How to have a sensitive forum discussion without it going boom

Just an absent-minded ponder: what could you do to have a conversation about one of the really sensitive forum topics without everything going wrong, people getting shouty and the thread getting closed / abandoned?

I was thinking something along the lines of all thread posters having to pass a test - their first post is to passionately, geniunely, non-sarcastically and without faint praise defend the position that's counter to how they feel. Not a brilliant idea but hey :)

PS. obviously, subject this thread to cautious editing judgement.

edited 21st Aug '12 6:16:49 AM by betaalpha

I'm going to say right now that I don't really see much of a chance of us ever implementing the system proposed in the OP, but we can have this discussion as a thought experiment.

Meanwhile in betaalpha's mind

edited 21st Aug '12 6:57:23 AM by DeviantBraeburn

That sounds pretty cool actually.

Doesn't work in a lot of cases.

Say you want to make a thread about discussing ways to prevent and get rid of pedophilia. How on earth do you come at it from the side of "Oh no, it's totally ok for me to screw children."

Doesn't work.

You could argue that it's the way things were done for centuries before the 20th century or so.

Granted I'm not advocating that, just trying to think of a way someone could defend it.

As for the OP I'm not sure if that would work too well. While you could probably defend just about anything it's very difficult to do that for most people.

In fairness just because your a Pedophile doesn't mean your a child molester.

Same. Not advocating, defending.

edited 21st Aug '12 11:19:45 AM by DeviantBraeburn

Don't do it on the internet.

I kid, but seriously. :( I wish I knew a better way.

There's several problems with that idea. Specifically, that in a lot of ways it's difficult to gauge sarcasm over the internet. Also in that I fail to see how anyone could "passionately" and genuinely defend a position they don't agree with. I know that some people can wrap their heads around and understand a position they don't like, but that doesn't mean they're inclined in any way to defend it. I think most people would simply choose not to participate in the forum rather than do that.

Basically, having that as a requirement runs counter to having a sincere discussion, and muddies up the waters for new users who don't understand the point of it.

It could be an interesting experiment though, might be worth someone making a thread.

I mean I don't think it would work, but it would be interesting to see how it fails.

Simple. Don't be an ass.

More seriously, though, it's hard not to get "shouty" when talking about a subject that affects you emotionally. But it's still possible to be civil. Basically, don't take things too personally, don't assume that disagreement implies dislike or hatred, and respect the right of others to have an opinion.

Easier said than done, though.

I think this forum tends to do a pretty good job of it. Even the threads that get locked, usually get locked after like 20 pages. I've seen forums where people get it such heated arguments that people ask to be banned. In my opinion, the key is not to be a jerk, to be open minded, have some empathy, think through the implications of what you're suggesting, and keep your really out there beliefs to yourself. Even if you are actually a nihilist who thinks that the human race shouldn't exist, keep that to yourself. All that does is get people angry and start a Flame War.

Attack ideas, not people. I think that's the only basic thing that's needed.

Oh, and help recognize, and enforce, when everyone needs to step back, and take a breath. Keep the brain from getting locked into "beating the other person" instead of "arguing a side."

edited 21st Aug '12 6:37:44 PM by DrTentacles

If there were some way to prevent people from posting in rapid succession on a thread, for example, once they have posted a reply they are blocked from contributing to the thread for X minutes in order to allow them to read what other people are writing and cool the urge to always get the last word in/have an emotional outburst. I'm not a technologically savvy troper so I have no idea whether that could even work or not.

That would still leave the common problem of having a large number of posters drowning out someone with a dissenting opinion, especially since the wait timer limits the posts that can be made by people on their side.

Plus, they can always edit their posts and use .

As someone who currently has to wait 10 f#cking minutes between posts. All I can say is that is a terrible, terrible idea.