How about 2 new forums - History & Education?

Hi. I'm just wondering whether anyone else has thought of the potential for forums on these two topics. (Forgive my ignorance if the forums are already there!)

We all know history is so important to understanding the present & relates to a lot of other topics under discussion, from politics to religion.

Education is crucial to the future, but all too often is used as a political football. Important topics include "dumbing down", funding, etc.

Both have the potential for discussion with & without conspiratorial angles, so I'm not sure how they'd be categorized.

But first and foremost, both have the potential for totally HUGE debates, and might attract new audiences/members.

I agree 100%, it's about time we saw somthing like this.
These are really great ideas and would help lead away from the tiresome NWO and doomsday threads that find their way into almost every board.

Those are certainly two forums that I would participate in. I would think the history is sort of melded in to the various conspiratorial forums though . . . I think having a forum dedicated to education is a brilliant idea.

I think it is an excellent idea.

Now, beside saying it here, is there something that could be done, like a formal e-mail to the administrator of the site, or some other actions?

Just wishing it, might not be enough.

reply to post by pause4thought

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Hm. I know there is an education forum already (HERE) but upon reading the forum description, it looks like it leans towards conspiracies in education and not a place for general discussion. Not sure how it is moderated, though.

For instance, the CIR forum is strictly for religious conspiracies so any thread not dealing with a conspiracy angle is moved to the BTS Faith forum (as you know). On the other hand, the O&C forum is supposed to only be for conspiracies dealing with our origins but at the same time, it is also used for general discussions of evolution, creationism, and intelligent design.

So there is an education forum- it just depends on how the forum is moderated if general discussion is allowed there. As for the history forum, doesn't look like there is one yet. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea but the best of luck to you.

Thanks for the warm support!

The (very successful) Global Meltdown forum came about as a result of gaining support through a BBQ thread, so I don't think your contributions are wasted.

I think it partly depends on the strength of feeling, plus of course whether the management agrees there is a lot of potential.


[edit to add:]

Many thanks Ashley!

Just going to have a look.

I'm surprised you're not a history fan. I could read/discuss it into the early hours.






[edit on 18/10/08 by pause4thought]

As they say, history is written by the victor so I would say that qualifies as a conspiracy of sorts. I would certainly participate in it.

The education/media looks interesting; so of the two may well be up & running.

Ashley - how did you find the forum remit?

reply to post by pause4thought

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The forum home page HERE.

Or just being a lifeless freak who lives on ATS and sees everything.

EDIT: Oh, I see what you are asking. You have to click on a thread in each forum to read the description. It won't be listed on the forum 'home' pages but it will be listed in the threads found within the forums. The forum descriptions are always listed above in yellow font at the top of each thread. In the case of the education and media forum, it reads:

"This forum is dedicated to the discussion of and speculation into methods of thought control and double speak used in education and mass media. Discussion topics and follow-up responses in this forum will likely tend to lean in favor of conspiracies, scandals, and cover-ups. Members who would seek to refute such theories should be mindful of AboveTopSecret.com's tradition of focusing on conspiracy theory, cover-ups, and scandals."

[edit on 10/18/2008 by AshleyD]

reply to post by AshleyD

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Hmmm. Sounds like funding/curriculum issues, etc. might not be accepted. Maybe a BTS equivalent would still have a lot of mileage.


(Grateful for the info., Ashley)

You could give a funding or curriculum issue a try in Education and Media – I guess it depends on the specific topic. I personally think that if I've ever seen a conspiracy to keep the American people dumbed down, it must be the "No Child Left Behind" initiatives.

And I'd be interested in a History Forum too. Were you thinking more along the lines of "the victor writes history so history itself is a conspiracy" or "conspiracies in history?"

I like the first. It might even fit into the Education and Media forum, in a way. It's really all variations on propaganda, manipulation of information, and control of the access to information.

I hope to see more about these ideas

reply to post by americandingbat

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I could get really passionate about a history forum. My main thought was a straightforward 'What really happened?' Depending on your definition of a conspiracy any attempt to cover the truth about the past might past muster, and yes, that definitely includes "the victor writes history". BIG STYLE. And I think there are more than enough intelligent, well-educated people on here to make digging for the truth and joining the dots in a collaborative way potentially very stimulating.

You're correct, I didn't have 'conspiracies from the past' in mind, as such.

The more I mull over the endless possible topics the more I'm convinced it would take off.



As to the Education & Media forum I'm getting the impression it is designed for ramming you-should-believe-this down peoples' throats - type threads. E.g. "CNN just ran an exclusive on how Iran is on the verge of nuking Israel". (This impression is based on the forum remit quoted by AshleyD.)

It doesn't seem designed for "College fees to quadruple in keeping with inflation" - type discussions, i.e. straight-forward education issues, which might sometimes be BTS-type or sometimes more ATS-type, such as 'dumbing down' or 'education as a political football' - type debates.

I just thought I'd give this a little bump. It's a long time since it was last discussed.

It came to mind as a history-related thread I started seemed to be appreciated:

Hitler never gained a majority! History IS interesting

Anyone else think a history forum would have a lot of mileage?

(I suspect it might go ballistic.)