ATS in serious need of a *snip* filter !

Now, I have only been an ATS member for a short period of time but it's become quite obvious to me (and in all likelyhood, to many other members) that ATS is a forum that seems to be seriously skewed towards catering to some of the most ridiculous, far fetched, idiotic and lunatic ramblings imaginable. The worst part is that these threads attract so many "favourable responses" in return that it almost boggles the imagination how any level headed, intelligent, mature and rational individual can even possibly contemplate the legitimacy of the original posters theory/hypothesis, etc. The majority of threads provide absolutely NOTHING by way of proof or evidence except the posters inane ramblings and yet manage to attract droves of positive responses.

Below is just a very small sample of threads with NO supporting proof, evidence, source material whatsoever and/or containing ridiculous subject material and yet receiving high volumes of positive and reinforcing responses:

"Timewave Zero - a Contdown to Transition" - High BS
"Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Will We Finally See the Moon Base ?" - Medium BS
"A Look At The Other Side - My Near Death Experience" - High BS
"Who Is Your Best Guess Who The AntiChrist Is ?" - Extremely high BS
"Paul McCartney Dies In 1966 - Replaced By Billy Shepherd" - Extremely high BS
"Something Has Changed, Timeline ?" - Off the scale BS
"Stargates Are Real" - BS
"Many of You Are Aliens" - Extremely high BS
"The ID on 'Operation Blackjack' has a secret message" - Complete and utter BS
"Vampire Encounters" - hmmm, lets see now ... more BS

and the list of similar threads without a single shred or pretext of evidence or logic just goes on and on.

And the surprising thing is not that these posters believe what they are stating (which is a sad commentary on its own) but rather the sheer numbers of responding posters who get "sucked in" ... perhaps itself a statement on the quality and standard of the mentality of a large proportion of ATS members.

In fact, there was a thread a few days ago along the lines of an unknown and unseen ATM member "helping" another ATM member achieve an out-of-the-body-experience and the number of responses asking for similar help and "offering words of support and encouragement" bordered on nothing short of the insane. How so many people could get so easily sucked into the ramblings of an individuals personal fantasy is hard to comprehend. And yet it was immediately and unquestionably accepted by 100's of posters that this original poster DID achieve an OOBE with the help of another unseen and mysterious ATS member without any evidence whatsoever... what total and complete BS !

From what I've read on this board, I have no doubts whatsoever that it really wouldn't take all that much to make up some absolutely brainless and patently ridiculous and unproveable theory, post a thread and manage to suck in a large number of responses and believers. The more bizarre and "off the wall", the greater would be the attraction ...

Sure, "freedom of speech and expression" and such like is to be encouraged but it's too bad that ATS doesn't have some kind of *snip* filter to weed out the most asinine, ludicrous and waste of time posts before they hit the boards ... perhaps then the quality of the remaining ATS posts would go up quite a few notches to the benefit of all those members with a modicum of common sense who can differentiate between being fed obvious BS and something that's worth reading and possibly commenting on.

Yes, I know that my comments and attitude is going to get me a large serving of vitriol and retaliatory flame posts but I'll bet that there are many of you members who deep down agree with my comments regarding the excessive amount of "trash threads" appearing daily on this board. Sometimes I think a large proportion of threads are created primarily so the OP can "hear the sound of his/her own typing" and to get a vicarious thrill from responses that positively encourage the delusional content of their post and do NOTHING to enrich or enhance the lives of other members.

Ok, I'm off to see what other delusional crap has been posted whilst I've been creating this thread ... no doubts, plenty.

Let the abuse begin ...




Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 6/25/2009 by JacKatMtn]

Hmm.....can't see your post...maybe the first victim of the newly proposed filter.

Heh..well you certainly have a way with words, although I certainly cannot read them without replying..??

You opinion on certain topics aside, the easiest solution is to just not read the threads that you feel are nonesense. However, I know that doesn't really strike to the heart of the matter.

I have often thought that it would be nice if there was some way for users and mods to reward members who take time to put together insightful and well thought out answers so that whenever they post, they stand out, both on thread posts and on threads. Maybe a scoring system instead of just points that would actually reflect quality of posts not just the emotional appeal to the people reading.


[edit on 6-25-2009 by rogerstigers]

Originally posted by KSPigpen
Hmm.....can't see your post...maybe the first victim of the newly proposed filter.

Yeah, sure it is .... oh, waht do we have here in another post entitled "The Conspiracy to Eliminate the Supreme Creator" ? Let me see what the BS meter reads ... yep, high BS !!!

Maybe just me but I thought that many of us were here to avoid filters to ideas. My opinion is, let all of the "information" through and let the fire separate the wheat from the chaff. Bring in the "truth filter" and many move on imo.

Originally posted by Chemley
Maybe just me but I thought that many of us were here to avoid filters to ideas. My opinion is, let all of the "information" through and let the fire separate the wheat from the chaff. Bring in the "truth filter" and many move on imo.

And how much of YOUR time do you waste on reading threads that initially look interesting and worthwhile only to degenerate into complete and total idiotic ramblings without any foundation in reality ?

A BS filter-I already have one it is called a brain and it is the only filter that should ever be applied to anything imo. If you think everything bs than stop reading it, it's that simple.

Originally posted by cancerian42
A BS filter-I already have one it is called a brain and it is the only filter that should ever be applied to anything imo. If you think everything bs than stop reading it, it's that simple.

Congratulations then ... so what excuse do the posters of BS threads use ? Obviously nothing judging by the contents of their posts.

reply to post by Chemley


I agree, let all the ideas in, if you don't like a post then don't read it. You cannot put filters on free and open speech/ideas, if you did how many good ones would get thrown in the trash? If you feel somehow that you are wasting your time here then that is a good honest opinion, and you can go elsewhere, that is your choice. My time belongs to me and I will "waste" it in my own way...

[edit on 25-6-2009 by Oatmeal]

it's too bad that ATS doesn't have some kind of *snip* filter

i think they do have one . but the guy installed it backwards. i concur.