Anyway, the whole Flat Earth debate is officially dead and buried...
Back when everyone was freaking out over Corona, there was this one guy on Reddit who’d just drop some totally nonsensical "fact" that was so absurd nobody even bothered responding. Then, every few posts, he’d pop up asking, “Wait, why is nobody commenting on this?” And once someone actually called him out, he’d just pivot to a whole new batch of made-up nonsense until he basically nuked the entire discussion. It was such a shame because, for such a heated topic, the conversation had actually been pretty objective and high-quality before he ruined it.
Then you’ve got this lady in the economics section who is so heavily loaded with ideology that she’ll throw out completely wrong data just to back up her own views. She always dresses it up with that "I heard it on the subway" vibe, and it just drags down what would otherwise be a really solid discussion.
But hey, I guess both of them are helping boost the post count, so if that's all that matters...
Look, anything related to abortion is almost definitely going to be flagged as an opinion.
But then you've got people claiming "The Earth is flat," or saying "Fewer people died in this country than last year" when the data shows way more deaths, or shouting "The Republican Party is a criminal organization" (is there a conviction? Sure is) or even "Every single person in the Republican Party is a thief" (which, let's be real, probably isn't true for everyone).
So, where do we actually draw the line between a personal opinion and straight-up lies or insults? And honestly, which of those should the Moderator actually be stepping in to police?
Should people be penalized just for having a wrong opinion?
History is such a mess when you start digging deep, especially when you try to prove what actually happened back then...
But look, if someone claims the Earth is flat? Or if someone insists that Indianapolis is the capital of America? Should we really be handing out sanctions for stuff like that?
Then you've got people straight-up making up numbers—like how many people passed away last year (not from Corona, just in general), or those guys who constantly dump fake economic data online. And we're talking about stats that are incredibly easy to fact-check...
Where do we draw the line on basic decency?
Personally, I'm all for maintaining a certain standard of debate and punishing people for spreading blatant lies. But at the end of the day, Reddit is a private space, and letting lies slide just leads to more posts...
Charles Fox10 said:I haven't read anything more absurd coming from a government agency in quite some time.
Pure madness.🤦
If you aren't following the whole saga involving that former tourism moderator—you know, the one who pitched this on the forum last year—then you're missing how none of her explanations actually make any sense, yet they still haven't budged an inch.😁
- In that thread about the "NYC subway," I practically got threatened with a ban just because I suggested using commuter rail as an alternative to the subway
- And on that "flat earth" thread, they deleted my post because I was questioning the logic of the one guy there who actually thinks he’s a flat-earther—he can say whatever he wants and (not always subtly) insult people, though I honestly don't know if his posts get nuked too
So, basically, because of that direct moderation, I’ve mostly stopped participating in those discussions. Even though I have a ton to say about one and found the other pretty entertaining—which are supposed to be the whole point of being on Reddit, right? Now I show up even less often (and even now, I'm not really posting much, mostly just lurking)
I used to jump in whenever someone wrote something that was just blatantly wrong, but not anymore. From what I can tell—based on experience, not from reading the rules—writing things that are easily proven false isn't even against the rules here🤷
It seriously tanks the quality of the debate, and not just when it comes to politics, but even for stuff like science and technical topics...
Brian Gray5, if my memory serves me right, you used to get into heated debates even with that Flat Earther, the handyman guy.
I usually just drop one post like this, and then it becomes pretty obvious whether someone is actually open to hearing an argument, or if they’re just going to dig their heels in and ignore all the evidence like they're doing here. Plus, there's always that chance a person is just posting to serve someone else's agenda.
Personally, I think it makes way more sense to just figure out how other people think rather than trying to change their minds in situations like this. It's a total waste of time and energy.
Like I mentioned in that other thread, we’re basically doomed if people just refuse to see what’s staring them right in the face. It’s probably some kind of psychological defense mechanism or something.
Noah Fowler3... look, if you don't buy the whole "human impact" argument, then at least tell me where you're getting your data from regarding this happening before. Seriously, when in history has the country warmed up at this specific rate—degrees per year—instead of being orders of magnitude slower? If it isn't us, then what on Earth is it?