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Future of the Forum

Klimax said:
Black humor. Fairly popular in some countries...
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Oh I am quite familiar with dark humor, black humor if you will. Sometimes there is no better kind.

But there is a difference between dark humor and pure evil. And there is nothing more shameful than when the former purports to be the latter.


There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages. -Mark Twain
 
RemieV said:
Goat sex isn't a discussion of skepticism, critical thinking, the paranormal, or science. ;)

There are ways to make that a lively forum, though. But it would be like a structured debate team. Structured debate can be lively, there are just a lot of rules.

You could hand-pick mediums to be part of the discussion - MDC applicants, for instance. If you moderated the conversation, that would BE an interesting discussion, and would do the same thing that people are claiming the forum currently does - give reference material for individuals simply seeking more information on a topic, and being able to see one side's arguments pitted against another's.

But for that to be successful, yeah, you have to tighten up the reins. Go into the MDC subforum sometime and take a look at how many applicants were told to seek mental help. That doesn't even qualify as a lively discussion.
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Most of them do seem to need help, seriously.

I'm quite happy to get rid of the goats, myself, but if you are going to have a forum, you want a community. If you have a community, unless you are just all socially dysfunctional, you are going to have a wide range of personalities and ways of interacting.
 
a_unique_person said:
Most of them do seem to need help, seriously.

I'm quite happy to get rid of the goats, myself, but if you are going to have a forum, you want a community. If you have a community, unless you are just all socially dysfunctional, you are going to have a wide range of personalities and ways of interacting.
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Why is that the best model? Do you have an example of a non-profit organization that has a board with this many members that is this loosely structured?

I'm asking honestly. I don't know of one.
 
Also, I was the Challenge coordinator for three years. I have a very good idea of who applies for the Challenge, and what they are like.
 
I would just like to say that I understand the emotions that have been playing out over the past several days (and I'm certainly not immune to them myself by any means, but I've been on vacation for the last couple of weeks and was travelling for the past week so I missed a lot of the recent goings-on as they occcurred and only caught up on them after the fact, which is probably a good thing).

However, despite the less-than-perfect delivery and the resulting shock, anger, fear, confusion, and all of that, it appears to me that cooler heads are prevailing, and it appears to me that the transition of the forum will be worked through in an appropriate manner. There is productive discussion occurring both on the forum and behind the scenes, and I am cautiously optimistic that it will all work out fine. In the meantime, though, I would respectfully ask that people not 'shoot the messenger'. This isn't Sharon's fault, and she doesn't deserve to be lambasted; she is doing the best she can in a bad situation not of her own making.

It seems to me that, ultimately, every member here will have the opportunity to make a personal choice whether to continue as members (or not) when the forum is renamed and relocated, and I expect that there will be proper communication viz the details of the renaming and relocation and ToS and the handling of personal information, etc., such that it will enable everyone to make an informed decision. We don't have all of the answers as yet, of course, but it's only been a few days and nobody has to make that decision yet. So, please, let's not 'shoot the messenger' in the interim.

Also, all of the current Mods and Admins and FL are actively discussing things and it appears that all are willing to stay on to assist in the transition at least. Personally, I think that we, the collective membership, can get past the initial shock, anger, fear, and confusion and work through this unexpected development in a positive fashion. Onwards and upwards and all that. :) Life is full of surprises, after all, including less than pleasant ones; it's how we deal with them that matters.
 
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LashL good to see another mod engaged

•••

I haven't read everything between the first few pages and now tho I will...

I did send this to Sharon and will put it out here as this kind of upheaval has occurred before at Richard Dawkins educational site.

Sharon

Been through this with Richard Dawkins site once that was a notable nuclear meltdown that even made the world papers briefly.

Fortunately this came available and saved the community and eventually the contents tho not Dawkins reputation

http://www.rationalskepticism.org/?sid=f350d802a8290fb5d5830b9492030c08

I would HIGHLY suggest starting a thread there that you can point people to to set up at least a meeting place outside JREF just in case there is a sudden shift at JREF or further technical glitches.

You have some pretty serious scientists engineers, tech people and other professionals on here…..first priority in my view needs to be providing an alternative for the community to regroup as JREF works through the problems.. a Lifeboat and that’s what RationalSkepticism was for the Dawkins Community.

There will be sympathetic mods and members there as we’ve seen the problems before when dissolution or change of a forum is poorly managed.

Not a few are members in both.

Ratskep has its own issues but it’s not going away.

Use it as base camp.
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I'd also further suggest members themselves network with those that are friends here and exchange emails/contacts and also perhaps set up a meetup spot on RationalSkeptcism until the dust settles here.

I almost lost over 10,000 posts of my own mostly on Climate Change and the thought of losing that work was distressing. Mine was only a small portion of the educational material that was near to being electron dust gone forever.

A lifeboat for members that want to keep the community generally intact is critical at this point....don't wait on management...much may not be under their control. Make an alternative meetup spot and get the info out there
These communities are important to many - don't sit on your hands waiting...get a parallel meetup spot now ...not later.

http://www.rationalskepticism.org
 
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macdoc, you are one of the unappreciated assets of this forum. You and a few others led to me move from being a "climate change skeptic" to understand and accept the science. The JREF had nothing to do with my education on this issue, as well as many others. I believe this educational aspect of the forum is completely misunderstood by the Foundation.
 
Thanks but spread the word on an alternative discussion site for this

In case anyone reading this doesn't know by now, the JREFUGEES Facebook group has been set up for forumites to keep in touch:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/675829479176079/

There are 300 members so far.
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That's good but it's not a forum

FB is too open and too limited and I personally destest it.
There is nothing preventing the 300 joining RatSkep for a bit and having cottage away from home to duscuss this, ;)
http://www.rationalskepticism.org
Put it up on FB as an option.

Many are shared members anyway.
 
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Macdoc, the Facebook group isn't to replace the forum.

It's just for forumites to keep in touch (in case the forum is lost or people decide to join other forums).
 
macdoc said:
Thanks but spread the word on an alternative discussion site for this



That's good but it's not a forum

FB is too open and too limited and I personally destest it.
There is nothing preventing the 300 joining RatSkep for a bit and having cottage away from home to duscuss this, ;)
http://www.rationalskepticism.org
Put it up on FB as an option.

Many are shared members anyway.
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I'm a member over there as well. As of several years ago I found myself spending more time over there as well.

They're experienced with loading and unloading lifeboats from other sinking forums and I think most people here would fit right in.
 
I do wish the goat thing didn't keep coming up. The fact is that a concern about mentioning a specific act of abuse was a trigger for one of the forum kerfuffles in the past. But the fact is that that particular thing had never been discussed on the forum apart from a discussion whether such a thing was discusseable on the forum. On other words it only ever comes up in a discussion like this!
 
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