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The Center Stage

Slim_X

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
47
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
3DS FC
4425-1928-1952

GwJ

Smash Hero
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
5,834
Location
Pennsylvania
NNID
Baghul
Few things:

1) In regards to your "Why is weed illegal?" post, you didn't actually debate anything. You just said you smoked weed once and cannot understand why it's illegal. By the looks of it, you did some research about it and found some websites saying why marijuana isn't bad for you, then stuck the information in your middle paragraph.

2) Someone did provide a counterargument, albeit a bad one, in the form of, "Actually I heard that there was a study recently that showed marijuana did kill brain cells over a long period of time." How come you didn't ask for a source to that information?

3) In regards to your cloning threads, that's a total mess.

3a) "I think it is wrong how they are cloning life and messing with the laws of life." What are the laws of life?

3b) "Remember that sheep they cloned, Dolly? She died of early age because the DNA messed her life up." Does that mean cloning's impossible because we didn't have it perfected when we cloned Dolly?

3c) "Soon they are going to try to clone humans, humans have souls a gift only given to us, you can clone cells/DNA, but not souls." You should have provided reasoning that humans have a unique part of their essence called a soul that is non-physical (and therefore cannot be cloned)


Remember that to debate something, you need to respond and counter-argue, not just spark a discussion.
 

CentaurJF

Smash Rookie
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
13
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Thor

Smash Champion
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
2,009
Location
UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
I'm not exactly clear what the challenge is in here, but I think I'd like to try to pass it.

I've joined a few different threads and their discussions, haven't made any yet. If making one is a requirement, then I'll go do that at some point and post back here later.

Threads I've posted in:

http://smashboards.com/threads/was-...bombs-on-japan-towards-the-end-of-ww2.318518/ I just have one post here but it's LOOOOOOOONG... a lot of thought and effort went into that post...

http://smashboards.com/threads/should-the-usa-be-the-policemen-of-the-world.306369/page-7 This is also a single post - no one really responded to it, although it does explain some of what I've done toward furthering my debate skills outside these halls (namely 4 years of high school policy debate).

http://smashboards.com/threads/probability-in-actuality.328876/#post-16496801 A few different posts in here.

http://smashboards.com/threads/thought-experiment-i-came-up-with-morality-and-epistemology.354263/ I placed a post in here too, trying to explain my reasoning and how I came to my conclusion..
 

#HBC | Acrostic

♖♘♗♔♕♗♘♖
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
2,453
@ Thor Thor and @ CentaurJF CentaurJF we'd love to accept both of you into the Debate Hall, but we only have one more opening we can give for the year. Maybe we could do something a bit more creative and have each of you run a devil's advocate case why you feel that the other person has a stronger case as to why they should admitted into the Debate Hall over you.
 

Thor

Smash Champion
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
2,009
Location
UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
#HBC|Acrostic said:
@ Thor Thor and @ CentaurJF CentaurJF we'd love to accept both of you into the Debate Hall, but we only have one more opening we can give for the year. Maybe we could do something a bit more creative and have each of you run a devil's advocate case why you feel that the other person has a stronger case as to why they should admitted into the Debate Hall over you.
If I make my case too strong, does that mean the other person gets in [if my argument is so good, it convinces you they are clearly the better choice]? Is it whoever makes the better argument for why the other should get in, gets in (Even if I make it seem like you'd be foolish not to accept him, you'd have to reject him this year)? Ooh, that IS evil. I like it as well. I'd have to go reading through Centaur JF's posts of course.

Also I'd have responded MUCH sooner but even though you tagged me it never showed up in my alerts - oops.

For CentaurJF, I've done some posting in the forums about Hitler in arguments, some stuff about teaching kids religion, some stuff about animal rights, and I've also been debating the merits of coaching with Nihonjin on the Melee boards (who is apparently Amsah) [I may have done more, but I'm not sure]. I'll have to do some reading into this if it's the method of acceptance.
 

Oracle_Summon

Smash Hero
Joined
Jul 31, 2013
Messages
5,059
May I have this Thread looked at?

By the way, I would love to join in these debates, but I would not be as active in the upcoming Months since College will be starting soon for me. I hope that is alright.

I would like an honest look at this:

http://smashboards.com/threads/should-single-sex-schools-be-mandatory.363908/

P.S. Sorry about my Signature, I don't know how to turn them off temporarily.
 
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Claire Diviner

President
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7,493
Location
Indian Orchard, MA
NNID
ClaireDiviner
I was going to type something along the lines of "Wait, isn't the Center Stage a sticky thread in the Proving Grounds?" Then I realized that the Proving Grounds are actually gone.

What the hell is going on in this hall?
 

Sucumbio

Smash Giant
Moderator
Writing Team
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
8,162
Location
Icerim Mountains
Lol you didn't notice? Yeah the pg and dh were merged. Its something we'd considered all the way back when i was still a mod here. We'd needed the pg bc too many newcomers to swf were inadvertently mucking up the place. But even now with sm4shwiiU on the horizon the traffic is fairly low, so they just went ahead and did it.

Sidenote, the forum rules thread should be edited to reflect the merger too along with closing this thread
 

Sucumbio

Smash Giant
Moderator
Writing Team
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
8,162
Location
Icerim Mountains
In what way? Do you anticipate problems arising? A few days ago there was an influx of activity and basically all of it was crap, lol and had we still the pg they'd not made it to the dh to begin with but that generates feelings of elitism which we eschew at swf.

Also this was a logistical decision. Prior to the mlg sale to a private user the message board was a different package (xenforo iirc). Post sale the board software was changed. This caused several things, many good, but some things broke, such as the dh mods being able to approve members and add users to the Smash Debater group. If you notice no one can add the smash Debater postbit unless they already had it. Same with the custom title.

Basically this forum is now nothing special nor are its participants. But that's okay, we don't need a special user group or limited membership. Discourse is best with ample participants which increases ideas, and the people who don't follow forum rules cam just as easily be infracted.
 

Claire Diviner

President
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7,493
Location
Indian Orchard, MA
NNID
ClaireDiviner
In what way? Do you anticipate problems arising? A few days ago there was an influx of activity and basically all of it was crap, lol and had we still the pg they'd not made it to the dh to begin with but that generates feelings of elitism which we eschew at swf.

Also this was a logistical decision. Prior to the mlg sale to a private user the message board was a different package (xenforo iirc). Post sale the board software was changed. This caused several things, many good, but some things broke, such as the dh mods being able to approve members and add users to the Smash Debater group. If you notice no one can add the smash Debater postbit unless they already had it. Same with the custom title.

Basically this forum is now nothing special nor are its participants. But that's okay, we don't need a special user group or limited membership. Discourse is best with ample participants which increases ideas, and the people who don't follow forum rules cam just as easily be infracted.
I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. Everything comes to an end anyway, including the exclusivity of the DH. If nothing else, it does mean more people can have a say in a debate, even if some topics or arguments are just so... dull and childish.

In hindsight I probably should've read the dates on the posts before I posted.
If memory serves me well, I believe necrobumping threads are allowed in the DH, so long as your post/argument is meaningfully relevant to the topic.
 

Nino Rybicki

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 24, 2015
Messages
34
Location
Paranaguá, Brazil
Do you ever feel that "special snowflake syndrome" is widespread on the Internet? I've noticed on a lot of social media websites, there seems to be a lot of people who fit these description. Tumblr is probably the biggest offender, what with all the social justice warriors. I've noticed two types of this.

The first type are people who claim they're unique for something that isn't really unique. On deviantART there's lots of "girl gamer" stamps, as if it's rare for girls to play video games, when IRL lots of girls play video games; or liking My Chemical Romance or System of a Down instead of, say, Justin Bieber or One Direction. (I do realize that most girl gamers aren't like the ones making these stamps.) These are the same people who often act like "typical girl" means a girl who likes fashion, listens only to pop music, doesn't play video games, watches chick flicks, etc. - there's no such thing as a "typical girl" or a "typical guy". Listening to heavy metal, playing Pokemon, drinking tea, being vegan, reading The Great Gatsby, being an atheist, watching anime, hating Twilight, and hating Justin Bieber aren't unique if there's millions of people who do it.

The second type are people running around claiming they're something like "panromantic demisexual genderfluid dragonkin with OCD and Asperger's who identifies as faeself". The problem with this is that these people are usually met with ridicule. I mean, come on, most people don't know what you're talking about. I might be biased, since terms like "demisexual" and "genderfluid" are recent coinages and tend to be associated with SJWs. The most insulting part is that in many cases, the ones who claim disabilities are self-diagnosed instead of diagnosed by a doctor.

What do you guys think? Have you ever encountered any of these people online?
 

Claire Diviner

President
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7,493
Location
Indian Orchard, MA
NNID
ClaireDiviner
Do you ever feel that "special snowflake syndrome" is widespread on the Internet? I've noticed on a lot of social media websites, there seems to be a lot of people who fit these description. Tumblr is probably the biggest offender, what with all the social justice warriors. I've noticed two types of this.

The first type are people who claim they're unique for something that isn't really unique. On deviantART there's lots of "girl gamer" stamps, as if it's rare for girls to play video games, when IRL lots of girls play video games; or liking My Chemical Romance or System of a Down instead of, say, Justin Bieber or One Direction. (I do realize that most girl gamers aren't like the ones making these stamps.) These are the same people who often act like "typical girl" means a girl who likes fashion, listens only to pop music, doesn't play video games, watches chick flicks, etc. - there's no such thing as a "typical girl" or a "typical guy". Listening to heavy metal, playing Pokemon, drinking tea, being vegan, reading The Great Gatsby, being an atheist, watching anime, hating Twilight, and hating Justin Bieber aren't unique if there's millions of people who do it.
I'm not exactly sure where in this post is a room for debate as of now, but I can dig the topic and will start off by just talking about it.

I think the issue with this first point ("Special Snowflake Syndrome" as it's called, which I've never heard of until now) is that those who exhibit this quirk are those starved for attention and possibly seeking some sort of fame (or infamy). I am a lot of things myself, but with 7 billion people in the world, I know I'm nothing more than a grain of sand in a desert full of other plain old grains of sand, and I think that is what the majority of those SSS-exhibiting individuals fail to realize or acknowledge. That's my theory on the matter anyway.


The second type are people running around claiming they're something like "panromantic demisexual genderfluid dragonkin with OCD and Asperger's who identifies as faeself". The problem with this is that these people are usually met with ridicule. I mean, come on, most people don't know what you're talking about. I might be biased, since terms like "demisexual" and "genderfluid" are recent coinages and tend to be associated with SJWs. The most insulting part is that in many cases, the ones who claim disabilities are self-diagnosed instead of diagnosed by a doctor.

What do you guys think? Have you ever encountered any of these people online?
It's okay if they genuinely are what they claim to be, though I admit, I oftentimes don't know the definitions of many of these new terms that seemingly congeal from nothingness. Before, it was straight, gay, and bisexual. Now we have pansexual, demisexual (whatever that is), Gynesexual (?), and so on. That aside, if one identifies as any of those things, then again, it's fine; just don't let that be the center of your character. As an example below:

Say there're two transgender people who are MtF ("male-to-female" for those who don't know), we'll call them Anna and Jane.

Anna identifies as being a trans woman and mentions it to those who are curious enough to ask. She'll talk about it when appropriate, but otherwise, she goes about her business, doing ordinary crap, like eating, working, and watching TV.

Now take Jane. She, like Anna, identifies as a trans woman. Okay, she'll talk about trans issues and her own transition when asked about it, or when appropriate (during rallies, or trans conferences, etc.). But at dinner time, she'll also talk about it. She'll bring up trans topics to anyone she talks to, and she'll go on and on about her own transition and how long she's been doing it, what she wants, etc., etc.

Jane's scenario is the type that bothers me. It's like, okay, we get it, we don't want to hear anymore of it, especially when no one brought it up in any way. If someone is something, whether a sexual orientation, or a gender identity, or what have you, good for them, now live your life normally. Yes, in terms of gay rights, trans rights, and all that, it's still an issue that needs to be dealt with, but for the love of [insert belief], try and understand that there are times and places for those topics. Be defined by your character, not your label!

As for those self-diagnosing individuals who claim to be bipolar and what not, I do admit that they are very annoying. Unless you were actually diagnosed by a specialist, don't try and claim too be something; for all you know, you're only pretending for reasons even you don't understand (probably seeking some level of attention, even if minute). If you are diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, or autism, or any combination of those mental disorders, then the same rule for sexual orientation and gender identity apply; don't let that define you, just live your life as best as you can and only make it a point of a subject when appropriate.


I apologize if my post comes across as a rant, because I don't mean to rant, but it is an issue that does bother me.
 

LightlyToasted

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2014
Messages
70
If you look at our DNA everyone is pretty much the same sas a snowflake, and the term "special snowflake" is kind of redundant sicne the snowflake is what carries the connotation of being 100% unique in the first place.

This is just life, the majority of people want some recognition or vilification from something that their existence is merited. Hence social media and the fast growth of "likes.." Heck even most forums(see us) have them now as a way of saying, hey I enjoyed reading what you had to say, or you had a reason for posting, or I can somehow relate and connect to you or your narrative on this post by liking it. Even people who don't care typically care that people know they don't care, else that person would have very few actual interactions.

It is kind of a mean joke, considering uniqueness is one way we attain acknowledgement, yet the only way we human can possibly comprehend and understand the universe and the things in it is through categorization noting the similarities between them.

Likes are alright, but then like most things and fads you get people who like because they share that connection with what you said in that post, or they themselves don't feel validated enough, and so they like to become part of something that they see as bigger, even if they don't understand why others liked it, they want to be apart of it.

It's like I may have said earlier on here, I used to get mad when less popular things I liked became popular, because I thought that people "liking" things they didn't necessarily actually like, but did so because they are popular was dumb. Then I realized empathy is imperfect, and there's no way I can understand or bother to learn about every person in the world who likes what I like, so I have no reason to be mad with them, since aside from actually interacting with them(something unlikely with the anonymity of the internet), I can't really learn or analyze or elucidate for them. So I choose to only Dole© out my finite wisdom to those in my life who I do interact with.

TL;DRL: People want to believe they are more than just bags of meat given the spark of life. Maybe they are, does reaching stardom one earth or a page in the history books merit someone being a "special snowflake?" Remember reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold! Bye!
 

bound_for_earth

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
253
Location
Boston
NNID
theflaminglefty
I have been thinking why do we make weapons that can destroy our enviroment and kill large amounts of people. What do you think
 

Pippin (Peregrin Took)

Formerly “ItalianBaptist”
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
949
Switch FC
SW-0542-4021-7641
Warning Received
Yes, the topic name is "intentionally shocking", but this really is something that's been bugging me lately and I don't know why.

As anybody who has an internet connection probably knows, the 50 shades of grey movie is coming out soon (I don't know exactly when and frankly I don't care) and many groups, Christian and secular, liberal and conservative, have been decrying its BDSM and pornographic themes as glorifying violence against women and being a perversion of the beautiful gift of sexuality. And I can wholeheartedly agree. From everything I've read on the topic, these novels seem to romanticize that culture and that can never be okay with me.

Now if I weren't a huge smash bros. fan I wouldn't be on smashboards, so by no means take this as a tirade against the series because I know the argument is ridiculous. But I see stuff like bikini-suit Samus, the jokes people make about Palutena's side taunt, and the fact that this game is about Nintendo characters beating the crap out of each other, and a stray thought in the back of my mind says, "Am I promoting the violence and objectification of women I so despise in 50 shades of grey by endorsing this game?" A similar thought pops into my head in regards to other fighting games (where the ladies are a lot skimpier sometimes - Ivy Valentine and Anna Williams, anyone?) as well as competitions like MMA and Boxing where people really are hitting each other. Like I said, most of the time I can laugh it off as absolutely ridiculous, but sometimes I need more concrete evidence than that. How far is too far?
 

FirestormNeos

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
Messages
1,647
Location
Location Machine Broke
NNID
FirestormNeos
I know I'm going to come off as an idiot for replying to someone reported but considering recent events, I feel this is necessary for discussion.

First of all, 50 Shades of Twilight Fanfiction, Grand Theft Brothel 5 and Super Smash Harem may all be fairly popular, and they all might have some sort of theme like that, but they all pail in comparison to The Bible both in terms of influence on First World Cultures, and promotion of violence against women. Just look at what they sometimes do to women in the middle east, and you will see exactly what happens when people base their moral compass and intellectual knowledge off of a book, fictional or otherwise. Attack the Disease, not the Symptom. All these titles are fairly recent, but the injustice half the planet has faced because of their genitals predates these titles by hundreds, if not thousands, of years. To act like media and pop culture is to blame for actual culture's failings has become the go-to creed for anti-feminist straw women and time after time we see that this phenomenon is diverting public attention and discussion from actual problems in the world, like women being stoned to death for walking outside of their house. Yes, you are free to criticize a game or book for having such themes, but by that same standard I am free to tell you that there are bigger fish to fry then the shrimp mackerel that is 50 Shades of Crimes Against the English Language.

Second, are you insinuating that by because of historical discrimination and violence toward women, they shouldn't be allowed to be playable characters in a fighting game? You do realize that such a restriction would only encourage the patriarchy by further endorsing the "women are acted-upon only" notion that is essentially half of a patriarchy? Yes, having female characters in a fighting game potentially increases the likelihood that a sicko thinks that this sort of thing is OK irl and recreates it, but it also potentially increases the likelihood that the same sicko believes that since women aren't in fighting games, they aren't capable of defending themselves and would be easy pickings if said sicko went out on a rampage. People who cause violence and destruction will look for any excuse to do it.

Lastly, how on Arceus' god green earth does someone see what happens in 50 Shades of Shock Value to fighting games with female characters as the same thing? Does the female character from that book pull Toad from under her dress to use as a shield? Does the female character don a power suit halfway into the movie adaptation and blow her employer's brains out? Does she even lift? I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but chances are if any of those happened, 50 Shades of Emotional Bankruptcy would probably be getting much better reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. While it is possible to blow up, set on fire, electrocute, and repeatedly stab female characters in fighting games, it is just as possible to blow set on fire, electrocute, and repeatedly stab male characters, mutant animals and a 2-Dimensional entity. I didn't see PETA make a fuss about a blue super-fast hedgehog, a yellow electric mouse or the dog from Duck Hunt being playable like they did with Mario and Pokemon a few years back. I might see an issue if the female characters were competitively inferior to the male characters, but last I checked, Sheik is top-tier in Melee and the day ZSS dips anywhere lower then High Tier is the day Half Life 3 becomes a Tabletop RPG marketed toward Flying Pigs who live in a Frozen-Over Hell.

--------

As for the weapons of mass destruction bit, we tend to make weapons usually out of fear of invading threats and/or ignorance toward the idea that anything foreign could POSSIBLY be going through the same crap as us, maybe even worse. Fear and Ignorance seem to have started a lot of recent wars. Even the American Civil War was fought out of the Confederate States' economic fears.
 
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