Why do some Moderators close threads when the topics are in different folders??

That makes no sense to me. I had a Moderator tell me that you can post the same topic in different folders if the discussion is different. I posted this thread in the SCIENCE FOLDER.

Scientists Scanned A Woman's Brain During An Out-Of-Body Experience And What They Found Was Amazing

A Moderator named JBird closed the thread when we were having a good debate about the SCIENTIFIC STUDY that the article was discussing.

In the PHILOSOPHY AND METAPHYSICS board it said this:

Scientists unlock mystery of out-of-body experiences (aka astral trips)

Now, if I wanted to discuss Metaphysics and Astral Trips, I would have responded to this thread in that folder.

I POSTED IN THE SCIENCE SECTION BECAUSE A SCIENTIFIC STUDY WAS BEING DISCUSSED NOT ASTRAL TRIPS.

I have been on ATS for awhile and I love the debate but some Moderators kill debates for no reason.

reply to post by neoholographic


It happens.

I think you probably should have raised it with the moderator in question, though. Sometimes they can make wrong moves, and a little talk can get you what you want.

reply to post by neoholographic


It happens sometimes. I started a thread in the philosophy section to have a philosophical discussion, but it was moved to the religion section which I was trying to stay away from. To be fair though most of the posters couldn't think out of the box so the conversation went down the same old boring scripted religious road. I lost interest in my own OP after it was moved though.

Half the time I can't figure out why mods do what they do.

reply to post by neoholographic


I just looked at both topics and they are both the same exact topic, just posted in different forums. Although your intentions were to have a different discussion, ATS doesn't allow the same topic to be posted in multiple forums, with the exception of breaking news which can be posted to Breaking Alternate News and one other forum.

There's nothing wrong with discussing the scientific aspects of the topic in the thread where it's located.

I'd like to add a thought here, since this comes up.

I share this as much or more from my time here as a member as my experience in the time I've been staff. As a member, I saw it work more than once. It wasn't often, to be fair. However, as staff? I have seen how rarely it's asked about or asked for, too. One explains the other on that.

To use myself as an example and keep it a bit general here, If you really think you have a good point in saying I may have something wrong or been mistaken in closing a thread (or anything else), use the Complaint (Think Feedback too) form and drop a note. All staff takes a look. If you approach it professionally, (and by that I simply mean in the way you'd deal with a complaint in a real world business or other public place in life), and lay out your reasoning? Well, the worst anyone can do is say no. Nothing, and I honestly mean, nothing is lost in asking that way.

I did look at both of these as well and agree with _BoneZ_ and Jbird here. They came to run very similar, even if the OPs may not necessarily have opened in the same direction. They used the same graphic and original source stories, as well. The Breaking Alternative News forum is the only duplicate exception on that.