So... is it time to kill off this [P and M] sub-forum yet?

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It was completely obvious for me since Alphanumeric, the physics mod, has returned from his adventure in real life. The problem with the moderation here is consistency. If what Fraggle Rocker says about trolling is correct what really qualifies as trolling. Nobody really addresses that in the science forums. It's cool. Just the way it is.

 

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True, but often the problem is that one does not discover a new poster to be a crank until several pages into the discussion. The recent discussion initiated by 65H is a classic. Someone who at first just seemed not to have a clear grasp of physics eventually ran up the Jolly Roger and came out as a full-blown nutter, but only after a lot of time had been expended.

I suspect this forum is largely off-air for the summer hols just now and things will liven up when the school and university terms recommence (and there are more bored science workers looking for a bit of light relief in their lunch and coffee breaks).

 

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I very much appreciate that action was taken to clean the place up, and offer my thanks to all the mods involved. It was getting frustrating when people could post whatever they pleased no matter how many times it was debunked, and exhibit the kind of disingenuous behaviour described by Fraggle Rocker, especially when there are alternative subforums specifically set out for people who disagree with the mainstream view to express themselves. When it gets to the point that one's arguments involve denouncing experiments they'd never heard of prior to the discussion, without any contrary evidence, based entirely on their personal view of how the universe ought to work, they're here to preach and not to debate or discuss.

I believe in freedom of discussion, I believe laymen and professionals alike should have an opportunity to get their views across and have them analyzed, I believe anyone should feel free to ask questions and seek assistance, but I don't think this is the appropriate section for making baseless a priori assertions and then ignorantly, casually dismissing any attempts to debunk them. Nor is it appropriate that someone like (redacted) should come along and hijack someone else's thread just so they can spend more time pushing the same repetitive, unsupported talking points regarding a pet theory that was thoroughly debunked 100 years ago and that they've already discussed in other threads.

Insults don't bother me too much, I'm capable of losing my temper too from time to time like most people. It does bother me though if I'm sitting down for long periods to explain something upon request, and I'm trying to be polite and civil about it, and the other person skips over all the demonstrations and arguments to resort to constant taunting instead.

 

Every kind of loony wants to protest that their views are scientific.
In a way, it's a compliment to science.
A belief in aliens inhabiting the centre of the earth is no longer sufficient.
They now need to be scientifically proven aliens.

We need to be careful of too heavy moderation.
Take a look at the Physics forums site.
In General Physics, they have many threads open,
but few replies. The highest is 33 posts. Moribund.

We often get 33+ posts a day if the topic is hot.
The topic may be "Why Einstein was wrong, using Hundreds Tens and Units",
but it's better than nothing.

See http://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111

 

Please let me post this here since this thread is about how much better off P&M is going to be after the clean up. I know about flames and name calling, and my last thread started in P&M, and then moved to Pseudo was an example. There were over 1200 posts in less than three months, and nearly 30,000 views, and much of it was interesting and on topic in spite of the disdain toward me and a few others who were active and on topic. As the thread started to get off of the P&M topic and into alternate theories, I requested multiple times to have the thread moved to Alt. Theories.

I was civil throughout in the face of over 200 flaming posts from two or three individuals, and huge amounts of disdain toward me and others who were posting on topic. My thread was moved within 10 minutes of the return of a moderator, and moved to Pseudo after my repeated requests it be moved to Alt. Theories long before. No consideration was given to how I had conducted the thread, how I have tried at every turn to break the flame cycle, and how I continually asked for people to stay on topic. Though it is obvious I'm not the kind of thread originator and facilitator that the forum wants here, I just think the P&M community has been hurt by a few flame throwers and those who support them with that-a-boys, instead of conscientious on topic posts. And yes I read all the criticisms and I just have to say, look at who's talking. Oh darn, I bet its flames for me now, lol.

 

Next time you start one of your threads, start it in Pseudoscience and everything will be fine.

 

That would be one solution

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. The thread, "At rest with our Hubble view", was a legitimate P&M topic, and even had participation by a moderator in the the early going. After covering what started as an appropriate P&M topic, the discussion turned alternative and I made the multiple requests to have it moved to Alternative Theories.

 

With that logic any pseudoscience question is appropriate in P&M. From the beginning you were asking a question that you had already decided. You were not looking for answers but only looking for justification. That the CMBR indicated that there was an absolute rest frame for the universe. You have decided from the responses, or lack there of, that there is indeed a rest frame and that allows your so called model to be somehow accepted into a scientific setting even though you claim to not be doing science. Unfortunately for you, the CMBR does not indicate an absolute rest frame. And I am sure that you do not understand that. In the future you should keep your threads in the fringe area, specifically pseudoscience. It has nothing to do with science.

 

Your claim to have the ability to know what goes on in the minds of others is pseudoscience in itself, lol.

 

Sympathies, quantum_wave. But what can you do when a forum freely permits abuse and a string-theory moderator plays thought-police? Here, here's something to cheer you up. Have a read of this and this.

 

Yes, well said. The accusations of our ignorance too often are bluster to cover the accuser's ignorance. If the accusers deny their own ignorance and claim to have sorted out from all knowledge that which is reality, should we believe them? A saying that I like is, "Trust those who seek the truth, but not those who claim to have found it".

 

In your case, as well as in Undefined's , Farsight's , chinglu's, Motor Daddy's it is the only solution.

Don't try to flatter yourself, it was Pseudoscience from the get go.

Good, in the future just start your threads in Pseudo and everything will be cool.

 

So, Duffield, having failed to publish your crackpot theories, you publish them in your blog now? You go, bro!

 

I'm not flattering myself, and it wasn't pseudoscience from the start. It did evolve into alternative theories, and that is when I began requesting that the thread be moved.

 

It's not my blog. See James Delingpole introduces Bogpaper.com. And I'm not pushing any crackpot theories. I'm just telling you what guys like Einstein said and pointing out the fairytale physics that people like you peddle.

 

You have been pushing your crackpot stuff all your life , Duffield.

 

Tach, your behavior is what I was talking about in my post, when I said what I though was ruining the forum; it is you and the type of abuse you offer, not the discussion of alternate ideas, that has brought down SciForums. You won't make any admissions of guilt and will flame anyone you want because of your personal disdain, regardless of the damage it does each time you do it. You just don't care about SciForums, the P&M forum, or anything that would put constraints on your uncontrolled incivility. What SciForums needs to save itself and to save P&M in particular is for those who self righteously call for better moderation, to turn the tables on you and demand civility.

 

True. I've been saying that for a long time.

Maybe I could mention it somewhere, and turn the spotlight on what it's like trying to discuss physics on a forum like this.

 

What brings down SciForums is the crank infestation: quantum-view, Farsight, Q-reeus, Undefined, Motor Daddy, chinglu.
At least, chinglu has the decency to admit when he's been prove wrong.