Is this board full of "conservative groupthink"?

Give it up. Have you forgotten who you are asking? You will get no answers. Just pages and pages of her rambling. She really isn't worth it.

Post 302!!

Eezer good!! Eezer good!! He's Ebineezer good!!

'Zat so?

I'd forgotten about it if that's the case.

Probably should unban them then...

Few things I wanted to touch on:

@Tamar: Early on you posted, essentially, that it was never established that cliques existed on WF. I replied to that post. I don't think you replied to my reply. Is that because you didn't see it, because you are dropping the matter, because you understand or some other reason?

@Sokar: While in no way endorsing what Garamet said, what she meant seems fairly clear (at least to me). She said that people who post real-life information about themselves risk having it thrown back in their face by their "enemies" and she coined the term "Sokarized" to indicate you are particularly guilty of doing this. That is not to say that you specifically did anything about Marathon or interracial relationships. It's to say (rightly or wrongly) that you do this. FWIW, I've only seen this happen in relationship to Garamet, but what do I know?

In general: It occurs to me that I should say that although I believe conservatives greatly outnumber liberals, I don't think the conservatives here are guilty of "groupthink." I think there is a wide range of conservative/libertarian views and that's one of the things I like about being here. It's not like "we have both kinds of political philosophy: conservative AND libertarian"!

Hmmm..... Yes's are outnumbering no's right now, 22-19. Guess some of our lurkers came by and voted - and the fact they feel that way may be why they lurk.

Sounds like a fine microcosm for the last two years of donkey controlled government. Despite having the majority in both houses, the elephants were still calling the shots.

Here's my considered opinion of that situation, if in fact your observation has merit:



































































I don't give a fuck.

This bioware fanboy says the board is just right.

Yeah, as it stands:

Groupthink: No.

The majority here being able to add 1+1: Yes.

By the way: This poll does not do what you think it does. The fact that the numbers are evenly split is itself the answer to the question. Groupthink would have had the numbers heavily or exclusively favoring one answer or the other.

I believe you have a reasoned definition of "cliques" but the people who throw the accusation around believe in hidden cabals of posters who plot day and night to get rid of people...and I don't believe there any groups like that here. The shifting alliances of rep crap are the closest thing but those don't last long.

I don't think a liberal would have a harder time than Nova did. When it comes to real, real life issues most folks here can set aside the ideology and become, if not supportive, at least civil in regards to that person's suffering. I know that I wouldn't have treated, say, Liet any differently if he reached out to me the way Nova did. I have had many private conversations with various WFers of all stripes over the years and any real life concerns far over-ride silly things like political and religious differences.

Actually, I'm no closer to anyone on staff than I used to be before they came on staff. I don't know why people believe we spend any time together off the board, but the fact is we do not (unless they are doing it without me.. ). It is only when big stuff comes up when we have to talk beyond what you all see come out of the Shelter. Slightly more often boring technical e-mails get passed around the Admins. WF mostly runs itself 95% of the time now.

Not exactly. Groupthink is not just a bunch of people who happen to think alike on some issue getting together. If pretty much all of those who attend a football game are people who like football and defend it as a reasonable sport, that is hardly a demonstration of groupthink.

Groupthink is not based on numbers but on ways of thinking. If there is pretty much irresistable pressure to think what everyone else thinks, that is groupthink. But if it just happens that "birds of a feather band together," that is merely human nature.

There is no "groupthink" here. There is a large percentage of conservatives, many of whom are very vocal and some of whom are very abusive. But the continued presence here of many who do not agree with them is proof that the phenomenon is not groupthink.

Exactly. And the poll, if only in a grossly simplistic way, demonstrates that.

^ Yup. But my point is that even if there was a huge majority one way or the other, that still wouldn't prove groupthink.

Dammit, non-public poll fail. FAIL.

Who cares? What difference does it make how everyone else voted in a poll of their opinions?

"Ha ha! Your opinion is different from mine! You are a total dumbass!"

Duh...
of course it does.
How else will half of them know how to vote?

I have to admit, I'm enjoying imagining the "yes" voters gnashing their teeth, knowing that the only way to prove you wrong would be to leave the board, but that it would cause them to lose every other argument by default.

In any board that has a strong political orientation one way or another is going to have third rail issues that guarantee a lack of intelligent conversation and bring out the mob mentality. Is that proof of groupthink, depends on what your definition of "groupthink" is or maybe what your definition of "is" is....

I gave you the opportunity to keep yourself from looking like an ass.

You weren't up to the challenge.

Predictable to the last.

Au contraire.....

I know, I know. I should have overlooked the fact that you've done nothing but troll and flame me since you joined and be nice to you because once - once - you asked politely.

But your posse's happy, so consider this another Self-Esteem trophy to add to your collection.

Fail.

So, all I've heard about this guy is he got chased away because he had some real life link with some other poster who was banned.

Who is goldeneye and what's his story?

No-one cares any more.

Congratulations on accomplishing the first step. Just know that we're all here for you as you complete the program.

Elwood was fucking Cheekymonkey, then they broke up, then Goldeneye was fucking Cheekymonkey, then Cheekymonkey said some smack about Elwood, then Tamar banned'em both, now Goldeneye is back, and I dunno if he's still fucking Cheekeymonkey.

That's about it.