raising quality and quantity of posts (what type users do it?)

[Severian]

- And more pretty women in cute skirts' date=' that always works!

[/quote']

 

Just a small correction: it is pretty women in short skirts that generate more traffic.

[Royston]

Beware of actively encouraging frequency and humour' date=' for example. These should appear spontaneously. Do you want the forum overrun with quantity posters, and every topic flooded with weak and infantile 6th form humour? If that happens, I will tire of wading through the dross to find the occasional pearl, and will turn elsewhere.[/quote']

 

 

Well get you...perhaps you should start your own thread for those with a more mature and refined humour, and I shall gather my friends, quaff port, and chortle at your witty quips and anecdotes.

 

The majority of people on here are young so if a thread is started with humour in mind, it needs to be accessible for teenagers as well as adults, perhaps that's something you havn't considered.

[gcol]

The majority of people on here areyoung so if a thread is started with humour in mind' date=' it needs to be accessible for teenagers as well as adults, perhaps that's something you havn't considered.[/quote']

 

Well yes I have considered it. Humourous quips in Threads started for that purpose are apposite and entertaining. There have been quite a few of those. Even in serious topics the humour of irony and satire can be really telling and puncture pompousity.

 

Your "well, get you" comment was presumably because you thought I was being pompous. That is certainly one way to signify disagreement.

 

Did you put your hand on your hip, pout, and stamp your foot as you typed it?

[Royston]

Did you put your hand on your hip' date=' pout, and stamp your foot as you typed it?[/quote']

 

LOL, no, (I did raise my handbag to my chest though) but that's made me laugh a lot, sorry gcol, I thought it was mainly directed at me, you seemed to mention childish humour after some of my posts...I take it back.

 

I'm still laughing by the way.

[gcol]

LOL' date='

I'm still laughing by the way.[/quote']

 

Nice. Peace. Hope you don't grow up too soon, though, most things are much more fun when young. As for the company of friends and a bottle of port, if you throw in a log fire and a comfy old leather armchair on a cold winters day, now you are really talking......

[YT2095]

I certainly wouldn`t miss the Philosophy/religion forum if it vanished, I`de also like to see more use of our Search Engine, so we don`t get the same posts over and over again.

but these have always been a bug-bear of mine since I got here.

 

MORE SCIENCE!!!!

[gcol]

I certainly wouldn`t miss the Philosophy/religion forum if it vanished' date='

MORE SCIENCE!!!![/quote']

 

But then if we actually are more than the sum of our mechanistic parts, how can things metaphysical and scientific be safely considered in isolation? The boundary is so blurred and unknown, it will always be an area of fierce debate.

 

If you want this forum to more "scientific" in your terms, simply remove the offending threads.

 

There is, however, little room for lively and entertaining debate in hard science threads. There is a question asked, and an answer given, where the expert is always given the benefit of the doubt. For more science debate, posters of pseudo science and toy theories should perhaps receive more encouragement and not blown off imediately with a response that, to me, can too often be paraphrased as "Go away and get a PhD before you bother us again"

[Royston]

Nice. Peace. Hope you don't grow up too soon, though, most things are much more fun when young.

 

Well I'm 30 this year...though I did get asked id for a pack of tobacco a few months ago...I said 'wow, thanks very much', I don't think the shop assistant was expecting that reaction. Done a little hop and a skip as I walked out the shop...with hand on hip and pouting lips:D

 

You're as young as you feel...thing is I seem to be taking that saying one step further...not trying to blow my own trumpet.

 

Apologies to Martin for going off topic.

[RyanJ]

I certainly wouldn`t miss the Philosophy/religion forum if it vanished' date=' I`de also like to see more use of our Search Engine, so we don`t get the same posts over and over again.

but these have always been a bug-bear of mine since I got here.

 

MORE SCIENCE!!!![/quote']

 

My vote too! SCIENCE FORUMS not RELIGIOUS GOD FORUMS.

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[YT2095]

There is' date=' however, little room for lively and entertaining debate in hard science threads. There is a question asked, and an answer given, where the expert is always given the benefit of the doubt. For more science debate, posters of pseudo science and toy theories should perhaps receive more encouragement and not blown off imediately with a response that, to me, can too often be paraphrased as "Go away and get a PhD before you bother us again"[/quote']

 

in reverse order, if you see any responses like that REPORT THEM!

 

as for the rest, you really Have toataly missed the point

hard Science is full of Debate and questions and answers etc...

sadly it rarely to never gets a chance to exhibit this here as most are too focused on Non-Science (say it fast enough it sounds like Nonsense too!).

and No, don`t give Any of our experts "the benefit of the doubt"! if you`re still uncertain then ask for clarification or evidence or citations!

NOT doing so defeats the whole purpose of Science completely.

think about it!

[gcol]

If I have miised the point, perhaps I was wrestling with a pig; need a bath.

 

Perhaps I was deliberately exagerating to make a point. (?)

[Royston]

My vote too! SCIENCE FORUMS not RELIGIOUS GOD FORUMS.

 

Well for people like me that love SFN, but have only just started studying science seriously, the philosophy and religion forums are a good place for discussion and debate. I'm sure the further into my degree I get I'll be posting less and less in that area...agreed it is a science forum, but some of us aren't adept enough (yet) to debate e.g high energy physics...I do try and spread myself about as much as I can, I just find the topics (being very open ended) in P & R are never ending source for debate.

 

As with what Gcol said, a lot of science is just a right or wrong answer...it's only with new theories (I'm not talking crackpot stuff) that there could be some room for healthy debate, however there's only a few people on here (Martin being a prime example) that really understand the new, cutting edge theories. I realise this isn't strictly true for all fields of science, but you only have to go by the number of replies you get in more open ended topics.

 

EDIT: I just saw YT2095's reply...so errr, I'm scared now.

 

EDIT 2: Yeah I agree, it does defeat the point of science...noted.

[YT2095]

I have miised the point, Perhaps I was deliberately exagerating to make a point. (?)

 

aha!, now we understand your relluctance at the removal of such forums as previously mentioned, kinda all makes sense now

[RyanJ]

Well for people like me that love SFN' date=' but have only just started studying science seriously, the philosophy and religion forums are a good place for discussion and debate. I'm sure the further into my degree I get I'll be posting less and less in that area...agreed it is a [i']science[/i] forum, but some of us aren't adept enough (yet) to debate e.g high energy physics...I do try and spread myself about as much as I can, I just find the topics (being very open ended) in P & R are never ending source for debate.

 

As with what Gcol said, a lot of science is just a right or wrong answer...it's only with new theories (I'm not talking crackpot stuff) that there could be some room for healthy debate, however there's only a few people on here (Martin being a prime example) that really understand the new, cutting edge theories. I realise this isn't strictly true for all fields of science, but you only have to go by the number of replies you get in more open ended topics.

 

Lets not turn it into a debate, science is not religion. These are science forums and not religious ones so there we go.

 

Ryan Jones

[bascule]

Actually yes.

 

Like what?

 

How did you know?

 

Bascule knows all and sees all.

[Dave]

Up until a few weeks ago I had decided that I really didn't like the philosophy and religion forums. However, even though this is a science forum, we still debate things which are not related to science because this is a great community. There is a definate fascination with religion and its philosophical implications, and simply deleting a forum isn't going to stop the people making the questions.

 

So, I'm quite reluctant to get rid of the philosophy forum at the moment. At the very least, it is a place for the religious threads to go. And, if you don't like it, you don't necessarily have to read it.

[Royston]

Lets not turn it into a debate' date=' [b']science is not religion[/b]. These are science forums and not religious ones so there we go.

 

Ryan Jones

 

LOL, (bold) you're telling me that ! That's something I've been putting people straight on in the philosophy and religion forums a number of times. I wasn't trying to debate it, just affirming my position RyanJ, I'm not sure you read my post properly....but no probs, like I said I've just started studying science seriously so I'll be weaning myself off the P & R forums soon.

[Martin]

...we still debate things which are not related to science because this is a great community. There is a definite fascination with religion and its philosophical implications,...

 

I agree, dave.

 

for me, the philos/relig forum adds zest and interest ot SFN

 

I dont often go there but every now and then there are fascinating threads and besides i am interested in how members of this community think about those deep issues that dont fit into science

 

and I think that the root of science back circa 1600 was, a lot of it anyway, trying to know the pattern of the universe and the harmony of the layout of the solar system and wanting to know WHAT THE CREATOR HAD IN MIND when he constructed it-----heh heh----well, like it or not that was what kepler was asking himself and what einstein later on was asking HIMself.

 

the fact is although science is very different----when you probe down to the very deep motives it has a common root with religion which is wondering at the universe both large scale and very smallest scale

 

and the voice out of the whirlwind in Job saying "what do you know, punk? what do you understand about this? can you count the atoms in the sun?" and being stubborn and coming back and saying "well I can try"

 

so even though one should be very careful to keep them separate, there OUGHT, it seems to me, to be a religion forum somewhere on board

 

one reason I like IMM so much is she is informed and logical and doesnt put up with so much new age and other kinds of nonsense

 

I think having religion forum around attracts good people sometimes

 

============

does everybody know the part of the Book of Job I mean? it is some of the greatest nature poetry, or science poetry, ever written. we should have a thread about it

it is where the creator of the universe and the builder of life speaks to this guy and tells him in no uncertain terms how little he knows-----how little we all know---it is pretty grand, if you dont know it you should read it, it should be printed at the beginning of every textbook of astronomy or chemistry or biology or physics

[pcs]

Like what?

 

Two social networks for our wireless hotspots and a document management system with a Powerpoint-to-Web app as its first front end.

[AweBurn]

Awww. I feel like the minority begging that you not eliminate the Religion/Philosophy Forums. I thoroughly respect the scientific community but my passion is philosophy. I dont know where else I'll get the scientific approach to philosophy. I'm new to this community and hope to contribute as often as possible but it seems thats not valued = /.

 

-AweBurn

[Daecon]

Awww. I feel like the minority begging that you not eliminate the Religion/Philosophy Forums. I thoroughly respect the scientific community but my passion is philosophy. I dont know where else I'll get the scientific approach to philosophy.

Seconded.

[Phi for All]

I dont know where else I'll get the scientific approach to philosophy. I'm new to this community and hope to contribute as often as possible but it seems thats not valued = /.

Don't worry. As long as people can keep coming up with differenct ways to look at the world, both seen and unseen, we will keep the Philosophy / Religion forum. We sometimes get people who join just to post their personal Religious or Anti-Religious tirades and that's OK as long as they make SOME attempt to read what's preceded them and attack it from a fresh perspective.

[YT2095]

Awww. I feel like the minority begging that you not eliminate the Religion/Philosophy Forums.

 

no worries, it would seem I`m the one that`s alone in my views here regarding that forum, you`re quite safe

 

and I`ve still not altered my opinion of it, I`de sooner see it replaced with a Geology forum or Stamp Collecting, even Train Spotting would be better:-p

 

actualy, on reflection, a Geology section would be a neat idea, we don`t have anything that covers that area of Science yet, it Might get us a little more Posts and Users:-)

[Martin]

 

actualy' date=' on reflection, a Geology section would be a neat idea, we don`t have anything that covers that area of Science yet, it Might get us a little more Posts and Users:-)[/quote']

 

a Geology section might indeed be interesting

I was talking to a Planet Science guy yesterday and BTW he says that people in his specialty (studying the history and workings of other solarsystem bodies) feel closer to Earth geologists and geophysicists than they do to Astronomy/Cosmology people.

 

their professional culture and research interests are more similar---he was trying to tell me---to the geologists

 

there is a cluster of good things to know about and discuss, if there are people who want to do it. We could keep a lookout for a potential resident expert in that general area-----or does, for instance, Skye already qualify. He has something about global climate change on his website IIRC. I dont know if his main specialty is biology or geology. Sorry to be vague

[Daecon]

I made a thread only the other day that would have gone in a geology/geophysics forum, instead of the Biology (ecology & environment) one.