Forum netiquette in a push-mode world?

[jtbell]

But if you do that you won't make a contribution most of the time.

You just have to get in on a thread early, while it's still developing and manageable.

 

[AtomicJoe]

You just have to get in on a thread early, while it's still developing and manageable.

That is pretty unlikely for most people.
The 'manageability' of the thread is of little concern to most people, certainly not the people who made the software for these forums (jelsoft/vbulletin or whatever) because it seem a poor method to use for manageability.

 

[JaredJames]

You don't have to read everything

So how do you make a valuable contribution if you don't know what has / hasn't been brought up? It's no different to the people who come here and say "I've come up with something which goes against relativity, but I've never studied current theories".

It is often quicker to reply than to read the thread.

Yes, but then you're just blindly spooling into it and you could spend time typing up a post only for it to be irrelevant / redundant as it's already been mentioned.

It just serves to perpetuate the thread.

 

[AtomicJoe]

So how do you make a valuable contribution if you don't know what has / hasn't been brought up? It's no different to the people who come here and say "I've come up with something which goes against relativity, but I've never studied current theories".


Yes, but then you're just blindly spooling into it and you could spend time typing up a post only for it to be irrelevant / redundant as it's already been mentioned.

It just serves to perpetuate the thread.

How do you make a valuable contribution if you never contribute anything?

You don't have to have studied current theories to come up with something, more likely you will get sidelined into thing in the orthodox fashion if you study other peoples ideas.
Fresh thinking is often required.

If a post is redundant no harm is done, at least the answer is at the end of the thread, which is where most people start in long threads.
If nobody replies the the thread it dies, hardly a great outcome.

 

[Filip Larsen]

For what it is worth, my original puzzlement was not about long threads, but regarding very short threads where apart from the original question there is only one or two answers, after which someone comes along a few hours later and post more or less the same in a way that makes it seem like they aren't even aware that the question has already been answered.

 

[Pengwuino]

You don't have to have studied current theories to come up with something, more likely you will get sidelined into thing in the orthodox fashion if you study other peoples ideas.
Fresh thinking is often required.

Don't confuse "fresh thinking" with "I don't care what actually works, I'm smarter than a century of physicists and am right despite not knowing anything about physics".

 

[rootX]

If a post is redundant no harm is done, at least the answer is at the end of the thread, which is where most people start in long threads.
If nobody replies the the thread it dies, hardly a great outcome.

at least the answer is at the end of the thread

Can you pull up few threads that support your claims here?

 

[AtomicJoe]

Don't confuse "fresh thinking" with "I don't care what actually works, I'm smarter than a century of physicists and am right despite not knowing anything about physics".

That's fair enough, but what if they are smarter than a century of physicists and am right despite not knowing anything about physics?
Are they not entitled to post?


Lets face it those physicists might be smart, but there are not many of them so the chances of them coming up with something original are small compared to the vast majority who are not physicists.
They are also not hampered by 'old ways of thinking'.

 

[AtomicJoe]

Can you pull up few threads that support your claims here?

Probably if I had the time to wade through them, however a lot of thread will have drifted off topic.

The OP seems to indicate he could do this anyway because that seems to be the basis of his post.

eg

https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=3265301&postcount=35

Now at the moment the thread is somewhat off-topic, so what better now than for someone to
do precisely what the OP is complaining about?

Also often someone can summarise what has already been said concisely.

 

[rootX]

Probably if I had the time to wade through them, however a lot of thread will have drifted off topic.

Well, why would you make claims when you yourself don't know if they are valid. Rather than addressing the weakness of your claims, you go about pointing fingers at OP.

 

[AtomicJoe]

Well, why would you make claims when you yourself don't know if they are valid. Rather than addressing the weakness of your claims, you go about pointing fingers at OP.

The claim is valid by definition, the OP defined a thread in which an answer which has already been given was reposted, in which my claim is valid by definition.

 

[JaredJames]

How do you make a valuable contribution if you never contribute anything?

If a post is redundant no harm is done, at least the answer is at the end of the thread, which is where most people start in long threads.
If nobody replies the the thread it dies, hardly a great outcome.

Repeating a previous posts content is not making a valuable contribution.
Again, if I spend 20 years researching and end up publishing Einstein's relativity, it isn't a valuable contribution and it's all because I didn't bother keeping up with current topics.

You are saying it's better to make a contribution, even if redundant and useless than to say nothing. Yet only the former comes with people seeing you as too lazy to read make a worthwhile contribution.

That's fair enough, but what if they are smarter than a century of physicists and am right despite not knowing anything about physics?
Are they not entitled to post?

Lets face it those physicists might be smart, but there are not many of them so the chances of them coming up with something original are small compared to the vast majority who are not physicists.
They are also not hampered by 'old ways of thinking'.

That be crackpot speak. I'm not saying it doesn't work once every now and then, but people go on about this as if every other person is the next Nobel Prize winner. It's utter rubbish and doesn't fit reality at all. Without knowing current research, my above Einstein issue applies.

Well, why would you make claims when you yourself don't know if they are valid. Rather than addressing the weakness of your claims, you go about pointing fingers at OP.

Precisely. Claims being made and there's nothing to support them.

 

[JaredJames]

The claim is valid by definition, the OP defined a thread in which an answer which has already been given was reposted, in which my claim is valid by definition.

You are making claims and can't provide anything to back them up.

The OP is against what you are claiming.

 

[AtomicJoe]

Repeating a previous posts content is not making a valuable contribution.
Again, if I spend 20 years researching and end up publishing Einstein's relativity, it isn't a valuable contribution and it's all because I didn't bother keeping up with current topics.

You are saying it's better to make a contribution, even if redundant and useless than to say nothing. Yet only the former comes with people seeing you as too lazy to read make a worthwhile contribution.That be crackpot speak. I'm not saying it doesn't work once every now and then, but people go on about this as if every other person is the next Nobel Prize winner. It's utter rubbish and doesn't fit reality at all. Without knowing current research, my above Einstein issue applies.

Where would Einstein be if he stuck to Newton's laws?
Precisely. Claims being made and there's nothing to support them.

People should be encouraged to contribute not slapped on the wrists for doing so.
Big breakthrough often come from original thought, not following someone else's work.
People need to be able to 'think outside the box'.

Imagine Einstein posting here and people telling him he need to read up on Newton's laws before posting?

 

[JaredJames]

People should be encouraged to contribute not slapped on the wrists for doing so.
Big breakthrough often come from original thought, not following someone else's work.
People need to be able to 'think outside the box'.

Original thought whilst being aware of current theories is how it's currently done. You don't have to follow anyone, just have knowledge of it.

People don't just jump into something and 'come up with an idea' without any knowledge of the current science - I'd love you to provide support if you want to claim that.

Imagine Einstein posting here and people telling him he need to read up on Newton's laws before posting?

If he was making blatant mistakes or couldn't support his claims, I would have no problem with it.

 

[G01]

People used to send email! Remember that? It was an art form. Nothing like the chatter young people throw around on this facebook today.

Remember when you had to wait for your modem to connect to the internet! Waiting 3 minutes for a webpage with three images to load. Now that built character!

Back then, there was only one Penguin themed member on PF, and he didn't know how to spell penguin!

And finally: Back in my day, the LOLcats were taught good grammar!

I can has...the good old days?

 

[JaredJames]

People used to send email! Remember that? It was an art form. Nothing like the chatter young people throw around on this facebook today.

Remember when you had to wait for your modem to connect to the internet! Waiting 3 minutes for a webpage with three images to load. Now that built character!

Back then, there was only one Penguin themed member on PF, and he didn't know how to spell penguin!

And finally: Back in my day, the LOLcats were taught good grammar!

I can has...the good old days?