Attention All Political & Religion - Smosh Posters

The following set of rules applies, in addition to the standard set of rules (pretty obvious rules, too), to this forum. They are meant to be followed by each and every member, regardless of their status, number of posts and/or any other discriminating factor, including nationality.

Commandment #1: Use informative thread titles/descriptions

It is vital for many to know which debate they will join when they decide to view a thread; in essence, a thread title should be objective, unbiased, and should be considered as an abstract of the first debate post.

Good example: Communism, is it an utopy? (Description: Would such an ideal be achievable?)
Bad example: Communism sucks (Description: i is retarded)

In the first example, the thread title quickly summarises the whole debate in 5 words, without dictating an opinion: it is open to discussion, on both the utopical nature and the achievability of this utopy.
The second one, however, would lead to non-constructive posts, such as "Yes it does", or its negation. Plus, the topic description would seem offensive to only a part of the forum, the one in disagreement with the thread. This is why this kind of topic should be forgotten.

Commandment #2: Post constructively

The commandment title says it all by itself, really. No-one is here to read a one-worded post such as "Yes" or "No", or even something along the lines of "<something> rocks!". Posting constructively means that the post you are making should nudge the debate forward in a specific direction, instead of either repeating (echoing) other posts, or waffling.
Feel free to refute, agree, expand on other people's theory, but in all cases, follow all the rules written below.

In the case of an idiotic poster with no intention other than to spam or cause trouble, disregard the post and notify a moderator. Do not quote the spam.

Commandment #3: Have a good argumentative dynamic

This is something that you'll never see, even in a high school english lit. essay. However, it is absolutely vital when tackling tough concepts such as a politics notion. In essence, it encompasses three simple rules:
- One proposition = one or more sustaining examples
- Thesis, antithesis, metathesis syntax. In other words, try to view all possible aspects of what you are saying, and find the weak points of your arguments.
- Do not use undertones to add something to the argument. This would make an argument seem authoritarian, thus destructive.

Commandment #4: No insults

It is impossibly easy to disagree with someone, especially during a debate. However, like you, the other person is human, and deserves respect in both his opinions and his persona. This is why it is vital never to insult someone, or even to try to blindly convert someone to your "side" in an argument.

Commandment #5: Near-perfect spelling

Improve on your spelling as much as possible, since you have to remember that most people will be unwilling to tackle even the simplest post if it is written in an unintelligible set of letters and spaces. Whilst it may make sense to you, not all members have as mothertongue the english language.

Commandment #6: Validity of arguments, and logic

Whilst it may seem to some members that their logic is flawless, some posts (or even many, shall I say) use a flawed logic. Three kinds of logical progressions never to use:
- Circular logic; in other words, the conclusion of your argument is used as a premise for it. This is the famous "God & mind" example of Descartes: God exists, because I can think of it. I can think of God because he exists.
- Invalid arguments: an invalid argument is an argument that allows all initial conditions to be true, but the conclusion of it to be false. For example, if I say that all ants are green, unless an ant is always green, my argument is invalid.
- Righteous induction: never ever go from a statement of "it is like this" to "that's how it should be". This constitutes the biggest logical fallacy in the whole of philosophy after the problem of induction.
If you are unsure about one of your arguments, feel free to drop me a PM and I will make sure that it is valid and sound for you.

That's all for today. If you feel that a specific rule is missing, feel free to PM me or any moderator.

Failure to comply with the above guidelines will result in a temporary suspension.

anima (based on Flying Dutchman's original rules)


Edited by Kristandex- 3/19