Forum & Site Discussion
Hello friends, fellow Slammers, or just the passing browser. Welcome to this issue's Forum and Site Discussion section. Adam has relinquished control of this section, and given me the headship. So, what do we have to offer you this month? Well, for starters, Richman99 has brought you a new feature, which we hope to see more of in the coming months, his Forum Spotlight, this month - The Debate Room. Im Kyle, too, has written about the Debate Room, in his detailed article on Forum Debating, thanks to both of you for your work 
-Jamster
Forum Spotlight: The Debate Room - By: Richman99
The Debate Room is a sub forum under “Everything... Not RuneScape” where one can debate over different topics. One can find all debates here, from fast food discussions to smoking bans. Recently, a brand now topic has started, which has filled the entire Debate room. While this article is to focus on the Debate room, this new topic has spread throughout the sub forum, General Chat, and many others.
This topic is religion – discussing God and what one believes. Some topics focus on asking others for logical proof of God. Other topics ask the question, “If we had no religion, would the world be a better place?” To some people, these topics are definitely offense and cause massive flaming. Think about this: If one believes in God and prays to him so much, and other member starts preaching that God is not real, would this one member become angry? Most likely, yes. This process has started many flame wars.
One big topic that started the flaming was a topic entitled, “Islam”, made by a well-known former, Wazir. It's about the county and its religion. It was no surprise when the flaming started. The flaming stopped eventually, but nonetheless, it did start.
There are other problems with religion topics, too. Sometimes, when one topic of religion is created, more are created after it. If one forum member makes a topic about God, focusing on a main idea and a couple of couple of small ones, another person will start a brand NEW topic about one of those small ideas. This will cause religion topics to grow and grow.
It is true that religion topics have slowly decreased, but there are still plenty of topics left. Personally, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if religion topics would once AGAIN flood the Off-Topic Discussion Sub-Forum. These religion topics aren't just a pain to the normal members of Sal's, but more to the Moderators. If a member gets annoyed by reading and seeing how abundant the religion topics are, think about how the moderators feel.
They must receive so many reports due to the flaming. A few moderators, such as Dani, have started to close many religion topics, after making a post of some other resources you can look at to improve your debate. Topic finished. This way, the debater acquires the information he wants, while the Debate Forum is rid of one more religion topic.
As you can see, religion topics are a big issue in not only the Debate Room, but in the whole Off-Topic Discussion forum. From my personal view, I encourage forum members not to make more religion topics, for it only adds to the mess. All it will gain is disrespect from your fellow forumers.
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Forum Debating - By: Im Kyle
Answer this! The question is… why? In an online forum such as Sal's, what purpose does this countless number of debates serve? Are religious and moral debates really worth your time? The figures definitely point towards an astounding yes, as debates covering topics such as atheism, abortion, and capital punishment lead to a swarm of responses, despite having been posted and discussed a number of times.
So why do these threads build up such massive amounts of heated replies? What does everyone continue to post for? There's got to be a reason or two behind it. Well, the reasons could be various. Here I will organize a list of different possibilities why some people may choose to press the Add Reply button in a debate thread:
- To stir things up, arouse anger, and cause controversy. This is normally done for some sort of odd personal entertainment, and should probably be ignored when recognized.
- Because you've heard about the subject before, and feel like contributing a little something.
- Just to point out some facts, correct some errors other people make, and maintain a relatively passive role.
- For the sake of enjoyment, not really to prove one way or another, but just for the purpose of intelligent discussion.
- For overall improvement. To learn better tactics to support yourself, how to maintain your confidence, how to construct what you say, how to refute your opposition, etc.
- To learn, gain a better understanding of the topic at hand, and hear what other people think about it.
- To argue to the death, what you believe. Some beliefs can be so strong that people may make it their personal goal to protect them and convince as many people as possible that they are correct.
Now this list isn't fully comprehensive, and several people will most likely participate in a debate for a combination of a few of the above reasons (and possibly some other ones). Unfortunately, debates don't always consist of contributions for the more positive reasons, and usually involve heavily biased points and very strong opinions. This is when debates can lead to a stalemate, because they really do not progress beyond a certain point.
"Opponents fancy they refute us when they repeat their own opinion and pay no attention to ours." This quote points out a tremendously frequent problem encountered by online debates. Simply restating one's own opinion while showing very little concern for the opposing beliefs is a good way to lead to the aforementioned stalemate. This problem leads to yet another error people often make.
"Those who never retract opinions love themselves more than they love truth." The reason for the previously stated problem is mainly because people have become so opinionated and 100% confident in their own beliefs that they don't even acknowledge the opinions of another person. They “know” they are correct. The problem that stems from this is the inability to change your own beliefs in light of a strong counterargument. Some people will simply refuse to alter what they think, despite all evidence to the contrary. It shows a true sign of open-mindedness and humility if you can accept your own errors, and admit when you are incorrect. Take that to heart.
In light of these ideas, the Debate Room has the potential for change. However, it is up to you (yes you!), and everyone else who enjoys venturing into that section, to help make those changes take place. Take it upon yourself to stay out of the debate traps people often fall into, and with that, you will be able to ask yourself a new question:
Why do people choose to participate in an online debate? How about… why not?
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