Moderation Questions and General Chat Thread

Moderation Questions and General Chat Thread

The last iteration of the moderation discussion thread was a complete disaster. Numerous attempts to keep it on topic failed, and it became a general discussion thread with almost no moderation related posts at all. And those that were posted were so buried in non-mod posts that it became a huge time drain on the mods to sort through them. Then, when off topic posts were deleted posters complained about that.

This led to the closing of the mod discussion thread, replaced by the post report/pm approach. This has filtered out lots of noise, but has resulted at times in the General Discussion Thread turning into a quasi-mod thread. This is not desirable, but going back to the old mod thread is also not a workable option.

Therefore, I have created this new moderation thread, but with a different purpose and ground rules than previous mod threads. The purpose of this thread is to provide a place for posters to pose questions to the mods about how policies are applied; to bring to the mods attention posts they think are inappropriate and reach the level of requiring mod action; and for mods to communicate to posters things like changes or clarifications to policies, bannings, etc.

Now let me tell you what this thread is NOT a place for. It is not for nonmoderation related posts, even if the discussion originates from a comment in in a mod related post. It is not for posters to post their opinions about other posters or whether a poster should be banned. It is not to rehash past grievances about mod decisions from months or years ago. The focus of this thread will be recent posts that require action now. Or questions about current policies and enforcement.

So basically, this is a thread to ask mods questions. Which means, pretty much that only mods should be answering those questions. If a poster asks why a particular post was deleted or allowed, only a mod can answer that. Everyone else who wants to jump in with their opinion or their mod war story needs to stay out of it. It just increases the noise to signal ratio and does nothing to answer the question.

Everyone needs to understand that this thread has very different rules than the old mod thread and any other thread. Any non-moderation post will be deleted on sight. Not moved to the appropriate thread, just deleted. So don't waste your time crafting a masterpiece post about wars or transgender issues or the presidential election and then post it in this thread. It will be gone. Also, this isnt a thread for general commentary about our mods performance. Posting "browser sucks as a mod" or any such posts that don't actually ask about a policy or request a mod action will be deleted. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the moderation of this forum. But this thread isnt for complaining about mods. You are free to go to the ATF forum and make your concerns about modding in this forum there.

So with that intro, this thread is open for those who need to bring questions about mod policies or bring inappropriate posts to the mods attention. Again, it is NOT a thread for group discussions about other posters or for other posters to answer questions directed to mods.

We'll see how this goes. If you have what you feel is an open issue raised in the General Discussion Thread, please copy that post or otherwise reintroduce the issue here.

Thanks.

30 January 2024 at 05:27 AM
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6491 Replies

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Have you gone busto a lot d2? Between the drinking and what little else I know of your life it sounds like you just had your foot on the gas all the time for a while.


by d2_e4 P

I'm saying if alcohol consumption causes him to become violent, or has other significant negative impacts on his life or the lives of those close to him, he is an alcoholic regardless of the absolute quantities involved. Conversely, some people can drink ungodly amounts on a regular basis and it has little or no negative impact on their lives; I wouldn't call them alcoholics.

So if he drinks once a week and alcohol makes him beat his wife once a week he is now an alcoholic yet the guy who can't stop drinking alcohol even though it's messing up his body but doesn't beat his wife is not an alcoholic?

Interesting definition of alcoholism.

Or, as George Best put it "in 1969 I gave up smoking, women, and alcohol. Worst 20 minutes of my life".

May this legend of a man rest in peace.


by Betraisefold22 P

So if he drinks once a week and alcohol makes him beat his wife once a week he is now an alcoholic yet the guy who can't stop drinking alcohol even though it's messing up his body but doesn't beat his wife is not an alcoholic?

It's a gray area. I was making the point that absolute quantity is only one of the considerations to take into account, and IMO, not a particularly important one. I wasn't advocating for the sort of absolutist interpretation you have made and I'm not suggesting my proposed definition would be useful at the extremes, as in your example.

Life messes up your body, which is why you die at the end of it. I'm not convinced that excessive alcohol intake messes it up more than excessive food intake, or coffee intake, or many other things when not done in moderation. I don't know how helpful it is to characterise everything that is bad for your body as an addiction or an "-ism" without some further qualification.


by Bubble_Balls P

Have you gone busto a lot d2? Between the drinking and what little else I know of your life it sounds like you just had your foot on the gas all the time for a while.

My vices are not cheap, but booze is not much more than a rounding error in that regard.


by d2_e4 P

My vices are not cheap, but booze is not much more than a rounding error in that regard.

I meant more, did this all gas no breaks lifestyle extend to poker/gambling as well.


by Bubble_Balls P

I meant more, did this all gas no breaks lifestyle extend to poker/gambling as well.

If you're asking, I assume you've read some of the threads where I discuss some of this stuff, so you probably already know the answer 😀


by d2_e4 P

It's a gray area. I was making the point that absolute quantity is only one of the considerations to take into account, and IMO, not a particularly important one. I wasn't advocating for the sort of absolutist interpretation you have made and I'm not suggesting my proposed definition would be useful at the extremes, as in your example.

Life messes up your body, which is why you die at the end of it.

I'm saying if alcohol consumption causes him to become violent, or has other significant negative impacts on his life or the lives of those close to him, he is an alcoholic regardless of the absolute quantities involved.

I agree with excessive food intake also destroying your body, food addiction is also a thing and being fat is also bad for you yes. Not entirely sure why this is relevant lol.

With that being said, your definition of alcoholism is obviously wrong.


by d2_e4 P

If you're asking, I assume you've read some of the threads where I discuss some of this stuff, so you probably already know the answer 😀

I actually don’t but it’s okay if you don’t want to rehash. I really wasn’t trying to rub anything in or something like that. I only know what you’ve mentioned here, that you did time and you hustled pool.


by Bubble_Balls P

you hustled pool.

that's one way to interpret it


Well, at least I’m revealing how honestly naive I am about d2’s past.


by rickroll P

that's one way to interpret it

Quick TLDR for someone who isn't aware of d2's past?

Edit: nvm reading his thread, love me a good degen story.


Not looking to turn this thread into an AMA. There are a couple out there already.


No worries


by rickroll P

that's one way to interpret it

Hustled pool, got hustled at pool, potato, potahto.


Not a bad read. You still as degenerate as back then?


by Betraisefold22 P

Not a bad read. You still as degenerate as back then?

Lol. Well, I haven't been locked up in 20 years. But probably. Hard to make exact comparisons.


by d2_e4 P

Lol. Well, I haven't been locked up in 20 years. But probably. Hard to make exact comparisons.

There's still time.


by d2_e4 P

I'm saying if alcohol consumption causes him to become violent, or has other significant negative impacts on his life or the lives of those close to him, he is an alcoholic regardless of the absolute quantities involved. Conversely, some people can drink ungodly amounts on a regular basis and it has little or no negative impact on their lives; I wouldn't call them alcoholics.

Essentially no one is drinking ungodly amounts on a regular basis with little or no impact on their lives - they just can't see it yet.

I honestly think it' pretty much impossible to just quit and suck it up without addressing whatever it is that gets folks to prefer to drink and stay drunk - and part of that is almost always depression. If/when you can overcome that, drinking just makes you drowsy.


^^ First sentence definitely not true.

Second sentence has never heard of bohemian lifestyles and hedonism.


Which part, how so?


Sorry, ninja edited with that.


If someone's alcohol consumption is almost all beer there's very little physical damage they'll do to their bodies unless they're on the super strength for decades.

The examples talked about here were heavy wine drinking which is another thing altogether - France had terrible cirrhosis and alcoholism problems for a long time.

Re. pleasure - some people just find life too mundane and people too reserved without alcohol adding an interesting randomising factor.


The people that are claiming that excessive alcohol is no worse than excessive coffee, or that people can drink ungodly amounts of alcohol on a regular basis with no negative effects, are seriously deluding themselves. I understand why some of you WANT to believe that there are no consequences for your bad habits, but we are talking about something that is basically just established fact.


by DonkJr P

The people that are claiming that excessive alcohol is no worse than excessive coffee, or that people can drink ungodly amounts of alcohol on a regular basis with no negative effects, are seriously deluding themselves. I understand why some of you WANT to believe that there are no consequences for your bad habits, but we are talking about something that is basically just established fact.

Are you sure that 8 beers a day is worse for you than 8 cups of coffee a day (physical effects on health only)? I have no idea, but I don't see that as an obvious fact.


by DonkJr P

The people that are claiming that excessive alcohol is no worse than excessive coffee, or that people can drink ungodly amounts of alcohol on a regular basis with no negative effects, are seriously deluding themselves. I understand why some of you WANT to believe that there are no consequences for your bad habits, but we are talking about something that is basically just established fact.

Depends what you're calling negative effects. Sure you're more likely to attend casualty with scrapes etc I guess especially early on in your drinking career but otherwise? The walking between pubs is valuable exercise that the Netflix crowd don't get. I once walked with a friend to his flat in SE London after a night out in the West End and it took ~6 hours (it was about 15 miles), and have done numerous pub crawls across town.


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