[Sarchi]

<-- Al Swearingen would have a thing or two to say about this.

Personally, my feeling is that forums should be completely uncensored. Most of what we perceive as social cursing is a precept of religious teachings; yet in an ever more global world, these make even less sense. Being PC is almost impossible. Having said that, we all ought to practice common sense and respect. No big deal.

I think the forum faces more pressing issues. Trolls, personal attacks, repeating threads, moderation arriving too late, self-promotion, general smugness, apathy, supremeus' acting like supremicists, and on and on.

I also think people don't use the board features enough. If someone annoys you, put them on 'ignore'! If sig or avatar images offend you, turn them off. vBulletin even has a member reputation system that could (possibly) help us, though Jude has chosen to leave it off.

Just my random thoughts. We're each responsible for our own behavior here. It's a busy forum so whatever mades the moderators' lives easier, I can support it.

 

[micaela]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarchi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Having said that, we all ought to practice common sense and respect. No big deal. I think the forum faces more pressing issues. Trolls, personal attacks, repeating threads, moderation arriving too late, self-promotion, general smugness, apathy, supremeus' acting like supremicists, and on and on.

X2

And I think that common sense does prevail 99% of the time here.

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let's not forget the recent study that determined swearing in the workplace helped boost morale.....http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f11/sw...morale-264000/ I encourage swearing with all my direct reports. Does that make me less intelligent...no. Does it make me irreverent...yes.

Yes. I may feel better swearing at the middle school where I teach. Not recommended, we are talking culture, not censorship. I like reading the forums in public. Employers check these sort of things.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jude /img/forum/go_quote.gif But I don't swear around you if I don't know you, and/or if the circumstances would make it inappropriate.

Yes, exactly. The key concept is context. I curse like a sailor if I stub my bare toe when I'm walking around barefoot in my apartment. I've also been known to engage in colorful language when discussing politics or social issues while having drinks with friends at a bar.

But I don't curse in the workplace, or around strangers or friends who I know to be sensitive about foul language.

It's a matter of common sense, in my opinion.

The idea that this forum should be as welcoming as possible to the broadest possible range of people is important to the success of this forum. It tends to promote the atmosphere of civility that benefits all of us here most of the time.

I've had my moments, unfortunately. But I resolved some time ago to stop using asterisks as a way of circumventing the profanity filter.

So I'm completely O.K. with the rule, and the reasoning behind it. But I'm ambivalent about filtering. People should behave voluntarily, not because technology forces them to.

 

[The Pieman]

I am actually struggling to know why this thread exists. The language used on the forum is downright tame and I have found little to be offended by language wise. The prime time TV rule is a good and effective guideline in my mind.

As others have stated there are bigger fish to fry around here. Trolls, absolute rudeness, personal attacks, arrogance, lack of reason and such things. These, to me, are of far more concern.

cheers
Simon

 

[Chickenman]

^^^ I agree. This forum is very tame compared to the other garbage that you can find in the internet. And I'm actually scared to swear in fear of getting banned..

 

[fordgtlover]

^

I think Australian TV allows far more swearing than American TV. Is this correct? What about other countries?

This article suggests that even the prime time rule might be a bit too liberal for some headfiers.

I saw a TV interview (on Rove) with the guys from the movie Super Bad and they wouldn't stop swearing - because they were allowed to swear on air.

 

[PFKMan23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Pieman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am actually struggling to know why this thread exists. The language used on the forum is downright tame and I have found little to be offended by language wise. The prime time TV rule is a good and effective guideline in my mind. As others have stated there are bigger fish to fry around here. Trolls, absolute rudeness, personal attacks, arrogance, lack of reason and such things. These, to me, are of far more concern. cheers Simon

I'd agree with the above. The things discussed in the second paragraph are much more of a major concern than profanity, which in comparison is downright rare.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PFKMan23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd agree with the above. The things discussed in the second paragraph are much more of a major concern than profanity, which in comparison is downright rare.

That's very true. But it's also true that incivility is a very slippery slope. Profanity may seem like a trivial concern, but remember this: one can bleed to death from an accumulation of paper cuts.

I'm not sure that I've seen anyone comment in this thread on another aspect of this issue. Profanity is often a crutch, a substitute for literate expression. And a lazy way to make one's point without thinking too hard about it.

It's a cliche that a certain profanity can serve as any of the eight parts of speech. This word becomes boilerplate after a while. Why think of language that vividly expresses your meaning when you can simply ladle on a hefty helping of four letter words?

If you need proof of this, listen to the endlessly inventive language on old-school hip-hop records. Compare that to the drivel that most rappers spew today.

Oh my. I'm turning into Grampa Simpson. Back in **MY** day...

 

[XxATOLxX]

I think the idea of censorship is repulsive. However, I'm in a legally binding agreement to keep certain words out of my vocabulary while in this forum.

****.

 

[fordgtlover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's very true. But it's also true that incivility is a very slippery slope. Profanity may seem like a trivial concern, but remember this: one can bleed to death from an accumulation of paper cuts. I'm not sure that I've seen anyone comment in this thread on another aspect of this issue. Profanity is often a crutch, a substitute for literate expression. And a lazy way to make one's point without thinking too hard about it. It's a cliche that a certain profanity can serve as any of the eight parts of speech. This word becomes boilerplate after a while. Why think of language that vividly expresses your meaning when you can simply ladle on a hefty helping of four letter words? If you need proof of this, listen to the endlessly inventive language on old-school hip-hop records. Compare that to the drivel that most rappers spew today. Oh my. I'm turning into Grampa Simpson. Back in **MY** day...

Maybe you're a decade or two late on this one. The paper cuts have turned into gaping wounds by now.

 

[1117]

Let's all talk in Spanish. It'll be nice. Hey, come to think of it, I wonder if there is a In-Spanish version of Head-Fi... hmmm. We must reach the entire world, you know! Claro que si! Como va a saber la gente que audifonos tienen que comprar? Tenemos que resolver esto ahora mismo.

 

[plainsong]

Oh I understand completely. I remember once a discussion got derailed into a discussion about "chicks" and certain parts of our anatomy. I got fed up since this was supposed to be an audio forum and not a guy's locker room. I felt I had as much right to be here as anyone else, but the degrading and exploitive comments made about my gender in general weren't exactly welcoming at all.

And I was the evil one who got flamed to hell and back for it, and any other time I dared do what anyone else I know would say is simply stating the obvious. No doubt I ended up on a lot of ignore lists, but I'd say that for those types the feeling is mutual.

It's funny that often times the guys who would say such things were the same ones saying "Where all the girls at?" - and they only noticed me complaining about it, but didn't notice most of the known female headfiers sort of just either left the site or went into lurk mode. Cause and effect.

I'd like to take some idealistic stand and say "No censorship!" but it does have some advantages. Some people don't have an editor between their mouths (or fingers) and brain, and often have a lack of respect or empathy for others - after all this is The Internet. Another advantage is that it forces us to be more creative in expressing ourselves, and that can be fun. I've mentioned this before, but a forum much bigger than this has censoring if you're not registered, and you can leave it off or on if you are registered. Instead of the automatic filter just using ****, they got creative. screwk became "gently caress" for example (and that should give away the forum I refer to).

So if you're not registered you see those replacement phrases, which can make a post funnier than it was. So much so that even with the filter turned off, forum members often use the catch phrases as much as the "dirty" words themselves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by micaela /img/forum/go_quote.gif The only reason I responded to the "breast" words was because I wanted to make this point in reference to the original post. Those are words that make me bristle. I"m sure there are other words that make other people bristle for different reasons. For example, some curse words might bother other people b/c of religous beliefs - maybe others could be taken as racial comments even if the writer doesn't intend to be offensive. If the filters help keep this to a minimum, whats wrong with it? To me the filters are just a kind of reminder that the words I'm choosing might bother someone else - even if they don't bother me. I'm assuming that the filters are set up to block the most commonly offensive words. Just b/c one of those words isn't offensive to me doesn't mean it won't be to someone else. So whats so bad about being respectful of that with each other? So what if I have to substitute one "f" word for another? If that makes someone else more comfortable what does it really hurt? To me it just means that we create a community where we get more input & more interesting conversation b/c we aren't accidently alienating anyone.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I don't have a problem with "bad" words and use them as needed in real life. But this is a public forum and the terms of use forbid them. I'm OK with that.

 

[Computerpro3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin 3:16 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not to a woman with a sence of humor, thick skin, or a person.

Use "sweatermeat" in a conversation with a self-respecting woman and see if you don't a swift kick you know where.

I don't understand how you can say that you can't possible see how a woman would be offended by that. Is it really that big a deal not to use terms like that just out of courtesy?