Originally posted by intrepid
Only you can control those emotions. No one else can.

If you can't control yourself, don't read the thread.

That was really funny Intrepid. Managing humans is a really tough job I can only imagine what it is like to try to moderate a site like this.

It is good that such emphasis is being placed on this issue because I think there are alot of members here who would like to share more on a personal experience level yet are scared of being ripped apart by the more "aggresive" members and the "debunking squads".

I do see it time and time again people apologizing and fearing about how their post will be recieved. I felt this somewhat when I first started posting here, very inferior compared to the other members posts that I perceived as wiser and more intellectual than my own style of posting.

One of the most common forms of rudeness I see here are people being made fun of for their contribution.

I am happy to say that ATS and the members and staff here have treated me well and fairly. And even though I am not overly educated nor polished up I have been allowed to express myself in the manner that I know how, by feelings, intuition, and personal perception.

Awesome that you have attached a consequence to this annoying behavior of being rude for the sake of rudeness.

Originally posted by JSR
the point of the thread was to accuse the U.S. for the problem of global warming. that is baseless.

Understood. However, for anyone who pays attention to contemporary headlines from around the world, they would realize the author of that thread is not alone in such an opinion. In addition to requesting civility and decorum, we (staff) also work hard to maintain editorial neutrality... relying on members to intelligently respond to what they feel are false or errant statements. You're more than welcome to participate in the thread and balance the debate with your contrary data.

Originally posted by rockets red glare
His silly acusations like for example "the U.S. is the only industrialized nation to reject Kyoto" is nonsense.

Wouldn't it be more productive to post your opinions and data within the thread in question, rather than this one?

Originally posted by JSR
I did participate and and provide data.

Excellent. That's where the "Magic of ATS" happens, in the back-and-forth exchange of ideas and data within threads.

Would you be surprise to know that the most informative thread on the proposition that a missile (or other non-airline object) exploded at the Pentagon on 9/11/2001 is actually titled, "A Boeing 757 Struck the Pentagon"? It didn't start out that way, but because of well-presented information from members, evolved that way.

All though i've only been posting here as of recently i know exactly why this has come about. I think its a good adjustment to ATS. I think that most members on this board expect, or at least should expect not every one to agree with their view, and to also prove the validity of their argument. That being said if it cant be done in an adult, or maybe in a somewhat professional manner, i think that a warning punishment is merited. My favorite part about being American is that i can agree or disagree with whatever i please. Cheers to the Sight management and the forum mods!

Civility and decorum.....ok, got it.

Hmmm what do I say................ok well normally I read ATS after a few cold beers, you know when the emotions are in overdrive and you feel like superman or superwoman (depends what you scratch first thing in the morning)

I'm saying that the majority of my posts are ruled from the heart and pull no punches, if I draw some unwanted comments then I will just send a U2U to the person rather than reply and clutter a thread with useless banter.

In fairness so far I have not once sent in anger a U2U to anyone regarding a post of mine been flamed, received a U2U though off someone who ridiculed one of my posts, I replied in a adult manner and heard nothing back so I guess I won that battle.

People do need to be civil but also must be allowed to show passion too in their posts and so this can lead to high emotions but that does not give the right for someone to reply in a condescending and abusive manner.

I think the ATS owners and their mods do a fantastic job keeping the decorum to a good level and any new ideas to help keep the flow of good discussion and the introduction of new members is the right way to go.

Any "applause" votes would be welcome as I would like some extra points

I like to thank the posters in this thread who have just proved why ATS is introducing this policy

IMHO, this policy doesn't go far enough SkepticOverlord.

Wonderful.

I keep saying... you can make your point without bringing emotion into it. If someone posts something you in your opinion find to be completely obsurd, we should be trying to help that person understand from our view, and our knowledge, not putting them down and scaring them away from this site for good. You don't know how many times I see members say "I didn't join this site until now, because of all the argueing" or something to that degree. We're all searching for the truth, so we're all freinds and allys here, we should start acting like it.