This channel will feel weird to new people at first, but it’s part of what makes our community special and different from all of the others.
This is a heavily moderated debate space. Expect to be moderated for every little infraction and dont get butt hurt when it happens, it’s not personal. Be concise, productive, genuine, polite and respectful. Be on the same side working towards finding truth.
Agreements to Participate Here#
No name calling (and that includes calling peoples positions, actions, or behavior names)
Take it to voice as often as possible. Video chat is even better. Text is one of the worst methods of discourse available. Seriously, this is to help you. If you have the capability in the moment to have the same discussion via voice, please do so. The quality of the discussion is almost always better. If you choose to stick to text, make sure you keep the weaknesses of text conversations in the forefront of your mind. Don’t infer malintent or bad attitude in the other person’s words that may not be there.
No trolling. Engage honestly and earnestly. No tit for tat’ing or taking shots.
Keep debates between two people at a time. Too many cooks in the kitchen makes it go all over the place and nowhere at the same time. If you have a topic specify who you want to discuss it with or ask for a volunteer.
Create threads in discord to help keep different conversations separated. This two person max requirement also requires that when you are done in a discussion remember to signal that so that others know it is safe to step in. This can be a simple “I’m done.” or “I am exiting this conversation.” or even just the door emoji: 🚪 If you see the door emoji from other people, it’s not them being rude or saying that they’ve won the debate and are walking away—it’s them stepping back to allow someone else to continue the conversation.
If you are not one of the two current debaters and have comments, disagreements, thoughts, or discussion points put them in main chat for people to discuss with you as they watch the debate going on in Meat and Potatoes—or create your own thread inside Meat and Potatoes and invite the person to discuss it with you there later. Don’t expect them to respond to your new thread until later when they can focus.
Speak or type and break for replies. Try to avoid typing your points in multiple short messages that people will have to respond to individually spagettifying the chat and making it hard to follow. If in voice say when you are done talking so the other person knows when they can speak without interrupting you.
Do not interrupt. Do not filibuster. Do not drone on and on. Make your point concisely and hand it off. Vlog somewhere else. The only exception to interrupting should be asking a question to get a clarification or stopping a straw man in progress. This is not carte blanche to take the mic back and start talking again. Say “point of clarification” to get the mic long enough for one or two sentences to ask your question or clarify before letting them continue.
What passes for debate on the rest of the internet is a sewer made to generate dopamine. Here we are adults and we’re actually trying to learn if we’re wrong about something, and that requires listening. Being heard is a service purchased from others with the currency earned through providing the service of listening.
Winning is finding truth, even… especially if that means finding out that you were wrong. Winning is not being right. Not dominating the conversation. Not making the other person want to leave.
Logical fallacies are for the commies and other irrationals—neither belong here.
Try to tackle one topic or point of debate at a time. State or acknowledge when moving on.
No memes or react gifs and images—discord reaction emoji’s are acceptible as long as they do not become rude or distracting. If one of the participants request it to stop, respect that.
Take conversations that arent debates elsewhere. This channel is reserved for debates only, and rule number 4 may prevent others that want to debate from using the channel if they see people already active in it.
No AI debates. Do not copy past or link to what your AI told you. Make your own arguments. AI is a fantastic tool, but that’s not what this channel is for.
If the bot or a moderator posts a message reminder to follow these rules that you agreed to here, consider it a courtesy final warning before you lose access to post in the channel. If you lose access to the channel, reread the rules, mention to a moderator that you realized which one you violated, apologize, and you will most likely be granted access again.
This list may change. Consider checking it before participating if you’ve been away for a while.
How to Get Access to This channel#
On Polynom access to post in this channel is open to everyone because we havnt had many problems there.
On Discord you must read and show that you understand and agree to follow these rules by reacting to the post in the “welcome-rules” channel.
If you find that you have lost access to this channel it is most likely because you forgot these rules. Its usually not a permanent severe thing; just reread the rules, mention to a moderator that you realized which one you violated, apologize, and you will most likely be granted access again. No worries. Repeated problems will of course make your loss of access permanent. Severe problems will likely result in a server ban.
Definitions and Premises#
The following are the basic definitions and presumptions for discussions in this room. Consider these debates “already settled”. Some limited debate on these points is fine but it should not dominate the room. If you see a problem or something that should be added contact an admin.
- Truth: That which is logically consistent (conforms to rules of reason) and congruent with the evidence (accurate to reality).
- Logic: Objective and consistent rules inductively derived from the consistency of reality.
- Valid: A statement that conforms to logic.
- Accurate: A statement that conforms to reality.
- True: A statement that is both valid and accurate.
- A = A: Reality is objective and consistent.
- We exist.
- Our senses have the capacity for accuracy.
- Language has the capacity for meaning.
Grahams Hierarchy of Disagreement#
Exist primarily around the top of this pyramid and you’ll do fine here.
No Due Process#
General Warning After A Series of Frustrating Situations: If you break these rules or shit up the place you may be warned once, you may just get banned… You might also just lose the ability to use these channels. We dont owe you due process. Make this server a better more friendly productive place or GTFO.