Go back
Twist on Voltaire

Twist on Voltaire

Spirituality

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down

'If Hinds did not exist in these forums, would it be necessary to invent him?'


Do we need extreme view points to make these forums interesting, to keep us coming back?

Clock
Vote Up
2
Vote Down
-1

I find the difficulty/inability of some posters to process disagreement [and their resulting conduct] to be one of the interesting things that draws me to the goings on here, and how "extreme" someone is does not enhance this much for me and is therefore not indispensable.

In fact it's probably more revealing to see a relatively "moderate" poster swinging non sequitur fists and dishing out empty ad hominems in the face of dissent and inconvenient questions than it is for this kind of thing to be coming from an extremist who revels in seeming closed-minded and misanthropic.

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down

Yes, that makes sense.

Perhaps an 'invented' Hinds would become increasingly more moderate as he was convinced by the overwhelming evidence put to him that his extreme views simply didn't hold water.

He may even abandon that vexating emoticon.

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down
-1

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Perhaps an 'invented' Hinds would become increasingly more moderate....
Now it's you that has become impervious to reality!!

Clock
Vote Up
1
Vote Down

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Do we need extreme view points to make these forums interesting, to keep us coming back?
No, we just need different view points. They don't have to be extreme. I personally find Hinds rather uninteresting. Dasa even more so. The only plus' in Hind's favour is he can complete a sentence and posts a lot. There are a few other posters that never keep a conversation going, or can't make a coherent sentence and thus rate lower than Hinds.

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down
-1

Originally posted by twhitehead
No, we just need different view points. They don't have to be extreme.
I agree with this. I like talking to people who believe different things from me, much in the same way as ~ whenever I am back in the UK ~ I prefer to read newspapers that I am likely to disagree with.

Clock
1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Way back when in Ninety-seven (I sound like Steely Dan) there was talk about one Riley M. Sinder being a usenet robot that "was tearing up the atheist and evolutionist usenet newsgroups" as a rabid anti-atheist and anti-evolutionist.

So when I started reading and posting here, I soon met RJ and thought he might be a 'bot. He is so consistent, unabashed and clueless about his effectiveness.

Who knows?

Here's some stuff on Riley:

http://dev.null.org/psychoceramics/archives/1997.03/msg00005.html

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by JS357
Way back when in Ninety-seven (I sound like Steely Dan) there was talk about one Riley M. Sinder being a usenet robot that "was tearing up the atheist and evolutionist usenet newsgroups" as a rabid anti-atheist and anti-evolutionist.

So when I started reading and posting here, I soon met RJ and thought he might be a 'bot. He is so consistent, unabashed and ...[text shortened]... Here's some stuff on Riley:

http://dev.null.org/psychoceramics/archives/1997.03/msg00005.html
'The results have been fascinating," says team member Ehmed Mudjavi.
'People have gone to a great deal of trouble to respond to our character,
and have even gotten really angry at him on occasion.'

It can't be Hinds,....can it?

😲

Clock
2 edits
Vote Up
Vote Down
Clock
Vote Up
1
Vote Down
-1

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
'If Hinds did not exist in these forums, would it be necessary to invent him?'


Do we need extreme view points to make these forums interesting, to keep us coming back?
Would it be as interesting if we agreed? I say most definitely it would!

There's nothing more exciting and interesting as is The Truth. The Truth provides an infinite potential in understanding of the issues and topics that we debate in this forum.

But without Truth there is no understanding. Just a menagerie of lies.

Clock
Vote Up
1
Vote Down
-2

Originally posted by FMF
I find the difficulty/inability of some posters to process disagreement [and their resulting conduct] to be one of the interesting things that draws me to the goings on here, and how "extreme" someone is does not enhance this much for me and is therefore not indispensable.

In fact it's probably more revealing to see a relatively "moderate" poster swinging no ...[text shortened]... nd of thing to be coming from an extremist who revels in seeming closed-minded and misanthropic.
Maybe the reason you find it that way is because you're always arguing against the wind. You base all your conclusions on your own rationale disregarding the possibility of Devine authority.

Clock
Vote Up
3
Vote Down
-1

Originally posted by josephw
Maybe the reason you find it that way is because you're always arguing against the wind. You base all your conclusions on your own rationale disregarding the possibility of Devine authority.
It's a debate and discussion forum; all any of us are doing here is trading and sharing our ideas, opinions and experiences.

Clock
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by josephw
Would it be as interesting if we agreed? I say most definitely it would!

There's nothing more exciting and interesting as is The Truth. The Truth provides an infinite potential in understanding of the issues and topics that we debate in this forum.

But without Truth there is no understanding. Just a menagerie of lies.
Understand what you're saying; but if everybody agreed on a given topic, how could we be certain that it was the truth?

As others have stated, disagreements and alternative opinions are healthy as they have us reflect on and possibly modify what we believe.

For example; if everybody in a discussion agreed that the world was flat, we would feel confident in our belief that the world was indeed flat. It is only when someone comes along and says 'no, i think the world is round' that we are forced to evidence and defend our position, and just possibly concede that we didn't know the truth after all.

P.S The world is neither flat or round.

Clock
Vote Up
1
Vote Down

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
Understand what you're saying; but if everybody agreed on a given topic, how could we be certain that it was the truth?

As others have stated, disagreements and alternative opinions are healthy as they have us reflect on and possibly modify what we believe.

For example; if everybody in a discussion agreed that the world was flat, we would feel ...[text shortened]... ibly concede that we didn't know the truth after all.

P.S The world is neither flat or round.
So if everyone agrees that the world is neither flat nor round, how can we be certain that it was the truth?🙂

Clock
Vote Up
1
Vote Down

Originally posted by josephw
Would it be as interesting if we agreed? I say most definitely it would!

There's nothing more exciting and interesting as is The Truth. The Truth provides an infinite potential in understanding of the issues and topics that we debate in this forum.

But without Truth there is no understanding. Just a menagerie of lies.
You're channeling Dasa today.

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.