Brainstorm

[Losty]

I'm paraphrasing what I hear you saying.  Ever wonder how people take what you say?  There you go.

OP's decide what you're going to talk about(which is exactly what I said). Not how you do it. This is an important distinction, one you admitedly overlooked. How is this paraphrasing me and not misquoting? Where do we draw the line? Is english not your first language, or something?

The OP opens a discussion. Discussions tend to evolve. Most threads aren't about the op by the end. Especially threads like this one where the OP apparently invites people to brainstorm about any topic they'd like.

[Excited Penguin]

Hey, I only came up with the idea. I do hope people use this thread because I needed this kind of thread, and didn't find one anywhere. I thought it was a good idea and so I made one myself.

How you use it is up to you. You apparently all like to talk about me more than about anything else. Who am I to say that's bad? I don't like it, but I can't make you not do it. As far as the people involved don't attack me/make fun of me/remain civilised/serious I'll talk about whatever they're discussing. Right now, they seem to be brainstorming me. Well, I'm flattered, but I'm not exactly an idea, I'm a person. Oh, well.

This says a lot more about the level of intelligence in this place than about the usefulness of my thread. That we don't have intelligent enough people to be able to take this on in a mature manner and would rather come here to post humorous material - that's setting the bar pretty low, I've got to say. I wonder how the staff would've treated me if I did the same in other treads(scratch that, I already know. Been there, had that done to me).

[Excited Penguin]

OP's decide what you're going to talk about(which is exactly what I said). Not how you do it. This is an important distinction, one you admitedly overlooked. How is this paraphrasing me and not misquoting? Where do we draw the line? Is english not your first language, or something?

The OP opens a discussion. Discussions tend to evolve. Most threads aren't about the op by the end. Especially threads like this one where the OP apparently invites people to brainstorm about any topic they'd like.

I agree.

[Excited Penguin]

Whateverist, I'll tell you the main reason why I made this thread, and not multiple threads. I want to talk about a lot of things. Rather than make a hundred threads in a week about it, I decided to make just one. It's similar to my You Should Check This Out Thread. Other people can and should use it, but it was mainly so I wouldn't make a hundred threads posting educational and informative material(mainly) I found every day on the internet.

[Ivan Denisovich]

Explain to me why believing any untrue thing about the world is inherently bad.

It may not be inherently bad but quite often it is harmful, i.e. religious people stance on abortion, or on same-sex marriages.

And many bad explanations and practices have been eradicated through new knowledge and technology, yes...but religion has always been there through all of it.

Religion lasting that long means only that it is good in surviving not a positive force. Also when one consider indoctrination, tradition and last but not least alliances between throne and altar religion continuous survival isn't something surprising.

[Losty]

Explain to me why believing any untrue thing about the world is inherently bad.

It may not be inherently bad but quite often it is harmful, i.e. religious people stance on abortion, or on same-sex marriages.

Not all religious people have the same stance on either issue.

[Ivan Denisovich]

It may not be inherently bad but quite often it is harmful, i.e. religious people stance on abortion, or on same-sex marriages.

Not all religious people have the same stance on either issue.

Sure. But stance itself is universally harmful as it's about forcing one beliefs onto other. Also in Poland such stances are kinda synonymous with religion or at least voicing such is popular among religious.

[Losty]

Not all religious people have the same stance on either issue.

Sure. But I would say that this stance is universally harmful as one force his beliefs onto other. Also in Poland such stances are kinda synonymous with religion or at least voicing such is popular among religious.

Maybe, but there are atheists who are against abortion, their are atheists who are against gay marriage, and believe it or not there are atheists who wish to force their ideas and beliefs on other people.

So if this is your standard for deciding that religion is bad, you might find that you actually think human beings in general are bad.

[SteelCurtain]

You keep saying that you're not trying to control the thread, but on nearly every page there are examples of you talking about how you envisioned the thread going. Why say that?

 I think the better question is, why not say that?

Because it implies (whether you meant or want it to or not) that they are doing something wrong or counter to your vision of the thread. Especially when you say it every three posts. And especially when you do something else 5 times.

I think you are getting this whole thing totally wrong. Let me start over.

This thread is meant for discussion/brainstorming various ideas. How or what you talk about is not for me to tell you, although as OP, I do have that privilege(something which is universally accepted elsewhere on the forums).
Now that we've got that handled, my role as OP is over. Now I'm just a regular poster. I post the first question. A discussion begins. Someone makes fun of me. I tell them to stay on topic, as a fellow poster, not as anyone else.

That's just it, EP. You telling someone else to stay on topic is 1) attempting to moderate other users and 2) implying that there is a topic to be adhered to.

Regarding #1) Not your job.
Regarding #2) You keep alternately telling people that there is no topic, and then whining in the next post about how they are off-topic, and you won't deign to respond to them.

You are not required to respond to anything on this forum aside from official requests from staff, so you can choose who you want to respond to. But if all you do is whine when people don't do, act, post, reply like you want, don't bitch even more when no one takes you seriously.

Just because you pretended to be nice for three days doesn't mean everyone forgets all the shit you spew onto this forum on the regular. Your reputation precedes you, whether you like it or not. You made that bed, and you are trying to make everyone else sleep in it. Not gonna happen.

[Ivan Denisovich]

Maybe, but there are atheists who are against abortion, their are atheists who are against gay marriage, and believe it or not there are atheists who wish to force their ideas and beliefs on other people.

For me atheists being against abortion or gay marriage are like Yeti, I only heard about it, but seeing it I consider improbable. And sure there may be atheists wanting to force their ideas onto others. They should be criticized like anyone else.

So if this is your standard for deciding that religion is bad, you might find that you actually think human beings in general are bad.

Religion also robs of freedom by indoctrinating, it could sap happiness from life as it is only transitory period and it's in essence against freedom. Maybe in some civilized countries religious authoritarianism is held in check by secular authorities but it is not the case where I live.

As for humans in general, I would say that most are simply indifferent not bad.