Moderating Philosophy

Quote : Weekend Warrior

mistybison said:I honestly have no idea. 🤷

But Ali—as you already know, nobody is obligated to account to us for how the forum is managed.

Quote : Weekend Warrior

The Spirituality subforum is practically unmoderated. No one is actively monitoring the threads. Bubbles provides calm responses to complaints, but since he already handles Religion, I doubt there's any appetite to bring Philosophy under his wing as well. After all, the users in Spirituality and Religion are far more mild-mannered than those over in the Philosophy section. 😁

Why not just merge two subforums into one? Let's combine Philosophy and Spirituality.

ruggedraven36 said:Honestly? I’d stop posting altogether if they merged philosophy and spirituality. Philosophy needs its own space—it shouldn't be lumped in with anything else.

You have threatened to quit so many times now that it carries no weight at all. 😁

Honestly, you could just switch to a different username and continue posting; that way, you could actually claim to be principled and show some real backbone. 😁

Forum addiction is simply too strong... 😈 😁

Melissa Stewart6 said:Quote : Weekend Warrior

Why not just merge two subforums into one? Let's combine Philosophy and Spirituality.

We would actually save time if the trolls from "Philosophy" flooded "Spirituality," driving the spiritual crowd away due to the unbearable atmosphere (they really did leave when they disagreed with the moderators, unlike the "Philosophy" crowd who just make empty threats 😁). You’d end up with the exact same situation we have now—a new "Philosophy" section where Bubbles might occasionally issue a warning or a ban following an insult complaint. Honestly, I doubt Bubbles would even want to moderate "Philosophy."

I believe such a "solution" would be unfair to both the "Spirituality" members and Bubbles.

It’s certainly not the perfect fix, but I’d still take this over a subforum running without any moderation at all. I used to think we could pull off a hands-off approach too, but experience has shown me that's just not the case. To put it bluntly, people aren't always mature enough to handle it themselves.

mistybison said:We would actually save time if the trolls from "Philosophy" flooded "Spirituality," driving the spiritual crowd away due to the unbearable atmosphere (they really did leave when they disagreed with the moderators, unlike the "Philosophy" crowd who just make empty threats 😁). You’d end up with the exact same situation we have now—a new "Philosophy" section where Bubbles might occasionally issue a warning or a ban following an insult complaint. Honestly, I doubt Bubbles would even want to moderate "Philosophy."

I believe such a "solution" would be unfair to both the "Spirituality" members and Bubbles.

Most of them would actually settle down if there were someone actually moderating.

mistybison said:You have threatened to quit so many times now that it carries no weight at all. 😁

Honestly, you could just switch to a different username and continue posting; that way, you could actually claim to be principled and show some real backbone. 😁

Forum addiction is simply too strong... 😈 😁

The owl mocked the shadow.

My character isn't the issue here—the issue is that philosophy and spirituality just don't mesh.

ruggedraven36 said:The owl mocked the shadow.

My character isn't the issue here—the issue is that philosophy and spirituality just don't mesh.

For me, it’s more of an emotional reaction: "I'm bored, I can't take this anymore!" Whereas you seem to be driven by constant principles. 😁

Quote : Weekend Warrior

My character isn't the point; what matters is that philosophy and spirituality simply don't go together.

Those good old forum days. 🧐 We used to have a combined "Religion and Philosophy" subforum, but we eventually realized that those two subjects don't really mix well, so we decided to split them into separate sections. Later on, the "free thinkers" requested their own space to distance themselves from the traditionalists in "Religion" to avoid constant arguments, which led to the creation of the "Spirituality" subforum.

While there might be a limited number of users on each individual subforum, merging them together simply doesn't make sense. No one actually wants that.

Beyond that, the forum as a whole struggles with moderation issues. There have been times when the Religion section goes unmonitored for days, leading to absolute chaos. It would be truly unfair to burden the few moderators who actually still want to do their jobs with even more work.

Somied was an active community member and moderator until he took on "Philosophy," but that eventually became too much of a drag for him, leading to his departure. Are you all aware of the impact your actions have on people? 😁

mistybison said:For me, it’s more of an emotional reaction: "I'm bored, I can't take this anymore!" Whereas you seem to be driven by constant principles. 😁

Quote : Weekend Warrior

My character isn't the point; what matters is that philosophy and spirituality simply don't go together.

Those good old forum days. 🧐 We used to have a combined "Religion and Philosophy" subforum, but we eventually realized that those two subjects don't really mix well, so we decided to split them into separate sections. Later on, the "free thinkers" requested their own space to distance themselves from the traditionalists in "Religion" to avoid constant arguments, which led to the creation of the "Spirituality" subforum.

While there might be a limited number of users on each individual subforum, merging them together simply doesn't make sense. No one actually wants that.

Beyond that, the forum as a whole struggles with moderation issues. There have been times when the Religion section goes unmonitored for days, leading to absolute chaos. It would be truly unfair to burden the few moderators who actually still want to do their jobs with even more work.

Somied was an active community member and moderator until he took on "Philosophy," but that eventually became too much of a drag for him, leading to his departure. Are you all aware of the impact your actions have on people? 😁

To be honest, I don't recall anyone ever getting fired from their job for this. If I were ever in a moderation role, I wouldn't make a huge scene about it either. I’d just establish some basic order—it’s a prerequisite if we want to have any actual discussions about philosophy at all.

mistybison said:For me, it’s more of an emotional reaction: "I'm bored, I can't take this anymore!" Whereas you seem to be driven by constant principles. 😁

Quote : Weekend Warrior

My character isn't the point; what matters is that philosophy and spirituality simply don't go together.

Those good old forum days. 🧐 We used to have a combined "Religion and Philosophy" subforum, but we eventually realized that those two subjects don't really mix well, so we decided to split them into separate sections. Later on, the "free thinkers" requested their own space to distance themselves from the traditionalists in "Religion" to avoid constant arguments, which led to the creation of the "Spirituality" subforum.

While there might be a limited number of users on each individual subforum, merging them together simply doesn't make sense. No one actually wants that.

Beyond that, the forum as a whole struggles with moderation issues. There have been times when the Religion section goes unmonitored for days, leading to absolute chaos. It would be truly unfair to burden the few moderators who actually still want to do their jobs with even more work.

Somied was an active community member and moderator until he took on "Philosophy," but that eventually became too much of a drag for him, leading to his departure. Are you all aware of the impact your actions have on people? 😁

Well, being exhausted is a principle too.

mistybison said:For me, it’s more of an emotional reaction: "I'm bored, I can't take this anymore!" Whereas you seem to be driven by constant principles. 😁

Quote : Weekend Warrior

My character isn't the point; what matters is that philosophy and spirituality simply don't go together.

Those good old forum days. 🧐 We used to have a combined "Religion and Philosophy" subforum, but we eventually realized that those two subjects don't really mix well, so we decided to split them into separate sections. Later on, the "free thinkers" requested their own space to distance themselves from the traditionalists in "Religion" to avoid constant arguments, which led to the creation of the "Spirituality" subforum.

While there might be a limited number of users on each individual subforum, merging them together simply doesn't make sense. No one actually wants that.

Beyond that, the forum as a whole struggles with moderation issues. There have been times when the Religion section goes unmonitored for days, leading to absolute chaos. It would be truly unfair to burden the few moderators who actually still want to do their jobs with even more work.

Somied was an active community member and moderator until he took on "Philosophy," but that eventually became too much of a drag for him, leading to his departure. Are you all aware of the impact your actions have on people? 😁

Beljkija got burned out pretty quickly after that, too. Honestly, we really ought to appreciate that one moderator who handled philosophy for like seven, eight, maybe nine years—I can't remember exactly—without any drama at all. I wonder if he’d ever be down to step back into those roles? 🤔

Are we talking about the executioner? I wasn't really hanging around this sub back then, if I even showed up at all, but if he was moderating for that long, then the whole thing must have been legit.

I'm guessing he totally got the vibe that handing out freebies is wrong, but failing to hand them out is even worse. 😁

It would be ideal if we had a moderator who actually has an interest in philosophy, rather than someone who constantly complains that it's all useless and insists that everything should just revolve around STEM.

James Lee77 said:Beljkija got burned out pretty quickly after that, too. Honestly, we really ought to appreciate that one moderator who handled philosophy for like seven, eight, maybe nine years—I can't remember exactly—without any drama at all. I wonder if he’d ever be down to step back into those roles? 🤔

Send a PM to PM Nica, and perhaps they will consider the suggestion. 🤷

Gerald Jackson48 said:Are we talking about the executioner? I wasn't really hanging around this sub back then, if I even showed up at all, but if he was moderating for that long, then the whole thing must have been legit.

I'm guessing he totally got the vibe that handing out freebies is wrong, but failing to hand them out is even worse. 😁

Exactly.

Melissa Stewart6 said:It would be ideal if we had a moderator who actually has an interest in philosophy, rather than someone who constantly complains that it's all useless and insists that everything should just revolve around STEM.

Maybe even someone with a degree in philosophy.

mistybison said:Send a PM to PM Nica, and perhaps they will consider the suggestion. 🤷

Well, here's a suggestion right here. 🙂

Why would he walk away if everything had been going smoothly for all those years?

Melissa Stewart6 said:Why would he walk away if everything had been going smoothly for all those years?

It was just personal stuff, totally unrelated to the forum. I guess he just didn't have as much free time as he used to.

James Lee77 said:It was just personal stuff, totally unrelated to the forum. I guess he just didn't have as much free time as he used to.

In that case, you should probably just ask him if he wants back in.

I really enjoyed reading the executioner. Even though they post less frequently now and mostly stick to jokes, their serious contributions were a true pleasure to read. 🙂 Years ago, I would actually head down to the New York Times just to follow the executioner's participation in various debates. 😍 😁 Not only do they have a solid background in philosophy, but they are also an exceptional debater. 👍 I also believe they have a great vision for how the "Philosophy" subforum should function—specifically, ensuring it doesn't become almost entirely dominated by social and political topics like it does today.

Melissa Stewart6 said:In that case, you should probably just ask him if he wants back in.

Or, honestly, if by some miracle they actually reach out, I’d probably just be super grateful to say yes.

James Lee77 said:Or, honestly, if by some miracle they actually reach out, I’d probably just be super grateful to say yes.

Whether it’s him or someone else, there's really no point in posting there until this gets sorted out. Personally, I'm staying away on principle.