Trolls, or trolling behaviour ...how do we deal with these isues as an online community?

Well, you're not on my ignore list - I like the way you post.

Thanks for the wonderful advice, Mame.

Yeah, well, why don't you take it???

Actually, hawkeye, threads were locked down in the "old" A2K.

I've already mentioned one example earlier on in this thread. It was locked because it was trashed by a poster.

The current "Lost & Misplaced .." thread is a replacement thread for an earlier version with a similar name. It was locked down, never to return. (For a whole lot of complex, hard to explain reasons, that aren't really relevant to this particular thread discussion. And nothing to do with any participants in this discussion.)

But these are just 2 examples of locked threads I personally know of, because I was the instigator of both of them . There were other examples, too.

(Please note: I am not advocating locking down threads in the current version of A2K, I am merely pointing out that you've got your facts wrong.)

Thank you for your important question, msolga. I believe in the marketplace of ideas. Some are tenable. Others are based on flimsy reasoning and data. When a topic is broached, there may be, and usually is, varied reactions to that topic. What does one learn? One learns that there are other opinions. One learns that, at times, those other opinions cannot withstand scrutiny when evidence is brought to bear--or, one learns that the idea or ideas are indeed valid since they cannot be rebutted.
I believe that "learning" can refer to the apprenhension of a statement made by an important authority or the examination of documents or the analysis of
varied writings. Not everyone, of course, has been privy to all there is to learn.
This is how we can help each other!

OK, but I have been on forums where seeing 5% or more of the threads locked is not unusual. I think you will agree that a2k did it rarely. This devotion to the principles of free speech is one of the many reasons that I love a2k.

HEAR, HEAR!

Well I'm sure you're not alone in that.

But I thought you had something more specific to say.

Not to worry.

But that's not what you were saying.

It isn't a very important point anyway, hardly worth pursuing.

I was saying that threads had indeed been locked in the past.

Thank u, Mame; I reciprocate the sentiment.





David

I am sorry that I was not more specific msolga. I will try again.

You seem to accept the idea of the marketplace of ideas. Let us begin there. This is from Wikipedia:

These concepts were based largely on the ideas of John Milton's central argument for freedom of expression, which was that the individual is capable of using reason and distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad. In order to be able to exercise this reason correctly, the individual must have unlimited access to the ideas of his fellow men in "a free and open encounter." From Milton's writings developed the concept of the open marketplace of ideas, the idea that when people argue against each other the better argument will prevail. He wrote, "Let all with something to say be free to express themselves. The true and sound will survive. The false and unsound will be vanquished. Government should keep out of the battle and not weigh the odds in favor of one side or the other." Milton's principles of the "self-righting process" and "open marketplace of ideas" were promoted by Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson took it to heart and argued that, "any government which can not stand up to published criticism deserves to fall".

Does that help??

Not really. Free speech is a relative notion. One might easily believe in free speech if one is unaware of what might be said and the implications of such things. I'm surprised that Thomas Jefferson said such a thing.

I regularly censor myself from matters that are already in the public domain. Libraries and school boards, TV and newspapers do not practice free speech. I could list a number of well known books which won't be in the libraries of educational institutions and probably not in any public libraries or the ordinary sort.

The Romantic Agony by Mario Praz for example and that is a book that is often referred to in the index of other books. The British Library has a rather ragged copy but there are no others except those in private libraries.

Assertions to the contrary are mere affectations.

And msolga definitely has no interest in free speech. She does not accept a marketplace of ideas in the slightest. And she uses methods of stifling discourse which are not dissimilar to those used by football hooligans: insults, false accusations and ignore concepts. One can only assume that with more power she would apply other methods.

There's a copy in the Chicago public library system too.

http://www.chipublib.org/search/details/cn/150681

i think i saw the movie

the devil in miss jones i believe it was called

I would expect there to be. I drew attention to that book because of its absence from all the other libraries here and also because of how innocuous it is. Has the Chicago library a copy of Eros Denied, the works of de Sade or Frank Harris's autobiography?

The list of previous borrowers of The Romantic Agony showed the reader before me was 3 years ago.

Ask for it map. It's interesting.

I've not seen that. Is it as bad as Witches of Eastwick?

quite probably

The Scottsdale library system (much smaller than Chicago), does not have "Eros Denied," but does have "Justine, Philosophy in the bedroom, and other writings" and "The misfortunes of virtue, and other early tales" by de Sade.


The former Steeler running back?

That's Franco Harris - even I know that (and I don't watch football - but I know that name).

*I figured I'd help you out in case these other people have you on ignore. Are you a troll?

Surprise, surprise. You must be a fan of Om's language logic, eh Mame?