Hey all, I wanted to get back on the site for some discussion, but the new forums seem like a ghost town! Do the old timers still post here?
i wasn't even aware there were other forums besides this one
It is a scary, lonely place. Awesome that they have a philosophy section, though!
The action does still seem to be primarily on these forums, thankfully. IMO the new forums are a usability nightmare so I'm glad others are still posting great content on these forums.
New forums suck. Old forums rule.
.... Almost as much as the Tunnel Snakes.
"IMO the new forums are a usability nightmare"
I just looed at them...I agree. Look at every other forum...its very easy to use and alot of post are shown at once and each is organized into an easy to understand topic section.. sort of like the vb format. the new forums just don't make alot of sense in their design.
OK, looks like I'll be back on these! Thanks.
Yes this has been an issue basically since that new community went live. Many suggestions were made for improvement. But as you can see, it's in even worse shape than before. There was a small effort by the powers that be to publicize it and increase traffic in the beginning, but there never seemed to be even that same amount of technical support behind it. (It's possible there was, and it just wasn't enough, but as you can see through those threads linked above, and others on here, there certainly didn't feel to be much support or much of a listening ear from those in charge, according to the actual users). And why a site whose entire purpose is 3rd-party interaction and communication would not only go live, but be promoted, before it was essentially functional, no one has seemed to be able to figure out.
I'm not even sure how new users bring themselves to jump into that mess. I'm more than comfortable with tech, and even I find that forum to be too busy and confusing. It's just not worth trying to figure it out, and even if you did, it's easy to tell it would still be too annoying to try to use. I can't imagine how people who barely know how to send an email feel. But I think this thread sums up the sentiment, because remember, people finding that forum are generally going to be new visitors to Mises.org. And that is what they find when they click on "community".
I really do dig the independent philosophy section, though. Long ago, I was almost booted off of these forums for being a thread derailer and a troll, when really, I wanted to question some of the more fundamental underpinnings of people's conclusions.
Jackson LaRose:Long ago, I was almost booted off of these forums for being a thread derailer and a troll,
I'm actually starting to see why.
Another huge problems of the new forums is spam. They seemed to have solved the problem but recently my unwanted email folder started to fill with spam redirected from the new community.
Needless to say, despite being registered in the new community I seldom bother with it.
I am a LvMI paying member and earlier this year I sent in a donation for the explicit purpose of "improving online functionality". While I am fully satisfied with the proper mises.org website (more stuff than I'll ever be able to read) this half-hearted attempt at creating a new community is not what I had in mind. Perhpas when the December donation time comes I'll specify "Please, please, please either fix the new community or shoot it in the head".
LOL, why is that, because I don't accept your notions out of hand? What a wicked troll I am... "Snarl, snarl, I will potentially cause you to do some critical thinking, snarl"...
Jackson,
Those who cause any sort of unusual conflict or who are different enough to be out of the status quo in any sort of stable community are likely to insite something that could be considered "trolling" in one sense or other. Your style of discussions, mostly Socratic and questioning from what I saw on the other thread, makes people uncomfortable especially whent they want direct answers from you.
I would suggest trying to be more direct with what you believe whilst making it clear you don't want to incite conflict.
Neodoxy,
Thank you for your civility and understanding. I'm not comfortable with making assertions of fact based upon what I think I know. Frankly, I am too stupid. I thought passive, very controlled questions would allow me to achieve "non-troll" status. In older posts, you'll find that I am much more aggressive and confrontational, which is partially a reaction from being scoffed at over and over by forum "know-it-alls". I truly want to bring people to my level of "misunderstanding" if you will, so that I can potentially gleen some wisdom, or at least some answers that make sense to me. That's honetly all I'm doing! It amazes me that I'm being lambasted for abstaining from choosing some random opinion! I don't know what I think yet! That's why I'm asking questions!
If that's what you're doing then more power to you!
There's too much assertion making and too little understanding that goes on in every intellectual circle on earth. When I was first exposed to many of the issues spoken of around here I considered myself an expert after a little while. It was the stupidest thing that I ever did and it retarded my intellectual progress greatly. Realizing your own level of knowledge and intellectual capabilities is essential to any seeker of knowledge.
Just try to check on the style of your questions, people are not automotons who simply answer questions without any personal feeling or stance, and for this reason you have to watch your own style and phraseology. Do not resort to harsh language or open confrontation, especially when your return to the forums has been this recent, and especially not against someone who's as thorough, respected, and in his own way orthodoxian as JJ is.
Please try to stick with the forums. We need more real truth seekers, modest posters, and dissenters around here. But please be civil and understanding and attempt to avoid conflict as much as possible (yes, I do consider your little excursion with JJ on your ownership to constitute blatant epic fail in this regard)
LOL, yeah, I went a little nuts there, but I've still got some lingering shell shock from being picked apart by nirgrahamUK when I first started here. My problem is that I have a very caustic, sarcastic personality. It takes a lot of restraint for me to stay "civil". So when someone interacts with me like I'm a retarded child, it's really tough for me to keep my cool.