36 replies to this topic

[Shannon Vyff]

The First Immortal, what do you have to say about Mind's post?

[thefirstimmortal]

The First Immortal, what do you have to say about Mind's post?

I have much to say on that Shannon, but I still haven't answered your posts and others. It's on the agenda though

[maestro949]

I like the idea of eliminating the FSF forum from the active topics display or at least providing the option to eliminate it. Just as it's important for people to have the freedom to speak their mind, others should be free to adjust the signal to noise ratio, particularly when it applies to completely random ramblings unrelated to the meme.

[David]

Lots of chin wagging and posturing going on here. Lots of people convinced of their opinions. I don't think that anyone here disagrees that free speech is a cornerstone of our civilisation therefore has a place in Imminst.

I'm hesitant to post anywhere else but the Free Speech area due to an article i uploaded about making sure you ejaculate at least once a day to decrease your chances of prostate cancer was deleted by some overzelaous moderator. It wasn't pornographic, immorral or illegal.

That deletion demonstrated how careful we have to be. Sometimes we get so caught up in the hard sciences that we miss the soft sciences. Without free speech in the society we all inhabit we reduce our life expectancy. If my brother is murdered by a powerful leader I can raise merry hell and get him prosecuted, reducing my chances (and yours by the way) of being murdered too. Lets practice what we preach, free speech is a vital longevity mechanism.

Is not Imminst a microcosm of society at large? By downgrading free speech in imminst are we not downgrading free speech in the real world?

The whole thing would be solved if we gave Will what he wanted, and in accepting his rights he accepted his responsibilities and took on the job of moderator for the Free Speech area.

Win Win?

David, the other long time free speecher

[lightowl]

Its great to see some discussion about this issue again.

I am convinced that it is technically possible to adequately address the spamming and PC concerns while making it possible for members and readers to selectively moderate offencive and unwanted material. (Excuse the lack of punctuation. ) I have described how this would be possible in detail in the past. The problem is primarily ( as in: first line ) political will, secondly in technical implementation ( as in: volunteers stepping up ). I realize its been unsatisfactory that the suggestions have not come with a pledge to implement, but I simple didn't have time at the moment, much less now I'm afraid.

I think its unfortunate that the FSF is not represented in the Active Topics list since that list is a very effective tool for regular members and readers. I believe its in effect neglecting the FSF forum to a niche audience ( BTW, I think a FSF should not be necessary since all speech on the forums, in a better world, could be free ). It is simple to restrain Google from indexing the FSF topics on the Active Topics list. I believe a max 10 line PHP solution could be implemented fairly quickly.

In the interest of perhaps pushing the case for a WIN/WIN situation, I will collect a few of the threads with technical suggestions from the past.

[thughes]

Is not Imminst a microcosm of society at large? By downgrading free speech in imminst are we not downgrading free speech in the real world?

We used to have to worry about such things as people with real political power silencing defenseless individuals with opinions they did not agree with. Now all we have to worry about is whether to allow posts such as "I invented a new form of torture" to appear in active topics. Societal progress has been made. (yes I know, thats always a concern but at least we have laws against it...)

I don't care so much about Active Topics, but I wouldn't want to see the contents of Free Speech on the "Forum Discussion" on the front page. Its an off topic forum, not relevant to the mission, and will be used by shock trolls. Really only on-topic stuff should (and maybe does) get to the front page.

I suppose you could have a Free Speech on Life Extension forum (although that seems to me to be a bit paranoid, there are apparently occasionally borderline life extension topics). That would be on topic. If everyone agreed to self moderate to have not-deliberately-offensive topic titles (aka no trolling for shock value) then it would be perfectly fine material for the front page. Off topic posts by trolls could be moved to "Free Speech" by a moderator. Choose a libertarian moderator to ensure it remains on topic. Best idea yet.

- thughes

[lightowl]

BTW, just to stay a bit more on topic here.

I would be willing to put in some time to make it possible to see Free Speech Forum posts in the Active Topics list, while letting that information remain invisible to search engines and the front page. I think doing so would broaden the scope of discussion in that forum. I also feel I sometimes miss out on discussions there because I only visit the Active Topics list to save time.