"Jokester" was true...

[alanmj Banned Find all posts View Profile Close alanmj]

It has been 6 days now since the "An Italian, a Scotsman and a Chinaman" thread was closed because two people, of the 523 who visited, found the joke offensive and chose to ignore the warning on the BB main page for the thread that "Warning some of the jokes may be considered offensive to some."

The result is now that everyone is saying to themselves that they have a good joke, but are in fear of posting it in case someone - some ONE - finds it offensive. The point of 99% of jokes is that they can always be read in a manner offensive to someone, but that we should see beyond that and understand that no harm was meant.

This proves that Isaac Asimov's short story "Jokester" was true...

In the story, mankind (or humankind for the PCs) realizes that jokes are a psychological experiment being conducted by aliens to understand the human race. But that when this is realized, all humour disappears and jokes are no longer funny.

To those of you who post jokes or know a good joke and wish to post it, please please continue to do so, and do not let the mirthless militant minority spoil our fun.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

It has been 6 days now since the "An Italian, a Scotsman and a Chinaman" thread was closed because two people, of the 523 who visited, found the joke offensive and chose to ignore the warning on the BB main page for the thread that "Warning some of the jokes may be considered offensive to some." :banged:

2 people expressed their opinions on the joke, (which they are entitled to do) but that does not mean that others who choose not to post, might have also found the joke offensive.



The result is now that everyone is saying to themselves that they have a good joke, but are in fear of posting it in case someone - some ONE - finds it offensive. The point of 99% of jokes is that they can always be read in a manner offensive to someone, but that we should see beyond that and understand that no harm was meant.

How do you know anyone is in fear of posting a joke? If they think twice about what they post, that is not necessarily a bad thing......I think everyone here agrees that no harm was intended, that was never the point being made, and is irrelevant to whether or not some found the joke to be offensive.

This proves that Isaac Asimov's short story "Jokester" was true...

In the story, mankind (or humankind for the PCs) realizes that jokes are a psychological experiment being conducted by aliens to understand the human race. But that when this is realized, all humour disappears and jokes are no longer funny.


To those of you who post jokes or know a good joke and wish to post it, please please continue to do so, and do not let the mirthless militant minority spoil our fun.

Your above comment is out of line, and totally inappropriate for this forum, or any other forum, for that matter. Do not continue to attack others on this forum. You are entitled to your opinion, but do not personalize your comments.


You seem to have a real desire to "stir the pot." I'm not sure why, but it will not be tolerated. You are being given a warning.

[alanmj Banned Find all posts View Profile Close alanmj]

Your above comment is out of line, and totally inappropriate for this forum, or any other forum, for that matter. Do not continue to attack others on this forum. You are entitled to your opinion, but do not personalize your comments.

You seem to have a real desire to "stir the pot." I'm not sure why, but it will not be tolerated. You are being given a warning.

Facts:

1) You are correct that I over-characterized the objections - of the 8 who made their opinions known, 6 were in favour and 2 against. So those 2 are the minority of those who expressed their opinion. That cannot be refuted. My use of the word "minority" is justified.

2) In the years I have been following this forum, I have never known there to be a time when we went 6 days without a single posting or comment. So that this happened is unique and highly anomalous.

Why is that? Why now? The coincidence with the discussion in the prior thread and particularly the racism accusation made by CarolF cannot be a coincidence. (I note with wry humour that you find it acceptable that one poster can accuse another of racism, and not call them out on that, whereas you do not find it acceptable that I "attack" others for their PC-ness.)

3) Yes, I do have a desire to ensure that no-one feels constrained in posting their jokes. Your characterizing this as "stiring the pot" is your view only, not mine.

Surely the whole point of this forum is to encourage participation, but recognise that this particular forum is one that may result in postings that not everyone finds palatable, which is why there is the warning on the BB about this forum.


Finally, your draconian warning to me will result in even fewer posts. You've killed off this forum for some time I predict. I would call that out of line...

Who made you judge, jury and executioner anyway?

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Facts:

1) You are correct that I over-characterized the objections - of the 8 who made their opinions known, 6 were in favour and 2 against. So those 2 are the minority of those who expressed their opinion. That cannot be refuted. My use of the word "minority" is justified.

2) In the years I have been following this forum, I have never known there to be a time when we went 6 days without a single posting or comment. So that this happened is unique and highly anomalous.

Why is that? Why now? The coincidence with the discussion in the prior thread and particularly the racism accusation made by CarolF cannot be a coincidence. (I note with wry humour that you find it acceptable that one poster can accuse another of racism, and not call them out on that, whereas you do not find it acceptable that I "attack" others for their PC-ness.)

3) Yes, I do have a desire to ensure that no-one feels constrained in posting their jokes. Your characterizing this as "stiring the pot" is your view only, not mine.

Surely the whole point of this forum is to encourage participation, but recognise that this particular forum is one that may result in postings that not everyone finds palatable, which is why there is the warning on the BB about this forum.


Finally, your draconian warning to me will result in even fewer posts. You've killed off this forum for some time I predict. I would call that out of line...

Who made you judge, jury and executioner anyway?

Actually, the owner of the website gave the suoer mods this power.

It is what it is.

You have no idea how many complaints were made behind the scenes. We hear from many people who do not want to post publically.

I suggest you get over it, continue to post - or else find us "too restrictive" for your views and move on.

Your choice.