Is the Cellar actually cliquey?
 

Jeb got me thinking about this again, because he said nobody lit up Lj when he crossed a line. Then I read this from UG:

Those three guys have agreed on exactly one issue by my recall, but apparently when they came together it was a little intense. The Cellar can be rough, but I think its rough on everybody to the extent that they're willing to argue a dissenting opinion strongly. I think we group up around ideas more than people, but I've been wrong before. Thoughts?

Yes, it's cliquey.

Let me add to that. I think that there are some folks that get treated differently than other folks. It might not be a clique, per se, but when two people do the same thing, one often gets a pass, the other gets hammered. And it seems to be the folks getting the pass and doing the hammering.

don't know; and I pay no attention to such things, even if it is

but it certainly can be quite mean

When talking politics, I think we mostly group up by ideas, rather than people.

But some people over time have shown themselves to be lacking reason, and they seem to be ganged up on often.

Cliques form, break off, reform and change. It is a community. Other boards are (to my mind) less rounded than the Cellar...yes people get nasty with each other, but those same people are usually ready to shelve hostilities when their erstwhile enemy is posting about something they are having problems dealing with.

Any community that doesn't involve some kind of powerplay and jostling, be that overt or not, isn't a rounded one. This is what human beings do when they congregate. We are very clever apes.

I attack sloppy thinking. Anyone else who does the same could, loosely, be considered part of some kind of "group" I suppose. Of course, I get attacked for my own sloppy thinking as well, as I should, and I welcome that as a learning experience.

If 10 people were telling me the same thing, I might think there was something to it. However, If I could demolish all 10 of their arguments, I would still say "ƒuck all 10 of you" ... I would never think of them as a "group" of ten people, though. Just 10 individuals.

Gang, or mob mentality?

It usually breaks down to side A, which acknowledges that side B has a different opinion, and tries to convince their side B that side A's opinion is correct, and side B, who thinks that side A is lacking reason.

If you're lacking in ƒucking reason, you just are. It has nothing to do with the specific subject, or opinion; it's about a method of thinking, IE do you employ internal quality control on your ideas before launching them? The people (A/B) who do this get very irritated with the people (A/B) who don't.

What Flint said.

I tend to dismiss people who lack reason, and find them annoying if they hold the same opinions I do. They make me feel dumb by association.

Although I should thank them because if I see clearly that they lack reason, then I can question my own reasons for holding the same opinion and see if they are rational ones.

pull my finger!

Spexx and Glatt are right: our associations form around ideas, and I'm in agreement with Flint about what to do about sloppy thinking.

Three isn't much of a mob, though. More of a trio. Cliques are more permanent and to my mind more exclusive than what I see going on around here.

For instance, if I were to write posts only in threads started by or containing The Mercenary, Yesman065, or Slang, and they posting likewise, plus threads containing me, that would be cliquish.

The Cellar has cliques in the same way any group of people has cliques - offices, golf clubs, Christian study groups. You gravitate towards the people who make you laugh, who share your outlook, who you respect.

If there was a blind-taste test in the Cellar I think most posters would appreciate the same posts, regardless of who they are made by.

(The exception for me is criticisms of the Cellar itself - if a new poster writes what a lousy place this is within the first month of posting I think it is less acceptable than someone who has been here 5 years).

Personally I didn't believe Jeb's post, thinking it was the typical comeback as suggested by other posters. If someone made a joke about my brother and he was dead, I'd probably address it via PM, along the lines of "Obviously you didn't know, but it's a sensitive subject with me..." I suppose it might be true, given that he posted a poem about her, but his response was unreasonable in my opinion.

I'm not sad to see him go. He's had a stick up his arse since he joined, lord knows why he stayed in a place he felt unwelcome and unwanted - closet masochist maybe. It's sad to see today's culture of victim-hood extends even here, with people constantly believing there is a huge conspiracy out to get them, rather than accepting that it might just be what they posted that prompted the response.

Jeb saw himself as a victim, and has put his sister on the ultimate pedestal of victim-hood - the untouchable death at the hands of terrorists as a symbol of America. Never mind, he's another forum's problem now.

Did Jeb say he was leaving? Nothing about it in the "Rekindling" thread.

It's in the Goodnight Cellar thread - his last two cents before the door closes on his backside.