When I first joined the site over three years ago, , a very high percentage of the were of depth and significance -- providing much information, sharing points of view, discussing relationship, personal issues of poignance and significance, dealing with meaningful philosophical issues and questions. It seems that we "old-timers" have run low on things to share, and that new members and that new members, as a whole, are not showing the quality and depth of thought we were seeking.The trend is deeply disappointing.
Oh I'm sooooooo sorry that people who join the site don't live up to your elevated opinion of yourself.
Unlike you, I was not making snider comments about people, but simply noting that the content of posts over time has changed, and not to the better.
@wordywalt your post lends substantial intellectual credence to your contention.
Any social media type of website is a living organism, and they all change over time. Partly it is that we change, and partly it is that society is changing and evolving as well. Nothing is static. I've been on FB for 13 years, I joined as a college student when it was only open to college students. (yes, I was a non-traditional college student.) I cannot count all the changes I've seen. Same here, lots of changes. It is part of life.
I wish some people on here would stop trumpeting their ATHEISM, as if it's a badge of honor, a default status quo position.
Congratulations!
As an AGNOSTIC I find it extremely obnoxious, off-putting and insulting to those of us who do NOT share their views.
Maybe that's why many if us with more open-minded and interesting things to say are discouraged from sharing them, pre-occupied as some of us are with resisting this apparently wholesale hijacking, this slow-motion coup, this elbowing off the stage of anyone who thinks all subjects are open for discussion, including 'god.'
After all, Agnostics DON'T KNOW if there's a 'god' or not, but that doesn't mean the very mention of any topic entertaining anything to do with the subject should be met with sarcasm, derision, and catcalls. That doesn't leave much to talk about but a steady drumbeat of anti-religious screed.
Hey, I'm as anti-religion as any atheist, but that SHOULD be just the beginning of the discussion. Frankly, it's very easy to the point of being trite (and BORING) to point out the many corrosive influences of orthodox religious thought. That's a given.
But to stop there and to shout down even a sniff of anything 'spiritual,' that is, any alternative takes on what appears to be a nearly universal curiousity about our existence in the universe (except to say it is meaningless and pointless, of course), is discouraging to all but the most cynical and nihilistic among us.
Just a thought.
Newsflash: youβre an atheist too.
@Mvtt I don't believe IN any god(s). I also don't believe IN the absence of any god(s). I have certain leanings, but I have no concrete, tangible evidence either way. Therefore I'm not an atheist, because I don't BELIEVE there's no 'god.'
Look, I'm not going to get into another exhausting debate on the subject. I've been down that rabbit hole already too many times.
I believe reincarnation is a real possibility, but I don't believe IN reincarnation. See the difference? Probably not. But my OPINION gives me the sense there MAY be a 'god' by some definition, but I don't KNOW that. There may very well be a god-less explanation for any number of phenomena, such as crop circles, psychism, etc., etc. But atheists simply deny all of it, as if one necessitates the other. In doing so, all of these topics and so much more are simply off the table, scoffed at, derided, despite plenty of information to the contrary.
But we have a fundamental difference of opinion. I know this. That's why Agnostics are fundamentally different from Atheists, and any attempt to equate the two is simply wrong.
Anyway, my point was, as per the person who posted his complaint, is that this may be why the site has become less interesting than it once may have been.
IMO That was because it was all new to you...I'll bet if you graphed or speadsheet discussions by category, it is still about the same.
It is possible, but I doubt it.
Let's not blame the members of this site exclusively. I think the change in discussions reflects the changes in everyday life over the last few years. Because of isolation, many of us are no longer having real-life conversations. At the same time social media has gotten increasingly toxic so meaty topics quickly descend into chaos. Ideas may not flow through society like they used to.
Plus bottom line, Maslow's hierarchy confirms that people who are worried about safety and security are not as interested in philosophy.
I'm also saw a lot of fighting among us with most of the topics and people feeling like it was their duty to police some of the group's.
I'm not here for drama, I'm here to have a good time and just be here for community.
Amen to that..life is too short
@Canndue Exactly!
So, how to make it more fun
@Canndue I stick to the Memes R Us and some of the music groups. I like comedy and music so it remains fun for me. I met my fiancee on the Metal, Punk, and Other Aggressive Music group.
@Canndue I guess just stick to what you like.
I do see a lot of the same questions and ideas being posted. I don't even bother clicking on them. I don't spend a lot of time on the site, certainly a lot less time than when I first joined a couple years ago. That's probably why I've been stagnant at level 7.
Itβs really difficult to have any kind of real communication, retorts are either canned short answers or 1600 word essays...