To All Online Forum Moderators .....

Neandethal00

It's not about forum moderators of PF only, I have noticed for years this practices
by forum moderators prevail in all forums throughout Internet.
Be it a science forum, a social forum, political forums, or a dating site forum.

Under what circumstances or beliefs the forum moderators think they are more
knowledgeable than the people who post in the forums?

They delete threads they don't like, they delete posts they don't like,
they talk down anyone who 'dare' to differ with them,
as if their own opinions are the only one right.

As if they are multiple Nobel Prize winners blessing us, commoners, with their knowledge.
The same goes with 'regular posters' in a forum. Regular posters also talk like
the rest of the world does not know anything, and they must have the final words. I know some regular posters in political forums get paid, the reason is obvious.

No, I wont apologize to anyone for my comments.

Evo

Our physics and science mentors are top notch. I would pay attention to their comments.

russ_watters

Your post implies a severe naivety. Moderators of any forum act like they are in charge because they are in charge. That does not imply omniscience any more here than in any other circumstance in life. You're just going to have to learn that the people in charge act like they are in charge because they are in charge.

russ_watters

Just for clarity: moderators are selected based on many factors, including but not limited to knowledge. If being a foremost expert in our field were the requirement, most of us would not have our jobs, including me. That said, Greg has chosen for us to be "mentors" because we are not just security guards, but people who have some knowledge we can impart.

Still, the vast majority of questions asked are at a relatively low level, so the "knowledge" factor doesn't present a significant issue.

Drakkith

Yes, that is their job. I suspect you are implying that they are doing this unfairly. I also suspect that you have never been in a real "leadership" position where you have had to uphold the rules in some way. I say this because if you had it would be immediately obvious why they do this. I have spent several years here on PF and I can honestly say that moderators usually talk down with people when they disagree with them because that person is USUALLY wrong. Not always, but usually. And even then they usually only "talk down" to someone after several posts, or even pages of posts of nonsense and rudeness. Also keep in mind that text has none of the normal things you have in a regular conversation to gauge someones mood, tone, etc. What you might consider "talking down" may not be meant that way at all.

And this is any different than a normal conversation with anyone anywhere? Even my best friends have a hard time being "convinced" of changing their own opinions.

I think the nonsense threshold for this thread has been breached.

One of the hardest things for a person to do is consider that they might be wrong. That they might not know what they are talking about. While it can be extremely hard, I think you should ask yourself why you believe these things and if your reasons are honestly reasonable. Consider that your own experiences in life may not give you a "neutral" point of view to start at, and your feelings probably aren't helping. I say this because I've had to do this myself. I know how hard it is. Sometimes it's the hardest thing in the world.

DaleSpam

Generally on PF it is because they are, in fact, more knowledgeable. I know that it is not very "democratic", but not everyone's opinion is equal, particularly not under the rules of this forum.

I assume that your post is a reaction to the recently closed thread "time" in the relativity section. In my opinion, your posts were way out of line, and the moderators acted correctly.

berkeman

We have a very talented group of Mentors, and in many cases their skillsets compliment each other. We also cooperate a lot behind the scenes, where we review each others' handling of various Mentoring situations.

I also know that we tend to cultivate the better posters in each of our respective forums, so that the knowledge base and level of expertise in each forum is quite high. If I don't know the answer to a particularly difficult question in the Engineering forums, I know that there are a number of other posters who likely will be able to answer the question. One of the ways we attract such good people is by keeping the signal-to-noise level very high at the PF, and limiting the distractions and clutter.

We delete or lock things based on the rules. You agreed to them when you joined here. If you have an objection to a particular rule, you may voice that objection here in the Feedback forum. Please do a search first though, it is likely that it has been discussed previously and the matter settled.

Astronuc

Most of the staff are practicing mathematicians, scientists and engineers in academia, national research laboratories, or industry. Some are retired, but still active.

Jimmy Snyder

They didn't delete this thread. What do you make of that?

jim hardy

That's a two edged sword you're swinging there, pal.

encorp

I'd personally argue that your way with words certainly wouldn't stop me from deleting your posts were I a moderator of any forum you were on.

Tact goes a long way, there are a million other ways you could have said all that, and retained a level of respect for moderators and members, and for yourself.