(December 13, 2018 at 8:30 pm)Belaqua Wrote:(December 13, 2018 at 8:14 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Not the worst idea.
Boru
The reason this problem exists in the first place is because someone judges that another poster deserves ridicule, personal insults, or other off-topic verbal violence. People have argued to me that seriousness requires unseriousness -- ridicule or incivility.
But if each of us has the right (some say the duty) to switch off our reasonable arguments and go for vileness when we judge that the other person isn't deserving, then nothing will change. Because the people posting vile language always feel it's justified.
If a stupid person makes a thread and asks that it be serious, why should we deny that?
The whole point of Serious threads is to keep the discussion on topic. Vulcan's suggestion was to limit participation in these particular threads until a new member passes 30 days/30 posts.
No one is saying you can't go for vileness, just not in threads tagged as Serious. You will have the whole rest of the forum to be as vile as you like. You could even start threads 'Please Be Vile Here'.
Stupid people can make as many serious threads as they like - Vulcan's idea doesn't address the intelligence of the poster, just their behavior. But it might be a good idea to give them a little bit of time in the forum to grasp how this rule works (we get new members who clearly haven't read the rules). Giving them time to learn might result in fewer people being banned from Serious threads.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson