Forum URL:
The address of this forum on Delphi is http://forums.delphiforums.com/skepticheretic/start.
Purpose of the Forum:
To examine — critically and skeptically — many issues within the sciences and humanities: mathematics, philosophy, religion, history, anthropology, linguistics, conspiracy theories, the paranormal, metaphysics, etc. Virtually no known field of study is off-limits!
For Anyone Not Clear On The Subject:
This is a discussion forum! That means you must be willing to discuss what you post here. Some visitors are under the impression that they can just post their beliefs and ignore any follow-up. This violates forum Rule #2 (see below), however, and is not acceptable. See also Rule #4.
Code of Conduct:
Posting here implies that you agree to these rules, which are rather simple:
- No “flaming,” insults, or rude conduct toward others. Courtesy is expected — anything less won’t be tolerated.
- No pontificating, proselytizing, preaching, “Bible-thumping,” or pronouncements of doom. This means declaring your beliefs more than once, without engaging in follow-up discussion. If you do this, you will be locked out, and your messages deleted.
- Prepare to support any extraordinary claims you make. If (for example) you claim that all world leaders are extraterrestrials in disguise, you’ll have to back that up with references.
- Expect that anything you say, here, will be commented on by someone. This is not personal. Some of us learn only by asking questions of others and engaging in dialogue. It’s very effective; dialectical education has been with us since the rise of the ancient Greek philosophers. If you want a “soapbox forum,” there are others on Delphi which will accommodate you.
- Do not copy-&-paste material from other Web sites, not even with permission. Long messages are a pain. Instead, quote the first 1 or 2 paragraphs, and provide a link to the rest. You can also summarize the material in your own words, then provide the link. Messages which violate this rule, will be edited down or deleted.
- Many of you have long, elaborate signatures on Delphi. You may not realize it — or even care — but they’re problematic. They make load-times very long for those on dial-up accounts, and some can hang browsers (for some reason). They also make scrolling through messages very cumbersome. We ask that only short signatures be used here. If you have a long one, you can bypass it, for each message you post, by clearing the signature-text box in the message-editing window.
- Understand that not everyone will agree with you. If you get aggravated, make use of Delphi’s “Ignore” feature (you can ignore users, or discussion threads).
- Humor and off-topic discussions are OK, as long as they go in the appropriate folder.
- Spam (i.e. messages that have been blasted to many forums) is not acceptable. It will be deleted. If, however, a spam message engenders a discussion, it will be preserved in the appropriate folder.
- You’re free to delete your own posts, but please notify the forum when you do, so that we know why. Sometimes “cranks” come in and clutter up forums with deletions.
- Anyone who is locked out, but returns under a different login — otherwise known as a “sock-puppet” — will be locked out again, and all his/her posts deleted. We can keep it up as long as you can, so don’t bother trying.
- Issuing threats of “eternal damnation” by believers is evidence that they have run out of ideas. If the issuer of the threat does not immediately redeem the discussion by moving on to something more substantive than these threats, the discussion is concluded, and the thread may be closed.
- While politics (of all countries, not only the US!) may come up, now and then, understand that this is not a general-politics forum. If that’s what you want, there are plenty of those on Delphi. We recommend our related forum, Ragged Resistance/News & Politics.
- Moderators must be able to get hold of you privately. This means you must have a valid, working email address in your Delphi profile, and you cannot spam-block moderators’ email addresses. See message 643.1 for more information. If we must email you and the message bounces, you may be locked out of this forum.
Thanks for your cooperation, and have fun!!! |