Showcase Forum Issues and Requests

That some people are incapable of rational debate?That they will issue apologies but revert to type in about 4 posts?That some people due to whatever reason (mental illness in quite a few cases) are beyond help in a talk board forum?That some people's concept of reality is so far removed from the rest of us it's actually impossible for them to debate in any coherent manner and all we do is provide a venue for people to point and laugh?That what I remember learning.

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i think the lesson was, primarily, that isolation of the people we deem nutjobs is bad for everyone. while this is a more voluntary forum, and people are not restricted to it, it's basically the same idea in a milder form and with a nicer name. there is a high degree of overlap between "those with exceptionally wild ideas" and "those who continually fail to abide by forum rules." so the population with likely be the same people.

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it sounds a lot like an effective way to limit competition -- and thus debate as well. and this is a debate board. jar words it a little more harshly, but if we put everyone that we disagree with, or everyone with ideas we think are crazy into their own little area, then we are we are showing our own bias in extreme. it's a simple fact of debate -- often one position is very, very wrong.

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Let me be really blunt about this and I might violate the boards guidelines by doing so. As far as I can reason and from comment from people who know what they are on about some of the people we had in bootcamp were quite clearly mentally ill, it is therefore an impossible task to try and have some form of civil debate with such people in this type of set-up. We can call it, boot camp, showcase whatever - it's not happening.I *think* I understand what Percy is trying to do and what the underlying assumption is - that if you talk and reason with people enough they will be able to model "normal" behaviour. It's just not going to happen - it's not.

That seems an excellent idea - there should be a space here somewhere where they can dicuss freely their ideas without constant distraction by us blockheads, it can even be a place where they can preach!

OK as a reader, it seems to me that there are a number of issues emerging with showcase from the two threads I have read - (I haven't read JAD's thread).The problem with both threads is that there seems to be no debate at all. Instead both threads start with statements, then the rest of the posts seem to consist of the original poster either not answering questions or just insulting the people who are trying to engage in debate. Anything approaching a difficult question is hand waved away with either "atheist bias" or "you are uneducated". The nearest we get to a constructive dialogue is other creationists turning up and saying "rah rah you are sooooo right! preach on!!".Who are they going to debate once the limited number of people who has some interested in joining a debate with those people get bored of the total non-response? Hell it's not even interesting to read!Edited by CK, : No reason given.

I thought the concept of the showcase was that it was very limited and that members would require access?So what's this?http://EvC Forum: The Great Pyramid and the Bible (modern pyramidology) -->EvC Forum: The Great Pyramid and the Bible (modern pyramidology)Is it sensible to co-op members for the showcase? In particular posters with no history (and therefore no understanding or concept of how that zoo is suppose to work?)?What happens if Ray doesn't like debating with the poster? Do they get kicked off their own thread?

Am I the only one still reading the showcase?Is it just me who thinks it's awfully like Big Brother? You start off with many members and end up with just a few who all turn on each other in a frenzy of abuse.

What's just delicious about all that is how it developed. If you look at the start of JADs thread, you have Herpton and a couple of other fundamentalists turning up and saying"oh you are soooo right Prof! You've sure got that dirty evos on the run!"because as normal, they will leap on *any* passing idea that says evolution is wrong. However as the thread progresses and he's not willing to fall into line with a concept of a personal god, they go on the attack. wonderful stuff.

I'm lurking at the moment but couldn't let this one pass.What on earth is the point of a peanut gallery*, the top three threads in that forum are:1) Racist Darwin - last post: 7 days ago2) Creationist theory - last post: 21 days ago3) [Sic]Transubspeciation - last post 24 days agoMaybe you should concentrate on debating the people who join you there in such a way they don't just give up and leave you to it?* Well of course the answer to that is obvious, it's an end run around your ban in the main forums, like your attempts to debate in the book nook.Edited by CK, : fixed broken formating code

doh! that's what I get for posting before coffee!what's the phrase that the kids use those daysP'AWned!(that's right,no?)

I think the Showcase, however we dress it up, is just a rather cruel and shameful place for mentally ill people to be placed for the rest of the board to point and laugh. I've seen nothing so far to show me that's not the case. Some of the best posters on the board have been in there and it's pretty shameful stuff - it's like letting a university Prof. visit an asylum and then we all cheer when he out debates a man who's not mentally capable of producing a rational response. I'm increasingly baffled why such a state of affairs is allowed to go on - I suspect the low posting rate allows it to float under the radar of many people.To be blunt I don't think you should be allow into the main boards for your own protection - it just would just feed into your psychosis. Edited by CK, : No reason given.

Well if you say so - the thread is there so people can go check and decide for themselves. Edited by CK, : added link.

Where is Randman banished to the showcase? I don't see any announcement?How is his behaviour significantly different or even worse than Faith (who's argument in the science forums consists of "it does not say that in the bible therefore it's wrong" over and over again?I think he should stay in the general population rather than move to the sectioned forum.Edited by CK, : No reason given.

Is there a secondary intention there - to try and generate some interest in the showcase forum ? I can see Randman attracting a number of opponents.Hopefully the dust in that forum will not get in Randman's eyes.