The average forum member

[Eddi]

I'm assuming the OP considers himself a cut above the average member?

 

[RestlessSoul]

I'm assuming the OP considers himself a cut above the average member?

We all have egos, don't we? Some more than others, perhaps, but who doesn't think they alone know best?

 

[Eddi]

We all have egos, don't we? Some more than others, perhaps, but who doesn't think they alone know best?

Yes we all have egos

But most of us have our egos balanced out by some sense of humility

 

[Revoltingest]

7 | inching up

I see more religious and intellectual topics these days.

In regards to how I personally see the quality of the forum....

I see an increase when you've got a variety of topics - some of them intellectual, some of them not. I see a decrease when the whole first and second page is filled with topics on one or two subjects and with little variety, and that trend lingers for weeks or months rather than days.

Edit: I see now you're talking about members. In my post, I guess I was focusing more on overall quality of discussions - detached from commenting on individuals or groups.

I'll go with 7.
But I don't detect any change.

 

[Debater Slayer]

On a scale of one to ten, how aparently intelligent is the average forum participant?
If you've been here for more than a couple of years, is tis average inching up or declining.

My answer to both questions is that I think it depends on the specific topic in question.

In any case, I care far more about good faith, openness to discussion and new ideas, and empathy than I do intelligence per se. If some of the trends I have observed in "New Atheist" and "Intellectual Dark Web" online communities have taught me anything, it is that many people become insufferably self-assured and overconfident when they think they are too smart to learn something new or to change their perspective in light of new arguments and evidence presented by people they perceive as "less intelligent" or "less rational."

 

[RestlessSoul]

Yes we all have egos

But most of us have our egos balanced out by some sense of humility

I'm sure the OP does too. Perhaps he enjoys playing the curmudgeon too much to admit it, though.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I'll go with 7.
But I don't detect any change.

I've been in and out since 2019.

When I look back, then look forward and say things are "better now", I focus a lot on 2019.

Differences between mid 2020 and beyond, and 2024, might be less discernable.

 

[Eddi]

I'm sure the OP does too. Perhaps he just enjoys playing the curmudgeon too much to admit it though.

The OP is astute, well-read and eloquent

But he does not come across as having much humility

But then perhaps that's just a part of his online persona?

 

[JustGeorge]

But there was a time when you did.

He's(@SalixIncendium ) spent too much time on RF.

 

[Revoltingest]

I've been in and out since 2019.

When I look back, then look forward and say things are "better now", I focus a lot on 2019.

Differences between mid 2020 and beyond, and 2024, might be less discernable.

My ability to detect any change
in intelligence on RF is woefully
inadequate to the task.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

My ability to detect any change
in intelligence on RF is woefully
inadequate to the task.

I kind of went off on a tangent, admittedly...

I was saying that I noticed more "religious and intellectual topics" these days.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I see an increase when you've got a variety of topics - some of them intellectual, some of them not. I see a decrease when the whole first and second page is filled with topics on one or two subjects and with little variety, and that trend lingers for weeks or months rather than days.

Variety isn't necessarily a good thing. There has been a sharp decline in topics I take interest in from when I first joined. In my first few years here, I participated in a much higher percentage of topics I do now.

I'm still assessing whether my decreasing participation is due to changes in the forum or due to changes in the participant. Surely a bit of both, but I want to determine which has had a greater impact.

 

[JustGeorge]

Variety isn't necessarily a good thing. There has been a sharp decline in topics I take interest in from when I first joined. In my first few years here, I participated in a much higher percentage of topics I do now.

I'm still assessing whether my decreasing participation is due to changes in the forum or due to changes in the participant. Surely a bit of both, but I want to determine which has had a greater impact.

I've set it up so I'm alerted every time there's a thread created in the majority of the forums(I omitted a few I truly don't care about, like the Political forums, and CvE). I'm finding there are less new threads created, and those that are often speak to a very specific group or groups(that I'm not a part of).

So, unless I'm feeling creative enough to make my own thread, I'm kinda stuck with nothing to read. And then I have to go find something else to do.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

On a scale of one to ten, how aparently intelligent is the average forum participant?
If you've been here for more than a couple of years, is tis average inching up or declining.

My view:

6 | declining​

Oh, we're all knuckle dragging trogs who just crawled out of the primordial soup compared to you, obviously. You never let us forget it.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm assuming the OP considers himself a cut above the average member?

His post history is proof enough of that.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Variety isn't necessarily a good thing. There has been a sharp decline in topics I take interest in from when I first joined. In my first few years here, I participated in a much higher percentage of topics I do now.

I'm still assessing whether my decreasing participation is due to changes in the forum or due to changes in the participant. Surely a bit of both, but I want to determine which has had a greater impact.

That's interesting.

I somewhat might see what you mean, because when I came back to the forum - probably some time after Christmas - I was finding it difficult to find topics I could contribute to.

I think in my case, it said something about me, though - because I had seemed to have downplayed the fact that I could still learn from threads even if I didn't contribute. So I tried to make the most of it by reading some of the threads anyway.

Whatever the case may be for you, however... I hope it doesn't affect you too much, because I feel that this forum is much better with your presence than without.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I've set it up so I'm alerted every time there's a thread created in the majority of the forums(I omitted a few I truly don't care about, like the Political forums, and CvE. I'm finding there are less new threads created, and those that are often speak to a very specific group or groups(that I'm not a part of).

So, unless I'm feeling creative enough to make my own thread, I'm kinda stuck with nothing to read. And then I have to go find something else to do.

That's a really good way of measuring what I'm talking about. Thank you for that.

The only alert's I have set up are the DIR I participate in and site management forums.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Oh, we're all knuckle dragging trogs who just crawled out of the primordial soup compared to you, obviously. You never let us forget it.

Troglodytes crawl out of caves, not soup.

1. "we're all" is an over generalization
2. troglodytes emerge from caves

 

[Eddi]

His post history is proof enough of that.

Just a bit

 

[metis]

On a scale of one to ten, how aparently intelligent is the average forum participant?
If you've been here for more than a couple of years, is tis average inching up or declining.

My view:

6 | declining​

I don't know but I think I have an IQ slightly higher than a turnip. However, I think rutabagas may have me beat.