of respect for others' intelligence.

What goal is there for Me to provide academic level research to a bunch of people who will just deny the validity of the sources

Each of us must define our goals. You're better than I can, for yourself, answer that question.

I don't do "academic level" research for my posts. I merely reference content I'm already aware of prior to posting. To be sure, I do not and will not conjure a topic for discussion here, head off and research it, and then here post a "academic level" essay on the topic. Insofar as I won't for posting here do that, I hardly can expect others to do so.

So, what is your goal by being here?

Political and public policy analysis and discussion is not new to me. It is an unavoidable aspect of the type of work I do. You can't really deliver a quality industry or competitive analysis to a company or industry association without discussing the statutory and political factors affecting them.

Even though I'm not new to political pondering, this is my first time on a political forum, or forum of any sort for that matter. The social media thing just never interested me; however, after watching this past election and seeing the incessant use of Twitter and hearing about the banter on forums like this one, I decided to see for myself. I hope to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum. I'm also curious to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters.

Heh! You must feel pretty disappointed.

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

 

[usmbguest5318]

There is only the truth, not your truth and/or my truth.

Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
― William F. Buckley Jr.​

Your programs were, then, quite different from mine. For my profs and me, the research was but a means to an end, not the end itself.

I too am not keen to perform hours of research to post here, so I understand that others also would not care to do so. The most I'll do is bother to provide references that credibly corroborate the assertions I make. Truly, the only reason I do that here is because I'm unwilling to yield my anonymity -- in the "real world," I don't need to do that for when I'm presenting my thoughts on a topic, the audience members are already certain that I know what the hell I'm talking about. Here, nobody knows who I am or what specific achievements I've made in my life or in what disciples I'm expert; thus it's incumbent on me to present credible references to corroborate what I write. That's nothing more than one of the many manifestations of discursive integrity, and it's a manifestation of respect for others' intelligence.

Each of us must define our goals. You're better than I can, for yourself, answer that question.

I don't do "academic level" research for my posts. I merely reference content I'm already aware of prior to posting. To be sure, I do not and will not conjure a topic for discussion here, head off and research it, and then here post a "academic level" essay on the topic. Insofar as I won't for posting here do that, I hardly can expect others to do so.

So, what is your goal by being here?

Political and public policy analysis and discussion is not new to me. It is an unavoidable aspect of the type of work I do. You can't really deliver a quality industry or competitive analysis to a company or industry association without discussing the statutory and political factors affecting them.

Even though I'm not new to political pondering, this is my first time on a political forum, or forum of any sort for that matter. The social media thing just never interested me; however, after watching this past election and seeing the incessant use of Twitter and hearing about the banter on forums like this one, I decided to see for myself. I hope to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum. I'm also curious to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters.

Heh! You must feel pretty disappointed.

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

 

[ChrisL]

Heh! You must feel pretty disappointed.

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

Lol! It doesn't take a genius to figure them out. I've been here for several years. So, you can take MY words seriously or not. Doesn't matter even a little bit to me. Whatevs. And I already answered your questions regarding myself. I used to post seriously, not so much anymore. It's just not worth the time and effort.

 

[usmbguest5318]

I construe myself an observer here. There is neither dismay nor joy from that to be had, other than that which comes from the discovering itself. Did, say, Galileo and Copernicus find happiness or disappointment in observing that the Earth revolves around the Sun? No. They were content simply to know that is the existential relationship between the Earth and Sun.

Look at the title of this thread. It asks why, not what. The "what" had, by this thread's creation point, been observed. Of whom is it best to ask the reason for the observed behavior than the people who perform that behavior? Thus this thread.

Aside:

I must say. Among the things I've observed here is that when asked to to explain the nature and motives of their expressions, people here, unlike people in my "real world," seem loathe to actually do so. Odd, really, insofar as people here claim to so value freedom of expression, yet when asked to discuss the one thing about which they are most expert to discuss, themselves and what catalyzes their behavior, they are as timid as a dormouse. I find that paradoxical and peculiar.​

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

Lol! It doesn't take a genius to figure them out. I've been here for several years. So, you can take MY words seriously or not. Doesn't matter even a little bit to me. Whatevs. And I already answered your questions regarding myself. I used to post seriously, not so much anymore. It's just not worth the time and effort.

you can take MY words seriously or not

TY for reminding me of my option to do either of those things.

 

[ChrisL]

Do we know what Galileo or Copernicus felt? No, we do not.

Basically now you are saying that you have no feelings towards the exact thing that you are asking about in this thread. Try to be genuine with others first and then maybe they would feel more comfortable being genuine with you. Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

Try to be genuine with others

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

Nobody is impressed with the "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy."

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

Lol! It doesn't take a genius to figure them out. I've been here for several years. So, you can take MY words seriously or not. Doesn't matter even a little bit to me. Whatevs. And I already answered your questions regarding myself. I used to post seriously, not so much anymore. It's just not worth the time and effort.

you can take MY words seriously or not

TY for reminding me of my option to do either of those things.

Hey, I have been nothing but nice and polite and trying to help you out with your silly questions.

Well, now I can understand why the others have been giving you so much attitude. You are a jerk. Good day SIR! *middle finger salute!*

 

[ChrisL]

Want a serious answer to your silly question. Nobody wants to seriously debate you because you are a pompous ass.

 

[usmbguest5318]

In response to my genuinely given remarks about what I think and feel, you just keep thinking they are not....

So be it. My objective here isn't to demonstrate, as you put it, "I'm a cold unfeeling intellectual sort of guy," and thereby impress anyone. Indeed, whether anyone here is impressed with me or my remarks is no goal of mine. You obviously had rather my objectives be something other than what they are.

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

Lol! It doesn't take a genius to figure them out. I've been here for several years. So, you can take MY words seriously or not. Doesn't matter even a little bit to me. Whatevs. And I already answered your questions regarding myself. I used to post seriously, not so much anymore. It's just not worth the time and effort.

you can take MY words seriously or not

TY for reminding me of my option to do either of those things.

Hey, I have been nothing but nice and polite and trying to help you out with your silly questions.

Well, now I can understand why the others have been giving you so much attitude. You are a jerk. Good day SIR! *middle finger salute!*

And what did I write that was not nice?

 

[ChrisL]

Still not really clear what your objectives. You want to know why people who never post seriously never post seriously. Well, considering that they are those types of people, you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything. They love it that they are making you wonder. They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope! If not, I would be happy to get into more details and even post links.

Still not really clear what your objectives.

Well, if that is, for you, so, I don't know how to be any clearer about it. The post to which I pointed you, and from which I excerpted my statements of objective for participating on USMB, stated quite clearly my objectives were:

• "to learn first hand about the people who use political communication tools like this forum."
• "to discover how discussions on forums differ from those that I and my teams and clients have on public policy matters."

This thread's topic question is an unobfuscated attempt to facilitate those objectives.

you must realize that they are not going to tell you anything.

I addressed that already: Why so little serious debate?.

They think it bothers you or something, and that would give them some kind of pleasure obviously.

Maybe they do think that and receive pleasure thus.

So now you know the answer to your own question, I hope!

Well, actually, I know what you think be other people's reasons. If you are willing to attest to being among the people who rarely engage in serious debate, I'll count your answer as an accurate one, though not necessarily the only accurate one. If infrequent participants in serious debate are willing to agree that you speak for them, I'll accept your answer as theirs. (I can't say whether they'd do so. I know I don't generally let other people speak for me and put words in my mouth, at least not when I'm aware of their attempting to do so.)

Lol! It doesn't take a genius to figure them out. I've been here for several years. So, you can take MY words seriously or not. Doesn't matter even a little bit to me. Whatevs. And I already answered your questions regarding myself. I used to post seriously, not so much anymore. It's just not worth the time and effort.

you can take MY words seriously or not

TY for reminding me of my option to do either of those things.

Hey, I have been nothing but nice and polite and trying to help you out with your silly questions.

Well, now I can understand why the others have been giving you so much attitude. You are a jerk. Good day SIR! *middle finger salute!*

And what did I write that was not nice?

Like I said, your behavior is that of a pompous ass. If you want answers from specific people only, then you should probably tag those people to your thread instead of treating other people who are at least TRYING to answer your thread like crapola. Now see ya, wouldn't want to be ya.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Want a serious answer to your silly question. Nobody wants to seriously debate you because you are a pompous ass.

What's pompous is presuming to know what motivates other individuals and deigning unbidden by them to speak on their behalf. You'll notice that even though I was very capable of speculating about why people don't engage in serious debate, I refrain from doing so and instead give them the opportunity to state so for themselves.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
-- Edmund Burke, On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters, Preface to Brissot's "Address to His Constituents (1794)"​

 

[ChrisL]

Want a serious answer to your silly question. Nobody wants to seriously debate you because you are a pompous ass.

What's pompous is presuming to know what motivates other individuals and deigning unbidden by them to speak on their behalf. You'll notice that even though I was very capable of speculating about why people don't engage in serious debate, I refrain from doing so and instead give them the opportunity to state so for themselves.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
-- Edmund Burke, On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters, Preface to Brissot's "Address to His Constituents (1794)"​

Please. It is so obvious. That you even HAVE to ask is kind of silly. Look around. Take in the world around you and how weird people are! I've been here since 2014. I've had conversation after conversation after conversation with these people! You can sit here waiting on your thread when nobody replies to it though. That is fine by me.

Now, obviously you aren't interested in MY views or MY answers to the questions, so you can stop quoting me at any time. I've nothing more to add.

 

[leftwinger]

Shut up you giant sack of human garbage.

How'd I do?

 

[Picaro]

Want a serious answer to your silly question. Nobody wants to seriously debate you because you are a pompous ass.

And of course he proves he's incapable of 'serious debate' in the first place, something most people notice right away. lol

 

[usmbguest5318]

Want a serious answer to your silly question. Nobody wants to seriously debate you because you are a pompous ass.

What's pompous is presuming to know what motivates other individuals and deigning unbidden by them to speak on their behalf. You'll notice that even though I was very capable of speculating about why people don't engage in serious debate, I refrain from doing so and instead give them the opportunity to state so for themselves.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
-- Edmund Burke, On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters, Preface to Brissot's "Address to His Constituents (1794)"​

Please. It is so obvious. That you even HAVE to ask is kind of silly. Look around. Take in the world around you and how weird people are! I've been here since 2014. I've had conversation after conversation after conversation with these people! You can sit here waiting on your thread when nobody replies to it though. That is fine by me.

Now, obviously you aren't interested in MY views or MY answers to the questions, so you can stop quoting me at any time. I've nothing more to add.

you aren't interested in MY views or MY answers to the questions

I have read your views. I know what are your answers to the question. I am aware of what value (or range thereof) that I can assign to them. What more would you have me want of them?