Re: Moderator note - Theories

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: William Beaty <billb@xxxxxxxxxx>

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005, Tesla list wrote:

> The subjects of what makes good or bad science, theories, laws, or
> religions is getting pretty old.  I will start rejecting them...

Well, the discussion actually seems to be OT : "Should we automatically
reject all first-hand eyewitness accounts of Ball Lightning?"

But Godwin's law, or the "Usenet Nazi rule" seems to have arisen.  That's
the rule where, as soon as one party uses derogatory labels or "smear
tactics" in place of proper argument, that person automatically loses the
argument.  The thread becomes worthless and might as well end.

   "The Law is generally used on Usenet as an indicator of whether a
    thread has gone on too long, who's playing fair and who's just
    slinging mud, and who finally gets to "win" the discussion.  It has,
    over time, become the closest thing to an impartial moderator that
    Usenet can get."  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/

I've always wondered why the "Nazi rule" should effectively reveal when
threads become worthless.  I think it's because it shows the point when
one or both parties have stopped listening to the other.  If someone stops
using valid argument, and instead starts bad-mouthing their opponents'
reasoning, it means they see their opponent as "evil."  They'd sooner
listen to Nazi propaganda than listen to careful logical arguments from
that opponent.  We don't use smear tactics against those we respect.
Repect has flown out the window, and further discussion is guaranteed to
be the same as a flamewar, so the thread can safely be shut down.


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William J. Beaty                            SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
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