How much do you care about improving the quality of discourse at this site?
A lot
Side Score: 44
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Not much or not at all
Side Score: 14
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I'd like to see more decent debates instead of debates based on other users and things those users may or may not have done. I'd also like to see more debating where people actually try and refute someone else's argument instead of resorting to insults, or just repeating themselves ad infinitum. Side: A lot
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I would like to see things improve but sadly I don't think it ever will. Shortly after joining this site I tried to get people to be nicer and improve the quality of the debates but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. I even tried to create a private debate community where rude people were not allowed. Although a lot of people joined, it quickly faded into oblivion like all the other private communities. I hope things will change someday, but I'm not holding my breath. If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know. I think the site has been rubbing off on me lately because I've been a little more snippy with people on here than usual, so I'll try to work on that. Side: A lot
an environment where we can engage in respectful and challenging conversations that can be learned from. Such an environment is already here, albeit it kind of tends to be buried under a veil of triviality and lack of motivation. The idea is to make people more motivated. Rules will not do this, it will only make people leave. Making an effort should be attractive - this, I believe, is the solution. Side: A lot
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I think the only way practical way to do this, is to find other decent debaters and bring them here, rather than trying make decent debaters out of what we have >.>;....though, if a person wants to debate well, then they should be open to some advice from the good debaters, but what about those who can't see anything wrong with their debating quality or just flat out don't care, they most likely won't be in search of advice and will continue to make weak arguments. I believe that there is a specific method for debating that can be taught, to ensure objectively, that the quality of discourse would be better. I can acknowledge when someone is more skillful than I, so I'll take their advice on the skill. I'm willing to learn. Side: A lot
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What's wrong with the site? The majority of the users are teens and trolls. Is Andy going to ban all of those people? Well, let me put it another way so that I don't offend teens. There are plenty of smart teens on this site, but there are also plenty of dumb ones too. From what I've seen, the smart users have begun to disappear as more dumb ones show up. Another reason could be that a lot of the good debate topics have been used over and over again. We get maybe one or two really good debate topics a week. People are getting tired of the same shit... and half of the time those debates aren't very active because the majority of the users would rather fuck around on some other dumbed-down debate. So, like I said... is Andy going to ban those people? If not, then you're going to have trouble convincing people to change. The best thing to do, is to just accept the site for what it is and do your best to come up with good topics and be involved in good debates. Plus, fucking around is kind of fun every now and then. Side: Not much or not at all
If by 'improving the quality of discourse on this site' you mean that all users should abide by some sort of standard set by you or Andy then I think it's ridiculous. People are individuals and will debate (or not) as they please. You won't be able to make them conform to some type of debating mandate; it's not going to happen and unrealistic to even believe you have the ability to do that. Because people are all different individuals with differing thoughts on what they find amusing or interesting topics they will always vary from what you might describe as 'quality'. So, regardless of how much you may desire to improve the quality of discourse on this or any site, you cannot control it... It's the internet, and the quality of one's discourse is in the eyes of the beholder, or user in this case. Side: Not much or not at all
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I don't see much point in trying to improve it; there will always be trolls. I propose self-moderation instead; if it's your debate, ban the trolls and those spouting fallacies. If it's someone elses debate, just ignore them. Not as easy as it sounds, and I've thrown up the odd troll argument and fed the odd troll here and there myself, but thats probably the best bet. Keep your arguments rational, avoid personal attacks, and give credit to those who show good reasoning and thought in their posts even if you disagree with them. This encourages them to post more, and ignoring the trolls ostensibly discourages them (yet to see evidence of that personally...). Side: Not much or not at all
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