Why do so many people hate Speaker's Corner so much?

[MakeItHappen 15]

Quote

Quote

I hate to argue and find no pleasure in reading about other people's arguments.

Why do you like it?

Because there is plenty of insight and thoughtfulness to be read in there once the rabble and flippancy is glossed over.

There is something to be said about seeing other peoples' sides on issues and the reasons for them.

I rarely read SC. But when I do, i see people yakking about things outside their circle of influence (for the most part anyway).
It amazes me that people will spend that much time debating or pontificating on such-n-such issue, when they really have no direct influence on the outcome. Most SC posts are posted to demonstrate 'how smart I am', 'I know more than you do on this subject-neener, neener.'

To me it makes more sense to spend time, whatever amount you can spare, debating issues that you do have influence over.
I can't change the way the Pope thinks about abortion or how Bush thinks about Iraq, but I can influence other jumpers in safety issues, new skydiving skills, etc.

I'd rather do something within my sphere of influence than debate or pontificate my views with a bunch of other impotent people in those areas that are beyond our sphere of influence.

.

.
Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[Muenkel 0]

Quote

I think it's warm and fuzzy over there and people are really respectful and kind to each other. Wanna argue about it?

Nah, it would take too much effort. We'd have to google and have clicky's. I'm too lazy for that.

Chris

_________________________________________
Chris

[Michele 1]

All right, call me weird, but I find it very interesting. Things get said in there that aren't said elsewhere; opinions are presented. Facts debated. Arguments made for one position or the other. But it's not about being politically correct, it's about what a person believes, thinks, feels about the world we live in right now, right here...and how it affects their lives.

It is a place of debate. And sometimes those debates get really heated and rancorous. But if you don't pay attention to that part, you'll find the opinions underneath to be at the very least provoking...and will, as has been stated, give you a chance to reexamine what you believe, why you believe it, and how that position affects your life.

I've seen lots of mellowing in some folks. I've seen plain ol' antagonism on others. But I've mostly seen a place where people can state what they feel and why. I always try to look at the others position; I may not agree with it, but I try to see things from their perspective, no matter how foreign it seems to me.

Besides, the one time I offered to flash, I got turned down. So now I've got boob-esteem issues. And since there isn't too much attention paid to them over in SC, it's a safe place for me to go...

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I positively loathe SC. I find it completely without merit on this skydiving site. You know what though? I don't own the site and I don't make the rules. It's a horrible forum in my opinion.

Chuck

[jumper03 0]

shouldn't this post be over in SC?

Scars remind us that the past is real

[Lindsey 0]

Quote

I positively loathe SC. I find it completely without merit on this skydiving site. You know what though? I don't own the site and I don't make the rules. It's a horrible forum in my opinion.

Chuck

It keeps the rif-raf out of The Bonfire. :)

If the goal was to wall off all of that "too-serious-for-little league" discussion to make the place more pleasant, I suppose it's done its job. Remember Talk-Back? lol.... I thought it was fun then too, though.

Peas!
linz

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[nanook 1]

I like it like a moth likes that blue-lighted zapper.
"Hey, that's an interesting topi. . ."<>

Sometimes though, I feel like that curious squirrel.

_____________________________

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Quote

Often heated debate has very little appeal to me when it truly serves no real purpose.

Exactly!

and what real purpose do 90% of the postings in this forum serve?

There every posting is dissected for attack.
Here every posting is dissected for sexual context.

There you see a rapidly circular collection of debate topics that gets boring.
Here you see a rapidly circular collection of topics that gets boring. Though there are more good NSFW postings here.

Some people like debate as a sport. It taxes the brain slightly more than the latest sexual position poll. If you're going to take the tone in there personally, then yeah, it serves you no good purpose.

[pirana 0]

Quote

while i've certainly been one that has gotten angry in there a time or two, i've had plenty of very meaningful debates and discussions w/ people in there. in fact, my attitudes/beliefs about a few things have actually been changed by the posts of others. also, i've been forced to re-evaluated why i believe what i believe and to open myself up to the beliefs of others, to learn about the beliefs of others and that, IMO, has made me a better person.

is it dirty and rancorous in there? yeah. is it still worthwhile to engage others in debate while TRYING to exercise restraint, order and manners? FUCK YOU!

just kidding. of course it is.

What he said. Good debates, on controversial, sometimes very tough topics. Does get a little fiesty sometimes, but I think it is more out of passion than any genuine dislike for other posters. Even after a pointed debate most of the folks there come back civil to start on the next topic.

There's also some really good humor and irony mixed in there.

Yeah, a few who like to argue a little much, but that happens when you are being wide open on subjects like war, class division, poverty, dirty politics, terrorism, economics, religion, world peace, utopian ideals, the purpose of life and the reason for existence.

But I could see people of certain mannerisms not liking it.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[Nightingale 0]

Quote

I rarely read SC. But when I do, i see people yakking about things outside their circle of influence (for the most part anyway).
It amazes me that people will spend that much time debating or pontificating on such-n-such issue, when they really have no direct influence on the outcome.

To me it makes more sense to spend time, whatever amount you can spare, debating issues that you do have influence over.
I can't change the way the Pope thinks about abortion or how Bush thinks about Iraq, but I can influence other jumpers in safety issues, new skydiving skills, etc.

I'd rather do something within my sphere of influence than debate or pontificate my views with a bunch of other impotent people in those areas that are beyond our sphere of influence.

.

I haven't seen much debate about what the pope thinks about abortion. I haven't seen much debate over Bush's personal perspectives. What I have seen is debate over how much the pope's and president's opinions should affect US law. US law is something we do have influence over.

There really isn't a whole lot that's beyond our "sphere of influence." There's many different ways to influence people and issues. You can influence by voting (the most obvious), but you can also influence by just discussing and putting facts and ideas out on the table. At the very least, you reach other people with your words, and while you may not convince them, if they've taken the time to read what you've written, perhaps you've given them something to think about.

Sometimes, just talking about issues can change the way the world sees those issues. There's been too much in the past that people have been afraid to talk about, and when people started talking, the world's perspective changed drastically.

[Michele 1]

Quote

Sometimes, just talking about issues can change the way the world sees those issues.

All Martin Luther King Jr did was talk, anyway.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Keith 0]

I think it's because it's so partisan.

Keith

Don't Fuck with me Keith - J. Mandeville

[Samurai136 0]

Quote

I positively loathe SC. I find it completely without merit on this skydiving site. You know what though? I don't own the site and I don't make the rules. It's a horrible forum in my opinion.

I agree. There are some users who make 98% of their posts in SC.

It makes me wonder if they ever make any skydives or any other positive contribution to the sport.

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

It makes me wonder if they ever make any skydives or any other positive contribution to the sport.

Y'know, I love skydiving as much as anyone elese on the board, but this bullshit of "you should have more jumps than posts" is a crock of shit.

Visit this site on a weekend...for the most part it's a ghost town.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Gawain 0]

Quote

Here every posting is dissected for sexual context.

Though there are more good NSFW postings here.

Some people like debate as a sport. It taxes the brain slightly more than the latest sexual position poll. If you're going to take the tone in there personally, then yeah, it serves you no good purpose.

You say all that, and then deny us a boobies pic or something... I think you're trying to get people mad at you, resulting in heated, unfocused debate in this thread, thus locking the thread...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

To me it makes more sense to spend time, whatever amount you can spare, debating issues that you do have influence over.

My thoughts exactly.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

It keeps the rif-raf out of The Bonfire. :)

Exactly. Remember years ago when there was just Talk Back and I started thread after thread titled "The Non-Judgemental/Happy Thread"?

I like the warm & fuzzy Bonfire. I love learning new, very pointless information such as Turtle's post about eating at the "Y". I, too, first thought he was talking about the YMCA. After a quick Google search on "eat at the Y" I discovered exactly what he meant; and thus learned something new & unimportant for the day.

SUCCESS!

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

Here every posting is dissected for sexual context.

Which is, like, WAY more fun in my opinion.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

Some people like debate as a sport. It taxes the brain slightly more than the latest sexual position poll

I enjoy debate. I think it's far more fun when done so playfully here in the Bonfire. I think Rebecca, GTA, Krisanne & I (and others) have had some very excellent debates on the subjects that really matter here in Bonfire.

Don't get me wrong--I've made a few posts in SC and thought nothing negative about it. But, I also don't read/contribute to many of the so-called "heated emotional debate" threads b/c well, I don't see the greater point in it.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[pirana 0]

Quote

Quote

It makes me wonder if they ever make any skydives or any other positive contribution to the sport.

Y'know, I love skydiving as much as anyone elese on the board, but this bullshit of "you should have more jumps than posts" is a crock of shit.

Visit this site on a weekend...for the most part it's a ghost town.

I'll bet 90 or 95% of my posts are from work.

During lunch of course, . . . yeah, that's it.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[PLFXpert 0]

I check in for about 10 minutes in the morning on the weekends when I check e-mail, etc.
Other than that, I'm with you---only on work time, of course. Technically though, I'm only cheating myself--my work doesn't really have a schedule or time required. As long as I produce and exceed goal, then we utilize the "Don't ask. Don't tell" schedule.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[Michele 1]

Quote

I agree. There are some users who make 98% of their posts in SC.

It makes me wonder if they ever make any skydives or any other positive contribution to the sport.

Is the converse true, as well? That those who make 98% of their posts in Bonfire make you wonder if they ever make any skydives or any other positive contribution to the sport?

Or is it just that one forum that makes you wonder?

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[micro 0]

I wonder if those here who hate SC ever debate or discuss such issues in real life? And if the discussions ever get heated, what to they do then?

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Quote

I wonder if those here who hate SC ever debate or discuss such issues in real life? And if the discussions ever get heated, what to they do then?

I don't. I don't have time to ponder things that don't directly influence me. I would, seriously, rather push a lawnmower around all day long than sit and discuss politics or religion with anyone for more than about one minute. I don't like to get into philosophical debates. I guess there are people out there who get their kicks with such stuff, but I am not one of them.

I would rather drink like a viking!

Chuck

[JENNR8R 0]

No

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.