How We Communicate: A Proposal

[Boojatta]

I have witnessed DU conversations where people applied principles. Shocking, isn't it? It's possible to study such a conversation in an attempt to extract some principle that someone is championing and applying. Unfortunately, not only is real life messy and complicated, but even message board reality can be messy and complicated. Any discussion thread on DU can quickly become complex, detailed, and convoluted. A discussion thread usually gets too detailed and boring to be a topic of discussion for another thread that will be of much interest.

However, if a DU member has applied some principle, then the principle itself could be the basis for an interesting discussion that could appeal to many DU members. After all, a principle is usually a lot simpler than a whole thread. Is the principle truly reliable? Is it unreliable, but is there some kernel of truth to it, so that it could be revised and converted into a reliable principle? Questions like these could be asked.

However, as soon as people get interested in a thread about some principle, some DU members might express a strong desire to see the original complex, detailed, and convoluted discussion where the principle was applied. They might appreciate a link to it. For example, maybe they cannot imagine how the principle was thought of or why anybody would ever be tempted to believe in it. There's no adequate substitute for a real discussion. Why work to write an artificial, fictional dialog when there's a real discussion available? Simply create a link. If the link is labeled with a clear description, then people who aren't interested can simply ignore it.

Well, there is a problem. There might be a claim that someone made in the complex, detailed, and convoluted discussion and the person who made the claim might wish to withdraw the claim. For example, the person who put forward the principle might wish to abandon it. Withdrawing simply means, "I no longer make the claim." There's no requirement to bounce to some opposite position, or even to claim to know for certain that the claim is false. We merely admit that we didn't have adequate grounds for making the claim and let people know that we no longer make the claim.

My proposal is a new feature. If you posted a message, then you should be able to select part of the message and click "I withdraw this claim" to mark the selection and automatically have the words "I withdraw this claim" posted. All links to and from the message will then be automatically deleted.

[Fumesucker]

1. Who are you and what have you done with HAL 9000?

Wait.. What claim is it that you need to retract so badly that you desire a new DU function for it?

[iemitsu]

2. haha

i wondered that too.

[LAGC]

3. This Boojatta post is no good without a poll!

(I may withdraw this claim at some future point in time...)

[Boojatta]

4. Kick

[Peacetrain]

5. It is best just to admit that a mistake was made.

People say a lot of things without completely thinking it through. Posts through the filter of previous conversations.

Just a click to remove a claim, would probably lead to some people using it as a weapon in the heat of debate..knowing they could clear it out later.