Can I re-create a previous thread using different terminology?

[sevensages]

On April 08, 2025, I created a thread titled "What do feral children teach us about the development of IQ?" All anyone wants to talk about on that thread is whether or not the word retard is a pejorative word and whether or not IQ tests are a valid measure of intelligence. Those are not the core issues of the thread. The core issue of the thread is "What do feral children teach us about the development of intelligence?" When I created the thread, I did not know that everyone would get caught up in these tangents and only want to discuss these tangential issues instead of "what do ferals children teach us about the development of intelligence". I have mentioned that on the thread, but I fear that since the thread is now 9 days old, nobody will want to discuss this further on that thread.

I would like to create a new thread titled "What do feral children teach us about the development of intelligence?", and I would like to use the word intellectually disabled instead of retard so people don't get caught up in a tangent about whether the word retard is pejorative.

I am asking for permission before I post a second thread because normally I don't think that the moderators would like for people to create two threads with the same core issue, but I think that i have extenuating circumstances here.

Can I create a new thread under the General Discussion subforum titled "What do feral children teach us about the development of intelligence" while using the word intellectual disabled instead of retard?

 

[.Scott]

I have responded in that original thread - and returned to the original OP.
But really, if you have a destination in mind, then it is up to you to lead the march.

 

[Nugatory]

Speaking as a spectator and not (because I’m not one) a GD mentor:
Replacing “IQ” with “intelligence” is unlikely to keep the discussion on track. It’s too close to replacing “quantitative measure, but we don’t agree about what it measures” with “the thing that we don’t agree about”. Maybe “cognitive development” would lead to something closer the discussion you want; even better might be identifying specific and well-defined cognitive skills and considering how early socialization affects their development.

However, I am not a GD mentor so it’s up to them whether they feel comfortable moderating such a discussion. I know that I wouldn’t.

 

[PeterDonis]

Can I create a new thread under the General Discussion subforum titled "What do feral children teach us about the development of intelligence" while using the word intellectual disabled instead of retard?

Like @Nugatory, I'm not a GD moderator, but here are my thoughts for what they're worth:

Any thread in GD on a subject like this is going to go the same way your current thread has gone. No amount of wordsmithing is going to fix that. There's a reason why PF does not consider GD to be one of its actual science forums: because it's not a good idea to try to discuss actual science there.

Your current thread only has Wikipedia pages as references. That's not a suitable basis for a productive scientific discussion in one of the science forums, particularly not for a topic like this.

If you really want to have a scientific discussion about the underlying scientific issue that your question poses, you need to find some actual scientific papers that describe research on the issue, use them as references, and pose some questions based on what you find in them. That kind of thread would be viable in one of the science forums (Biology & Medical would be my first thought), and could be moderated so that the kinds of argumentative posts that have been cluttering your GD thread could simply be deleted (and warned if necessary) as off topic.

In short, while I think there is a possible way of having a PF discussion on the actual science involved in the topic you're interested in, I don't think the proposal in what I quoted from you above is the way to do it.