Why I hate the mud pit.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope

originally posted by: Liquesence
a reply to: eisegesis

Or the fact that this is not a public forum, in which case 'free speech' is not a right.

But that is beside the point.

Free speech is a principle. You either believe in it or you don’t.

I love free speech.

But it's a right in a public forum. ATS is not a public forum.

originally posted by: Liquesence

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope

originally posted by: Liquesence
a reply to: eisegesis

Or the fact that this is not a public forum, in which case 'free speech' is not a right.

But that is beside the point.

Free speech is a principle. You either believe in it or you don’t.

I love free speech.

But it's a right in a public forum. ATS is not a public forum.

Very true. And as a show of kindness they gave us the MudPit. It’s why I love this tiny corner of the internet.

The mud pit is a cancer on this site and IMHO it should not be here (But of course it IS my opinion so, take it with a grain of salt). If people want to act like they do in the mud pit there are plenty of other sites that will gladly host it.

ATS used to be above the cut. It has been a while.

It's not about censorship or free speech, it is about what avenues of expression ATS wishes to provide to it's users.
ATS does not need a boxing ring for when people feel the need to throw a few punches. If you really want that, sign up to facebook.

I love the mudpit.

There are mean people IRL.

I have been triggered a few times on here when I first joined.

Now I hone my skills.

Dealing with trolls is a fact of life, they are everywhere.

Lawyers and others will use your weakness of lack of emotional control against you.

People will antagonize you until you snap, for some reason it's engrained in people.


You got to learn some

"yeah that's not what your Mom told me last night" lines, or similar.

-shut em down like CNN filming their presidental eval tonight.

I don't have a problem scrapping in the pit then talking to the same member 2 min later about cool stuff.

It is cool to scrap with people with half a brain for once.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

This is a early contender for rant of the year.

I agree with you, there is no need for the mud pit as it has descended into a flame war battle royale. 'Clinton sneezed so let's impeach her!' or 'Trump shaved this morning so he's clearly in collusion with Russia!' that sort of thing. I'm the last person to wave the Trump flag but it's because he contradicts himself when it comes to policies, and I don't like Clinton because she clearly had no idea how to sell her policies-and that's what matters-policy. Personally I think they are both liars and hypocrites but I don't need to make a thread about it.

We already have political forums, the mud pit is just ATS' version of a midday talk show where people gossip and spew uneducated diatribe. We should be discussing how X affects Y and discuss what can be done, give credit when it's due, and criticize the errors that were made instead of delving into their private lives.

This is ATS, not TMZ.

Couldn't agree more. The Mud Pit has almost completely wrecked ATS.

I'd happily see it gone in a heartbeat. It's a disgusting place full of disgusting content that has driven huge numbers of moderate users away from this place, and brought in loads of 4chan style trolls to replace them.

Death to the Mud Pit.

originally posted by: DrumsRfun
Since its creation...the pit mentality is prevalent in most forums.
I could make a thread on balloons and you can bet some fool will come in with a Trump comment or something...you people are nuts!!!!

a reply to: DrumsRfun
When I joined people got posting-banned for insults, for only saying one line, and spamming repeat threads every day. And if they kept doing it their account got banned. But now, its the norm, and even rewarded.

Instead of thought out posts and respect for differing opinions people just get in predictable circle jerks and spam one-liners with no depth or even dumbf#k memes to roll in starrrrsssss ( = instant psychological gratification), and seeing a few people agree with them reinforces to be even more obnoxious. And as you said the worst is that is spills into EVERY OTHER FORUM. I joined ATS because it was different from prison planet, david icke, glp, 4chan, but its become a copy of them over the years.

Not even joking, after election a thread said nothing but HAHAAHHAAHA LIBERALS and got 100 flags, meanwhile brilliant works by mirageman and IIB get largely ignored. Golden Age Gone

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Great thread. I agree with every word. I DESPISE the mud pit and avoid it as much as possible. Granted some topics are only discussed in the mud pit so I have to wade in from time-to-time, though I try to be as civil as possible. Then you go into a US Political Madness thread to discuss actual Political Madness and some political troll comes in and just insults you not because of your opinions on the thread but because he knows your political leanings and it is opposite of his.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Now that's hawt.

originally posted by: DrumsRfun
a reply to: CharlesT

Apparently,so do you as well.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Kersplat!

And yep, people hardly notice how rude i am anymore and i blame the mudpit. Its just not cricket by Jove.

a reply to: skalla

I know what you mean! I made a mud-pit joke in a non-mud-pit thread and got a warning. I kinda knew it was wrong and yet it seemed so well placed at the time.

It was a thread involving hydrazine tanks. No really, Hillary too!

originally posted by: DrumsRfun
a reply to: CharlesT

Apparently,so do you as well.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Touche!

Well played sir, well played.

EDIT: as a side note (erm, OK the actual topic) you're right about the mudpit. ATS was never "like this" years ago, but I think it is more reflective of the total breakdown of polite society. All that's left is anger, resentment, hostility that is now on the verge of outright, unchecked hatred.

Some nights I am kept up late (today is one of those days) wondering about our future. Sometimes, including now, the hostility is so thick that one must realize even the smallest spark could set this entire ugly thing off. The worst part is I fear we may be well past the "point of no return"

Here is to hoping I am wrong though!!

I get it though. There are a lot of members who will exploit and abuse logical fallacies or argue semantics to deflect/devalue from logical and intelligence discourse.

Nobody ever wants to examine facts, discuss an issue logically or handle things like calm and rational adults. It is always go for the throat, and start spewing partisan nonsense.

I suppose that is all part of fighting an information war though.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Totally agree but I don't think "hate" is strong enough a word.

Stay classy? Many don't know what that means. To quote Metallica "sad but true."

I think it's subjective, when one side or the other is looking bad and getting pummeled in the mud-pit, that side seems to hate it, and political threads on ATS, members that don't agree with their side etc. But when they think their side is winning it's all good.

At least that's my take.

And yes, people and politics are that^^ simple and predictable. Wait a while and when "your side" is winning everything will be more tolerable, until of course it goes the other way again.

a reply to: ausername

That doesn't explain the lack of respect and decorum.

a reply to: intrepid


I respectfully disagree. I think it does.

You know when I was on ATS under my former account the posting was of higher quality.

I rejoined hoping that I could contribute quality content and made a vow that I would not author a single mudpit thread. Unfortunately that didn't keep me from wandering into the mudpit and posting in already present threads, but it's hard to avoid the mud since it practically spams the new page.

People have always had a suspicion of ATS being infiltrated and it's information getting compromised. Back at the time there was still great research being posted here and amazing dissection of the information and getting to the bottom of things and looking past pycyops used to divide people.

In a sense the mudpit is as effective as as any pcycop. If creates polarized oppositions, it fosters an us against them mentality, it creates division that prevents members from focusing on what they share in common and coming up with solution's through compromise.

It's as if the mudpit is the perfect manifestation of what old school people in the conspiracy community warned us about that fostering division is a tactic that those in the know employ and that it has been and will be used on us.