Doomsayers Are Making This Site Boring!

With all the interesting topics to discuss on a site as this--conspiracies, the paranormal, UFOs, etc--I think I will just throw up if I read one more asteroid/meteorite/apocalyptic/end-of-the-world/doomsayer post. It's just really boring. It's just the same thing over and over again, a bunch of people obsessing about perceived clues about the end of the world. You know what? If the world really was going to "end" at a certain time--it wouldn't matter anyway! We'd all be dead! Why waste time kvetching over it? I mean, if there was a good reason for such a discussion--like maybe a bunch of ATS members want to get together to form a survivalist party so they'll be prepared when the "big one" hits--maybe I could see the point of it. But is there any constructive reason to harp on these doomsday topics to the extent that is being done on these boards?

What motivates people to obsess over such topics? Simply fear? Or a strange sort of anticipation?

Choose Life. Or at least poltergeists, aliens, remote viewers, Masonic rumours, the Holy Grail, and OBEs--at least they're sort of interesting. Before this site I used to frequent Snopes.com...I stopped because their chronic skepticism was getting kinda lame. But some of the stuff on this board is getting kinda morbid & it turns me off.

So true.

If the end of the world really is coming then, talk about other stuff and not about how we are going to die, because this would be the last chance to say anything about something worthwhile. And believe me there is a lot more stuff that is way better than going on about death on this site. For all you know you will be hit by a bus in half an hour. Why don't you just start a thread to obsess about that, the possibility of being hit by a bus?

I agree fully. Of late everything here has been posts of doomsday of the same topic. How many of the same posts do we need? I've noticed more and more reposts of other topics from othersites. Mostly news that was on tv or on everything main page of large web sites.

Well, I'm not sure I have found it boring, it's been quite interesting to see how mass hysteria can start. Everybody has their own interests on this great site, and I know that if there is a topic that I might find boring or uninteresting,

I simply don't click on it to read it.

while i find it annoying to see people full of negativity, wanting to see the world end and humanity die and i think they're hoping for the worst i also find it amusing to see people jsut readily buy into whatever claim comes down the pike.

meteors? oh god! the end is nigh!

global warming? we're all gonna be swimming for our lives like its water world!

armegeddon? "its the four horsemen, repent yet sinners!

war? nuclear weapons are going to rip this earth apart!


for every scenario i name there are about a hundred theories behind eahc one and enevitably each one ends the same way, everyone dies or the planet is utterly destroyed.

now i've done a little look-see into this and i find something interesting.

this isnt a new trend. in fact this doom and gloom the world is going to end stuff has been going on for CENTURIES.

back 666 AD people were convinced the devil was coming and all of humanity was going to be lost. since this is now the 21st century...i think those predicitons have been proven to be wrong.

remember the y2k scare??? oh man anarchy is going to grip the world and all the financial facilties will crumble. and blah blah blah. guess what? nothing happened. no end of the world. no nuclear missles were launched (this was a big prediciton) and the world didnt shut down, except to celebrate the new century a year early...

everytime i see a new rash of prediciton come out it usually stems off one person claim "feeling" or "premonition".

people in the 70's 80's and 90's have made a lot of predictions and claims that the world was going to end. remember during the regan era when all the doom and gloomers were convinced that regan was going to lead us into a nuclear war? never happened did it?

a little skepticism is a good thing but this out right cynicism and negativity is staggering to me. i wish i knew why some people seem so obsessed with end of the world stuff. i wish i knew why people wallow in this muck. i wish i knew why people buy right into it without questioning it.

while i try to figure these people out i'll continue laughing at them. if the world is going to end 99% we're probably not going to be able to stop it so getting all negative and morose about it isnt going to help anything. others are easily influenced and they become victims of this.

i guess all of this fits their mindset. its what they want to believe, some want these things to be true. and its sad, so sad.

Have to say I agree. I personally see current events that show we're living in some interesting times, but I don't watch and wait for the end to come. I see that the world is going through some form of transformation at this time, and while it may be a rough road, I think that it will work itself out. Many things may come and go in the next 10 years or so, but that's what the human experience is all about, change.

And I think that's the main source of these fears. Many people fear change, and many can see change is coming in the not too distant future. Some are so fearful that they begin to see *everything* as being a sign of change, and think the world will stop turning due to it.

As Prank Monkey stated however, the world has been through many changes, hell, probably more changes than we'll ever know. And guess what? There's more changes in store, for us now, and for the earth in the future.

In the words of Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Fear The Reaper". Rationalize for a second, if something of that magnitude was to occur; you, that is, we are powerless to stop it. So does it really require you to obsess over it? Or for you to live in fear of it?


There, now don't you feel better?

Good, I knew you'd understand.

Good Luck to you!


TS










Oh and btw, just for the record:
I think that it's fine that anyone come on here and speak of anything "consipracy related", fill up the particular forum with millions of posts about relevant subjects. That's cool. Just hate to see fellows so nuts over it all, that's the thing that I don't like. Really, no matter what, it's going to be ok.

TS

The more popular this site is getting the more subjects are going to get repeated.personnaly l think it is not good for the future of this site as the more boring it gets the original members will start to leave and l believe to quality will suffer.Cracks are already starting to show.

I agree with all of you on this but, who knows may be one of those predictions will come true in a kind sort of way and we have it first in ATS

Originally posted by weirdo The more popular this site is getting the more subjects are going to get repeated.personnaly l think it is not good for the future of this site as the more boring it gets the original members will start to leave and l believe to quality will suffer.Cracks are already starting to show.

End of ATS posts are just as bad as end of the world posts... maybe worse. We've had these cycle of posts about "ATS going to the crapper" since I can remember (4+ years here), and we're bigger and stronger than any other site in our category and then some. We currently get more traffic in one hour than we did for the entire first two days on our new dedicated server 14 months ago. We're getting more than 150 members join every day. We regularly have over 2,000 posts a day. We regularly have more than 1,000 members visit every day. We regularly have more than 500 members post something every day. These things do not happen in an online community that has "cracks starting to show". blah

A new topic should be created called 'End of the World Threads Go Here', or something along those lines, im am being serious. It would take them out of all the more 'interesting' topics.

I agree that the doomsayers can get to be pretty overwhelming. But I think if we look a little deeper at why people obsess over these things it may cast a different light on things. I really don't think there are many people who are looking for, or hoping for, the end of the world for its own sake. I think many people are simply very dissatisfied with the state of the world and are hopeful of something better to come. Whether it's ones religious beliefs about the second coming of Christ or aliens returning to a culture they planted here long ago, people expect a period of tribulation or a cataclysmic event to happen before we can get to the "reward". Maybe part of the problem is that we're fed 24/7 by the news channels with the worst of the worst and a no hope mentality as they strive for ratings.

I really believe people obsess on this because they're tired and just waiting for something better.

Let me go back like a coward and rephrase myself I find the doomsday threads boring but I find ATS addicting

I told my husband that between him and ATS, I choose ATS anytime:lol


[Edited on 5-6-2004 by marg6043]

Skepticoverlord

True this site is the largest,but to quote Size Doesn`t Matter
The site will be judged on its merits and the quality of its discussions,as with all large institutions the true purpose can become lost.
I see newbies (of which l am one) struggling to post threads that have not been discussed already.The problem then is that the info posted drys up and the dedicated members beginng to search small more informative and specialist sites.In my short time of reading and then joining i have noticed a differance between the quality of info from the vets thn the newbies

[Edited on 5-6-2004 by weirdo]

[Edited on 5-6-2004 by weirdo]

[Edited on 5-6-2004 by weirdo]

Originally posted by weirdo The site will be judged on its merits and the quality of its discussions,as with all large institutions the true purpose can become lost.

blah heard it before And to say it again... people don't flock to a website in droves when the quality is suspect... especially one where membership is voluntary, and membership sign-up is at an all-time high.

The easiest job in P.R is getting people in the door.Its keeping them thats when you earn the big bucks.

Time will tell.

Originally posted by Cassie Clay
What motivates people to obsess over such topics?

Opinion on that:

1. Ennui
2. Desire to be noticed.

If members discussed these things on their merits, and if posters knew they would be brought to account and that their credibility would be affected every time another faulty prediction went wrong for them, then there might be less such posts. Then again, if people can rely on the kind of people who might flock in droves as a result of sensationalism and not substance, it would be possible to say anything sensational without any personal consequences at all.

No criticism of anyone here. People act on what they see others being reinforced for, natural human condition.

Originally posted by TPL
A new topic should be created called 'End of the World Threads Go Here', or something along those lines, im am being serious. It would take them out of all the more 'interesting' topics.

How about a "trashed" forum. Any threads that are hurtful to the reputation of ATS can be moved there. And then, the ppl who are still passionate about that topic can "pick through the trash" to find the thread and post in it. and everyone who is tired of those terrible threads just wouldnt have to go to the trashed forum, and their forums would be much cleaner.

Originally posted by weirdo The easiest job in P.R is getting people in the door

We don't have PR. Dude... what's your issue?

Dude what`s your issue

No issue l enjoy the site,but l hope the succes dosn`t make the people who run it complaceant.At the moment the subjects l follow are covered in so much detail l would end up having a divorce if i read them all.
I agree with Casse Clay that the post she detail is getting boring.It is inevitable that in time this could be repeated for other topics.The drive force of this site should not be it`s success in attracting an audiance and having them comment boring issues with no info to back up other than from excisting web sites.I believe that growth is better for B.T.S than this site as subject matter has a wider audiance where A.T.S is small and more speciallised.Sorry but this is probably a British way of thinking that big is not always sustanable.

Sorry these posts bore you. Im not sure why I am even replying since we won't be around to finish this debate