Well somebody was eventually going to make a post concerning the shutdown, and lemme just say this really sucks!!! ILP is great. I don’t know what to say
I really didn’t think that the site was that bad. 99% drivel ? bickering and disrespect? I really didn’t notice it that much. I saw it here and there. Well except for today I’m really not on the net all that much, so maybe I just wasn’t emmersed enough in the ILP culture to notice it… I don’t know.
I usually start my mourning with a cup of coffee, and a peruse through ILP’s forums. Make a post here and there, have a good thought provoking discussion. For threads that I really don’t see relevance to or thought were “drivel” I really didn’t pay attention to, but found that overall there was much that I was interested in. Anyways where too now?? I don’t know any other forums, ILP was really the only forums I ever post on, so where too? Anyone have any suggestions as to where I can get my internet philosophy fix from ?
That really does suck. What am I going to do now when I should be working on my PhD?
I didn’t notice “99% of drivel” either, yeah some bickering goes on, but I still feel there are some useful and interesting discussions that take place. What did annoy me was those who started craping on about the google ads being included. Who gives a shit about those ads really?
I have yet to see any internet forum (or any sort of human based comunity of any sort) free of bickering…but I certainly haven’t noticed it in abundance here.
I too am gonna miss this place. I have looked for a comperable forum, and turned up empty
Assuming the worst, that being that Ben doesn’t reconsider or that no one else takes over and leaves ILP as it is (I wouldn’t stay if ILP became as restrictive as other websites I have encountered)… assuming all that I have to say just how much this sucks.
I feel partly responsible, because I began one of those threads that discussed the ads, though I didn’t criticize it (I know that bandwidth costs money) I feel as maybe I opened up a can of worms.
Maybe I am being irrational. But I really, really liked this place. As Dr. S mentioned, you could search, and never find another website or other forums quite like ILP.
I have met some really great, opinionated, and intelligent folks here. Of course, there are some real boneheads too (myself being one of them). Still, I am saddened over this. Guess I will be sending out some Private messages to those folks I wish to stay in contact with, if ILP walks off into the sunset maybe some of us can relocate somewhere else.
But I cannot stress this enough, Ben, thank you. Even with the drivel (I know I made my share) ILP did have some great discussions, arguments, what have you. It also had a one of a kind atmosphere. One that, if ILP does close down, well it will live on in my memory at least.
Nothing against Ben, but what kind of environment did he think he was going to create? If he wanted a pure philosophy section, then he could whittle it down to only the heavily moderated forum. If he’s upset about THAT forum, which supposedly lets in only the philosophical heavyweights, then maybe he needs to leave his books and see that what he’s witnessed on his site is HUMAN NATURE and HUMAN INTERACTION (albeit via an artificial medium–that is, not face to face).
Ben, whatever you end up doing, I hope you learn a lesson in life from your site. I personally enjoyed it and thought it provided a valuable outlet for many people and allowed some very interesting “conversations.” Ben, if you ever find a “utopia” where you can get such “goods” without the “bads” of “bickering” and “drivel,” ummm…well, please don’t call me b/c it would be a somewhat boring, sterile place…it would definitely not be “humanesque”–and in my professions, I come across, evaluate, interact with, teach, consult with, and provide therapy in a far more “intimate” manner, and to a far wider range of people than most people could ever hope to do in a lifetime. And guess what: your forum is a very good reflection of the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people I am honoured to interact with in such a manner. And I consider myself honoured to have met and interacted with a few people here.
BTW, if anyone finds a good site like this (not necessarily philosophy…), please let me know (except for MPG…as I’ve mentioned before, my lifetime ban there is still in effect… Besides, notwithstanding a few GOOD moderators there, you may be surprised at what passes for “free speech” and “freedom of expression” and “freedom to point out hypocrisies”… ).
If it was Halloween, I would have offered this. Okay, I’ll offer it anyway:
From Orson Welles, “War of the Worlds” broadcast, 1938:
“So goodbye everybody, and remember please, for the next day or so, the terrible lesson you learned tonight. That grinning, glowing, globular invader of your living room is an inhabitant of the pumpkin patch, and if your doorbell rings and nobody’s there, that was no Martian… it’s Halloween” (Or April 1st, as the case may be).
God damnit… hahaha… you SoBs! I just poured my heart out in the philosophy section… thanks, now we look like asses. Course, I ended with a plea hoping this was a joke (when I noticed the date of ben’s post). Its still March here too
Pax, if you are messing with us… damn…
Oh man, you had me goin’ good… I was heartbroke there… Man, don’t know what I’d do without my daily dose of ILP! so relieved…
GCT, lol. That’s awsome! I was about to see if we could start a group fund to buy the domain
LMFAO Man I feel like an ass Still march 31st here too, and yes I do have to justify my own stupidity Well thanks for the laugh Ben, and thanks for the warning too. The first april fools joke always gets me because usually its pulled on me first thing in the mourning, when I have barely cracked my first yawn, but then I’m on the lookout So thanks for the prank, because Its easier to look like a moron on the internet then it is in real life.
I had thought of trying to get Ben to reconsider. Barring that, I was going to compile a list of people from this site that I respect and see about the feasability of moving off en masse to another site (if we could agree on one). Some of them I have never PMed before, and our only interaction is when we argue about something. Kind of strange in a way, that some of them could have thought that by my insistence on arguing with them that I possibly disliked them. I hope that is not the case.
But this should be… I mean at the least moderated by our own postings in a sense. Just as it is mentioned in the first few posts of this topic, “everywhere you go on the net you find the stench”
I have been reading here quite awhile before i ever started posting because i am very tired of running into it on most all forums (and i am not just talking about arguing or political stuff) but i mean people who just dont get it. On most sites you can not even trust people for what they say which sex they are.
Here i have read alot of you guys posts and have been, i see alot of people who are in the 500’s and over with the post count and i would just like to say this place is an exception. I am not smart enough to have graduated from out of the Mundane Babble section yet, but i surely enjoy reading in the more serious heavily moderated sections here.
I am aware of the date and the holiday, but still i wish to say i hope this site does stay around because the community for the most part is quite mature. Sorry for any blow-ups i may have had and being new here, but you may understand? i just did’nt expect it much from this site and i have been reading awhile.
D’oh! He got me! Hook, line and sinker. Assuming it’s an April Fool’s hoax, we are in the presence of greatness! Again, if it’s a prank, my only defense is that it’s 11:00 p.m., Mar 31st here. I wasn’t expecting to be goofed on yet.
Read Ben’s post - [size=134]Tidal wave of despair[/size]…
Looked at date -
Heart started beating again.
Please God don’t let this site disappear, when the site was temporarily down I wandered lost through other sites masquerading as philosophy/discussion forums… Emptiness and flummery.
I imeadiately thought the same - though I was going to include the people I didn’t respect too…
Seriously though, Ben et al, this site has gotten under my skin, permeated my bones - there’s little of me left, my marriage is now a shell, my child neglected, my job done poorly, my friends superceeded… All thanks to you.
ILP is great. I don’t know what to say
)
Well thanks for the laugh Ben, and thanks for the warning too. The first april fools joke always gets me because usually its pulled on me first thing in the mourning, when I have barely cracked my first yawn, but then I’m on the lookout 
