h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Morning all,

It seems that many posters have depaarted the Forum and fled to Ask the Community. Why?

We used to have perfectly acceptable debates here, whereas Ask was I thought, intended pureley for questions seeking information or answers.

It now seems to be the base for endless discussions about religion, and IMHO some fairly innocuous comments ( yes I am guilty too!), but I am puzzled that the penultimate post HERE was so long ago.

We are used to Topic Drift, but why this particular drift to Ask?

Novo

Was the play on words in the subject title intentional or a typo, novo? It's quite good in either case.

az

It was a very good forum, but then descended into a religion versus science zone. The same references, the same attacks, the same "arguments", ad nauseum. Along with snugger controls on language and ways, some left the site. Some just tired of the same-old, same-old personality clashes.

Feed a pertinent matter, and keep it away from science, morality and religion, and you may yet have a good debate going. Just my worth.

I think the problem is simply that people have been neglecting the forum. There's still plenty to discuss. I was thinking of starting a thread about the Zimbabwe elections; the only reason I haven't is that I thought I'd wait until the results have been declared.

I agree; there is (potentially) more life left in the old dog yet. Just involves people remembering it's here.

Acid set up the Forum four and a half years ago; that's a pretty good life for an h2g2 forum, really.

I'm subscribed: make a thread, and I may well have a rant on it .

If the discusions are on 'ask' rahte rthan the 'forum', does it really make any differnce, if they're the same type conversations/threads anyhow? Before the 'Forum' all threads really were based more or less about 'Ask' both the serious and the not so and in depth and not so indepth differnt areas always wain and often just spring back with no particular logic or reasoning as to why, coudl just be as simple as one particular researcher having a few busy RL months and not posting so much

Echoing the sentiments above:

An interesting topic would be posted.

The usual suspects would come along and make the usual arguements (very well phrased, and scientifically backed up etc etc)

But no-one was ever moved to change their minds on anything, so every thread quickly degenerated into a slanging match between entrenched opponents. An erudite one, certainly, but a slanging match nonetheless.

I'm still subscribed, but in lurk mode.

"I'm still subscribed, but in lurk mode."

Ditto.

TRiG.

Yes me too. Still subscribed. I do, nowadays, exit stage right when I detect hidden agendas and chippy shoulders.

Shouldn't this be on Ask?

I tended to follow stuff and not post because I didn't think I really knew enough on the subject, or just thought I couldn't produce a particularly coherent post . Recently I've got lazy and, though I'm still subscribed, I don't tend to follow many discussions.

Next thread title could be Why so many Meta-Conversations?

I think that people post in Ask because there are more posibilities of being read. That´s all.

I, too, am still subscribed as a lurker, though I've been menaing to unsubscribe for some time but am too lazy to do so.

I used to like this place, but then it turned into a cabal of UK-centric pro-choice militan atheists stroking each other's egos, plus Novo. Ask h2g2 tends to garner a broader and more interesting range of answers.

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From what I've heard on the radio in the last few days, it's a mess! The latest was that a deal was being struck for Mugabe to "go", and now, they're saying that they will be waiting for results - yet yesterday, they said there was a result!

Vicky

Well, the MDC have made it clear in the past that Mugabe was a dictator and that election were a waste of time; they said they only contested them because their supporters insisted. And yet now they're claiming "victory" in the elections they said were a pointless exercise.

It's possible to say the MDC were hypocrites but I don't think it was hyperbole, we all saw that happened to their leader when Mugabe's goons got their hands on him. My personal theory is this: Mugabe was stung by opposition accusations and so decided to hold a free election but he had his goons police polling booths (opposition supporters claim police were mysteriously present at booths to "help voters with disabilities" which backs this up) and also relied on his large support in the country hoping that the two combined would hand ZANU-PF a clear victory so he could claim that an election had taken place and the opposition had lost. However, this gamble appears not to have paid off with anti-Mugabe feeling running so high that voters were pretty-much jumping through hoops to vote for the opposition.

However, I really can't see Mugabe stepping-down. He faces being charged over... well pretty much every abuse he's carried out whilst in power. When dictators step-down they usually cover their backsides and, depressingly, there are talks of a "deal" being struck. If true, it almost certainly means Mugabe securing immunity from prosecution in return for conceding power.

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This 'deal' is what I've been hearing contradictory things about on the radio...

Tgcom Mediaset say Mugabe is 'dealing' with the transfer of power...whatever that means, and also that's there's risk of a coup...
http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/mondo/articoli/articolo407522.shtml


My son has a colleague who left Zimbabwe for the UK, and now here, who tried to vote in the election, but it was made clear to her that her vote and that of other overseas Zimbabweans would be ignored. No surprises there then!

I think Mar's right, in part due to the language controls which drove people off-site.

I lurk here , dont let it die , i am now pokeing the forum with a stick .


best fishes..tod

Those would be the same filters that were applied across the entirety of the BBC, and caused some to flounce? Thinking they were above such "nanny-state" stuff? That was a humourous time. But I don't think too many people with open minds and ability to actually debate were affected.