Originally Posted by phild707
Ozchess should not discourage robust debate however, whether people are prepared to accept it or not, there is a genuine attempt being made here to create an environment where people can have rational arguments, rather than "flamewars" as we all know from experience they are worthless exercises unless you enjoy watching other people tear shreds of each other.
if it is a genuine attempt it is a struggling one
i am all up for rational arguments devoid of personal attacks but the other side must be prepared to play ball too
and this site is awash with severe failures in that regard
For that reason I would think that personal insults should be avoided as should be deliberate attempts to obstruct useful discussion by haggling over the precise meaning of simple every day terms.
well here we have phil saying personal insults should be avoided while at the same time he drops hints that someone is obstructing useful discussion
and it's not that hard to guess who he's dropping hints about, even though he doesn't say
so in a sense, the above is a personal insult in itself, even though it doesn't name the person
not too good a start for his proposal
nor is his reference factual
i actually
wasn't haggling over the everyday meaning of "civil"
i know full well what the word means in ordinary usage
i was just pointing out that firegoat's usage of it is not the same as that everyday meaning
indeed it is not even close
at least not consistently
as such it would be helpful to understand what he
does think the word means
or perhaps he just uses it and does not really know?