ii) Don’t just ask questions. Bring something to the discussion.
Asking “WOAH…LIKE…COULD WE BE LIKE…IN THE MATRIX???” does not make you a philosopher. Honestly. Asking questions is great, as long as you have studied to some extent the topic that you are talking about. Have the decency to go and read some philosophy before asking questions that any old schmoe could ask. There’s no need to try and look cleverer than you actually are, this isn’t a contest. We’re here to educate and be educated.
iii) We are not here to do your homework
If you haven’t done your essay due in tomorrow, you’ve come to the wrong place. Organise your time better, read some books, copy someone elses essay. Whatever you do, just don’t come here.
Jeez, you guys. He isn’t asking about ontology, he’s asking about PROCESS ontology. And he’s tried, by golly. So help him out.
The question is: is there something inherent in process ontology, such as the process contended by Whitehead, that warrants confusion, by virtue of it’s logical deficiency, and if not, is there a clearer way to encapsulate the contention than either Gmmmr04 or I have found online. By the way, nice name. People are going to think you are me in disguise, because my alteregos are always an anagram of Gamer, and I’ve had three thus far…I swear to God and on my children that I am not Gmmmr04.
I had a similar question back when about Whitehead which was ignored, probably for similar reasons. I guess ILP fails to realize that It is something of an authority, with a special talent for candid clarification, and a special obligation that goes along with it.
No. ILP is a sausage grinder that places innocent queries and investigation between the curious gears of poster ridicule and robotic rule application. What is pressed through such grinding is a homogeneous mash of chopped up thought, blandly seasoned, high in fat content, and slipped into animal casings, to be tossed by Imp into the Mundane Babble pile of delicious animal products. Next…
Perhaps there’s a PROCESS involved in having a system break down and rebuild itself. An opening and a closing. Perhaps we can leave our confused friend with a little dot of light instead of let past poisons draw the road ahead. Perhaps we should see the past poisons as part of the road ahead, a necessary part. I will always be an optimist, and I refuse to believe any philosophy forum, including the lyceum and academy, had no underbelly like ours, where we spoil our cake arguing over the candles, which burn out near the incidental wind of oblivious tirade, wishes wasted. Just answer the question Dunamis. I feel a good year coming on…coming at you.
Like a tidal wave. Coincidentally, I had just PMed ben an hour before your response, about the ridiculousness of this “no questions without statements” rule and the mindless and conspicuous way it is enforced – cutting off discussion, rather than sponsoring it. Your good-hearted observations fit hand and glove, interestingly enough. Feel free to PM ben as well.
“What is pressed through such grinding is a homogeneous mash of chopped up thought, blandly seasoned, high in fat content, and slipped into animal casings, to be tossed by Imp into the Mundane Babble pile of delicious animal products.”
I ate that in Prague a few times and it was great.
I agree to some extent the ‘do my homework for me’ posts are annoying. I also think they hold the same conversation-starting potential as any other OP. A thread’s success depends on its responses, not the OP per se.
I withdrew my outright criticism of the process, PMing ben instead. I also PMed an answer to the question to the poster, who no doubt has left the site very likely for good. Only when Gamer coincidentally concurred did I step forward again with my thoughts. Your post was germane to the post itself, and by deleting it you proved that moving the post cuts off discussion. I really don’t see the problem with people bringing homework to the forum. What is the threat? Will there suddenly be 5 mind/body questions floating around on the forum. Wow, that sounds dangerous. Imagine that, philosophy questions being asked on a philosophy forum. I say, better than endlessly confused posts drifting about. Each homework seeker is a potential contributor to future threads – if handled kindly. And these kinds of questions are the perenial sort of which philosophy is made. If it bugs you that a question is asked, ignore it, and it will sink to the bottom quite quickly. If a moderator has any function it would seem better to encourage posters to express something more, rather than repeating the “rules” like a recording, “Sorry, ILP is not home right now. At the sound of the beep, please leave a well thought out thought and we’ll get back to you. In the meantime enjoy the Mundane Babble elevator music as we transfer you.”
As you all have already mentioned a thread can develop well, so how one is started isn’t really important.
If these kinds of deletions are done to ‘save space,’ I would suggest letting them remain on the boards for a certain period of time, then delete them if they do not develop.
Also, the greater the number of members, the more likely are donations, which Ben should want naturally. With this in mind, even though every once and while a student stops by temporarily to get some information, they are more likely to stay and become an active participant if we respond to them, hence, increasing the chances of donations.
And another thing to keep in mind is that if Ben or the staff want to help promote responsible and honest study of philosophy, it ain’t going to be by refusing to answer questions posted by students. They’ll find the information elsewhere.
When you and I start agreeing you know that a third of the stars are about to start falling from the sky.
It also comes down to this. By outright refusing questions by rule, what is promoted is statements. Statements of how things are very well may form an aspect of philosophical discourse, but more valuable are questions. If more people asked and pondered, and fewer proclaimed, perhaps this would be a more interesting site.
You know what? Thank you. You’re absolutely right. I succumbed to the pressure of prestige, the ‘ILP Legend’ mistique. I’m still very much a noob here, and actions such as this one in question will fade once I am more comfortable.
