What should the board look like

[Danny]

Apr 2, 2024 18:26:51 GMT athena said:

Re whether the forum generally is welcoming or off-putting
For me the biggest turn-off is easily the biologically illiterate posting about Covid. As a biologist I found it literally unbearable to read -

unfortunately as you say you hide my posts you wont be able to see this, but others might.

It might have been very helpful indeed if you could gave shed light on where the debate was going wrong, because personally i am by training a physical scientist and do not see it myself. Rather, what i have seen is where the nominal experts hired by government were going wrong in ignoring or over trusting data. Nor was anyone bringing forward stuff to refute my own arguments, so no one else had expertise we lacked either. Especially since you feel we were collectively so egregiously wrong.

what I did read was so riddled with nonsense and basic misunderstandings.

As i say, unfortunate then you did not head off 3 years of debate, because i have always been interested in flaws in my own arguments but people cant find any! Alec for one, gave up trying years ago and similarly refuses to engage in debate again, indeed our situation has become fossilized because no new evidence emerges. The one thing to be certain of is that in 100 years time society will say what idiots we were in how we handled covid.

I think that allowing it is irresponsible. I've asked myself whether I should be reading and contributing to a site that tolerates so much misinformation on this subject, given that at least some of it is potentially damaging to health and I did debate whether I had a duty to try to get it taken down - if I'd been reading during the earlier days I probably would have felt obliged. In the end I decided that because the site's readership is so small and few people seem to heed the mountain of Covid rubbish, I could simply ignore it.

With respect, my own motivation in posting was because of the obvious methodological incompetence of much published by government, a good deal of which has now been admitted as propaganda not science, intended to scare the public into acquiescence with rules. Do you agree?

Im sorry, but my own belief is matters can only ever be decided by open and honest debate where everyone brings forward the facts they think important. Thats how Wikipedia does it. Thats how science does. Its not how any nation except maybe sweden tried to handle covid. If some arent willing to join the debate, then their perspective will be missed.

What made me pause before deciding to contribute to the forum though, was the amount of personal criticism, sometimes descending into insult or mockery. I concluded that there was a way to reduce my risk of being subjected to it, but I do think a thick skin is helpful and the forum would be a less intimidating place without the personal judgements. However presumably there are other contributors who regard these - along with the friendlier chit-chat and the irrelevant football stuff (would it really kill the football fans to use the sports thread?) - as part of UKPR2's idiosyncratic charm and in the end the forum's tone is the product of the collective membership's contributions.

You are absolutely correct the forum has been allowed to become an utter bear bit in a manner anthony wells would not have permitted for one second.

I never use personal insults, but many consider it a tool of debate. A way to annoy people so much they dont come back, discourage others from reading them or in great extremis get them banned. I see it succeded in silencing you, which is interesting because it suggests you are on my side of the covid argument at least.


This site should have absolute zero tolerance of personal attacks.

[Danny]

Apr 2, 2024 20:21:05 GMT mercian said:

athena
Wise words as usual.
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Re the ongoing Covid debate, I wonder whether there could be a rule that any non-polling related subject could only have say 7 consecutive days before posts have to go on their own thread? I'm just trying to think of something that doesn't restrict subjects too much, but reduces the ability of one or two posters to bore everyone else to death on a single subject without piling a load of effort on Mark. Better ideas welcome.

what counts as a non polling related subject?

Is it an issue which is not responsible for the current debt crisis?

Not responsible for the current deficit?

Not subject to an ongoing national enquiry?

Has not impacted the lives of every citizen?

Does not popup again regularly on national news?

What topics actually exist with more relevance to the current national situation than covid?

Brexit perhaps, which also pops up repeatedly and will continue similarly.

Covid remains one of the most important factors which will constrain the next government.

(Although i am inclined to agree its alec who seeks to portray this as an ongoing medical emergency which it no longer is, rather its an unresolved political management scandal)

[mercian]

Danny
Of course Covid (and Brexit) have had and will continue to have an effect on the economy and peoples' lives but when polls ask what subjects matter to people, they are both very low on the list.

[Danny]

Apr 3, 2024 11:32:53 GMT mercian said:

Danny
Of course Covid (and Brexit) have had and will continue to have an effect on the economy and peoples' lives but when polls ask what subjects matter to people, they are both very low on the list.

Interesting though that pollsters are still asking those question because they still think they matter? When did you last see a national mainstream political poll which did not reference groups according to their referendum vote?

[mercian]

Danny
I would say that pollsters ask that question because it is a way of seeing how an 8-year-old vote can give an indication of the views of around 50% of the population. It is notable that on a range of subjects the views of Leave and Remain voters are markedly different. That does not mean that the subject itself is still important to many people.

I would suggest that this discussion would be more appropriate on the main thread.