General Discussion Of Moderation Procedures 10.0

EvC is an interesting forum. I think it may be one the best on issues concerning science, philosophy, society, religion, etc. I especially like the quality of most writers here. In fact Ringo and Quetzal have helped to clarify and correct my thinking on several issues. You don’t get away with very much careless or unpopular thinking around here . UNLESS you happen to be a member of the Chosen Few.May I ask respectfully, How are the Chosen Few chosen? Do you have to be a member of a special clique or pass a certain personality test to be one? And how are the forum Admins selected? Furthermore, what criteria are used to admit members into the Showcase forum?A case in point: Admin Wounded. What qualifies this individual for administration status? And why was he admitted into the Showcase forum? I have argued with Wounded King on several threads (see, for example, “The origin of new alleles” and “Random mutations shot down on this site,” both under the Biological Evolution forum), and I have observed that he relies more on forceful opinionation than on objective reasoning to deal with the issues at hand. Furthermore, I’ve noticed from my experience with him this he seldom adheres to rules 4 and 5 of the Forum Guidelines:

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4. Points should be supported with evidence and/or reasoned argumentation. Address rebuttals through the introduction of additional evidence or by enlarging upon the argument. Do not repeat previous points without further elaboration. Avoid bare assertions.

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5. Bare links with no supporting discussion should be avoided. Make the argument in your own words and use links as supporting references.

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I have asked WK several times to provide links and references in support of his opinions. But instead of doing that he has issued more opinions and accused me of “dragging down the standards of scholarship.” Was he given Admin status as a guardian of “the standards of scholarship”?Having said all that, I still enjoy Wounded King's posts, and I respect him as a scientist.Percy seems to be top dog (or cat) around here. Does Percy rule over all Admin decisions? How does the system work, really? I don’t think the system is wrong at all; I just want to know if this forum regards itself as being autocratic, democratic, or somewhere in between. Personally, I like this forum for whatever it is. I just don’t know for sure exactly WHAT it is in terms of power brokerage.I feel as though I could get whacked with the red negative sign for simply asking these questions. (Stalin used to have the intellectuals shot for doing about the same thing.) So go ahead and whack me if you need to. I’ll get over it.”Hoot Mon

All points well taken. You and Quetzal do make sense. I probably am to blame for a lot of what I am complaining about. Thank you for granting me access to the Showcase forum. I'll try to do better.RADZ's remark (above) comes as a surprise to me. Frankly, I had a very vague idea of how these forums work.Percy, I think your EvC forum is tops, keen, and swell. Good work!”Hoot Mon

How can you issue such self-contradictiory remarks? Check out your message 61 of the "Random mutations shot down on this site" (Biological Evolutin forum): That's one time where I asked you for references in support of your argument concerning selection vs. drift. I never got them. I did however get a lot of OPINIONS from you...and a little taunting, too: Isn't it time for you to change your woad underwear?”Hoot

After reviewing that thread agian I find no serious basis for your opinion. My confusion about microevolution, macroevolution, and speciation is no greater than others here”even Harvard's Wilson and Mayr disagreed on the definitions of these terms. It is obvious to me now that many contributers here on EvC must either suck up to admin opinionation or leave.”Hoot MonEdited by Hoot Mon, : Lingering disappointment with EvC

I don't know if periodic nuts and mod vigilance are the only reasons for this apparent decrease in tolerance. I suspect a demographic effect, owing to a sometimes broad disparity of age. This forum has a lot of hot heads, hot bloods, and hot crotches, which I attribute to the blazing furnace of youth. Has anyone ever determined the age distribution of EvC posters? My guess is that most of them are <40, and probably even <30. (When you're >60 you'll know how little you knew at 30.) There ought to be a thread just for old people like me; then you would see how civilized and sweet we really are.”HM

Don't know where to put this reply to Percy's Message 301. It was blocked when the AdminQuetzal closed the thread (per my request). Well, I never said I was a professional evolutionary biologist. Can you cut me a liitle slack? I'm still seaching for answers, just like you and others here. Pardon me for all the grievous errors, as you see them. But I have to ask you: Is everyone here on this forum expected to be perfect all the time? You've made errors, too, bad ones, but I'm not banging the gong over them all the time.The biggest problem with the question "What exactly is natural selection and precisely where does it occur?" is agreeing on key definitions. We still seem to be miles apart. Maybe we need another thread to get at those definitions, one way or the other, possibly titled: "Why can't we agree on the meaning of natural selction?"”HM

I have a quibble with AdminNosy. In Message 86 he issued me this warning: My quibble is about an Admin combining an administrative warning with a private opinion. WK has not “again” made me look fooish”or even foolish”not in my opinion. But his insults seem to be quite OK. Is it because he’s an Admin, too?I believe AdminNosy’s warning was fair. And I will comply, even if he allows Wounded King his insulting remarks and voices his agreement with them.”HM

I'm sorry to see you say this. You obviously have not followed my arguments. I have backed up my assertions with references more often than most other posters here. Your admonition is quite misplaced in that regard.Nosy, what I really cannot understand is why certain posters on this forum are so opposed to putting concepts to the test, especially their principles and assumptions. How better to understand the robust meaning of a concept than to kick the stuffing out it. There are conservative mindsets on this forum who don't like their concepts kicked around. But I think concept kicking is a fair sport. And there's lot of stuffing around here that needs to be kicked out and seen for what it is. One example is the stuffing in the concept that natural selection is the master-force of evolution. Another is the concept that has sexual selection as being different from nonrandom mating. And yet another concept views sexual selection as a feature of natural selection.Concept kicking is a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.”HM

Folks, consider this in Message 153: AdminNosy sends Rob to the cloakroom for 6 hours after the poor boy is forced to defend himself in Message 153 from Chiroptera's chipping at him and calling him a "dick": Why didn't Chiro get suspended instead? This seems arbitrary and capricious to me. There's a lot of elitist Admin attitude around here that I don't understand. Lotsa fiery egos flaming with impunity. Not nearly enough cool guys like me.”HM