I started the
"I take my life in my hands" thread in hopes of reviving the Debate Club. Now, it became a discussion of gun control, even though my initial post never used the word "gun" and I certainly made no mention of any particular law of any country. In that there are people to whom their ownership of guns is very important, and there are furthermore people to whom any public ownership of guns is abhorrent, and in especial that such people are inclined to debate with each other, mention of weapons sparked that debate.
Yes, I intended that. No, I'm not ashamed of myself. The forum needs people in it.
Two people actually posted on-topic: you and Boss Out of Town, and your postings were interesting and edifying. I was hoping for Emy's own rebuttal, but she seems very quiet lately, so I hope more now that she's okay.
Someone then ported the
"smoking our bibles" thread from a comic forum and at first it didn't make much sense at all. He updated it and now it's a fairly popular thread, though I myself lack much interest in it. Religion is
always a spark for debate.
Thinman wrote:
While some of the new people may still be reading, I'd like to see if there's any interest in starting more threads for general discussion of science, technology, philosophy, etc.
Absolutely! My contention here is that the quiet in the Debate Club forum has been due to a lack of new and gripping topics. Now, there's lots of past discussion of science and politics and philosophy in the forum, but people are hesitant to read through it and I can understand why. Certain names (Wandering Idiot, Zarathustra, *cough* Tamayo, many forum-ites who no longer post on Kyhm's) show up a lot and the owners of those names seem arrogantly sure of their positions, such that anyone stepping into any discussion between those people might be subject to intellectual bitch-slapping. Well, um, I resemble those remarks. So do Icy and WI.
Don't hesitate to open new threads for what might have been said before. I did it with the "take my life in my hands" thread: gun control is hardly a new thing to talk about, in this forum or elsewhere, though I did try to put a different spin on it.
For example, here are some topics that interest
me that I do not know might interest others: Are software patents at all acceptable? How much power of oversight should governments arrogate to themselves with regards strong encryption? When quantum computers eventually get constructed, who should control their use? Under what circumstances should national security override personal liberty? If you want to discuss those things, make topics from them!