Philosophy Forum: Guidelines & Crackdown on Lax Moderation

[Moonbear]

Those who have visited the philosophy forum recently have likely noticed a number of threads have been locked or deleted the past few days. The mentors have been somewhat lax in moderating that forum or enforcing the guidelines for a while now, and things have gotten out of control, hence the sudden "crack down." Note, we are simply enforcing the Philosophy Forum guidelines, and the Global Forum guidelines, which have been in place for quite some time now.

It is important for the members to remember that philosophy is also an academic discipline, and the philosophy forum is intended for discussions adhering to all of the rigors of that discipline. It is not a place for idle speculation or random banter. While some degree of speculation is part and parcel of philosophical debate, that speculation MUST be well-grounded and consistent with current evidence in the sciences, where applicable, terms used must be clearly defined, and all assumptions explicitly stated. Speculation based on ignorance of a subject, or without a clear set of premises explaining conclusions drawn, will be deemed in violation of our guidelines prohibiting overly speculative posting. More details for formulating posts suitable for the philosophy forum are contained in the philosophy forum guidelines, which are a sticky thread at the top of the General Philosophy forum.

All members are advised to read these guidelines carefully and adhere to them when posting in the philosophy forum, otherwise infraction points and possible banning may result. Members may have gotten careless about adhering to the rules without much mentor input, so be on notice that such carelessness or ignorance regarding those guidelines is no longer being tolerated in an effort to raise the philosophy forum back up to the standards of the rest of this site.

 

[moe darklight]

hey, just thought I'd apologize for being one of the causers of this.

this is the apology I sent to the moderator who gave me the warning (and directed me to this post):

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to misinform or mock anyone at the forum. It was just a little joke on how the conversation kept going in circles.

I'm not making excuses, I understand we need strict rules (especially in a science forum), I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't my intention to come off as mean-spirited.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

My thread called "Some modest questions" was locked. What was the specific violation?

 

[Evo]

My thread called "Some modest questions" was locked. What was the specific violation?

It was a continuation of a previously locked thread.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I beg to differ. There were connections to be sure. However, that thread was philosophical and speculative. This new thread is not, indeed it takes no stance. It just quotes Feynman and asks for clarification. It seems that it is the author and not the post that was locked. If I am not to post even questions, please make clear my status.

 

[Evo]

I beg to differ. There were connections to be sure. However, that thread was philosophical and speculative. This new thread is not, indeed it takes no stance. It just quotes Feynman and asks for clarification. It seems that it is the author and not the post that was locked. If I am not to post even questions, please make clear my status.

In your first thread which was deleted, you failed to grasp the difference between "seeing" an electron with your own eyes and how a scientist "detects" electrons. It was explained to you twice and the thread had become pointless and was deleted.

You then opened another thread on electrons and Feynman. It was closed and sent to the mentor's forum to decide it's fate before it got too far off track. A decision is pending.

 

[rtharbaugh1]

My post on the fundamental relationship of space and time was removed. I have been told it was removed because it had also been posted in another forum. My concern is that this question has philosophical and physical aspects. I think it requires a cross-discipline approach. Is there an approved way to ask for evaluation from members of forums who do not normally read outside of their main forum of interest?

I was not broadcasting spam, but merely trying to get a wider perspective on the question.

Thanks,

Richard

 

[Integral]

My post on the fundamental relationship of space and time was removed. I have been told it was removed because it had also been posted in another forum. My concern is that this question has philosophical and physical aspects. I think it requires a cross-discipline approach. Is there an approved way to ask for evaluation from members of forums who do not normally read outside of their main forum of interest?

I was not broadcasting spam, but merely trying to get a wider perspective on the question.

Thanks,

Richard

I think you need to read very carefully the site guidelines concerning personal theories.

 

[jtbell]

Is there an approved way to ask for evaluation from members of forums who do not normally read outside of their main forum of interest?

I would suggest that a reasonable way to do this would be to post a brief pointer to the first thread, asking people to post any responses in the first thread. A mentor could help this procedure by locking the pointer thread when he/she sees it.

This assumes that the topic of the first thread is really relevant to both forums, and otherwise meets PF guidelines.

 

[Moonbear]

In general, if a topic is appropriate to two forums, post it in the one you think is the best fit for it. We can move it if we think otherwise. If you are concerned that some people will not see it who you want to see it, you can either send them PMs to personally notify them to look in the other forum, or if you are thinking more generally about your audience, contact a mentor to inquire about the possibility of a pointer from another forum (do not do this without discussing the appropriateness of it with a mentor first, or you may find yourself with a warning if we don't agree with your decision).

However, this is more of a general issue, and not only relevant to the philosophy forum specifically.