MetaTalk posts tagged with hypothetical

Dog Attack!

kalessin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:58:18 -0800

A hypothetical question prompts answers of varying violence against hypothetical dogs. Chatfilter? Useful analysis? Something in between? An AskMe question was one of those hypothetical questions about dogs attacking children, and what to do. From my point of view, a hypothetical question poses an emotionally triggering question and folks start proposing violence, including outright gun slaughter, on hypothetical dogs. I am sort of OK with a single round of answers and opinions about what's appropriate response and what isn't, but I'm not okay getting forcefully disagreed with in-thread over my request for perhaps less violence being counseled against dogs, hypothetical or not. Am I misunderstanding the point and protocols of AskMe again? I don't think so, but this is where we talk about these sorts of things. Beyond that, I'm pretty sure that advocating violence against humans is against our guidelines, so how about the same rule for dogs?

Embrace this new feature, and take it to where it needs to go, where the world clamors for it to go -- OPTIONAL HYPOTHETICAL FILTER

John Kenneth Fisher — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:46:02 -0800

Matthew: For a long time, I have been sad at the loss of HypotheticalFilter. When AskMe was young, such questions would arise. But those days are gone now, as the site matured. It's simply not done, you'd say. It floods the page with nonsense. It makes the real questions get lost. Still, I thought, I want to know how to dispose of a body, or how long we'd survive without the sun. Who would win in a fight? A squirrel, or a squirrel's weight in ants? But it was your site, sir, and you merely allow me to use it. So I muddled through, saddened, but understanding. But today, Matthew, today things have changed. We are being encouraged to ALTER ASKME TO OUR WHIMS. I don't CARE about sports! I LOVE Law and Government! RelationshipFilter sickens me, and I will not have it! RelationshipFilter is crack that I want, nay, NEED in my life. Perhaps, just perhaps, now that we have the seeds of a customizable interface, and can play with categories to our ever-changing desires, perhaps now is the time to introduce a new category - one for hypotheticals! John embraces them, wants to see more of them. Wishes to spend his workday debating Spider-Man versus She-Ra. You, Matthew, shun this, and see it as the ruin of civilization. Until today, I could never win that argument, for you ARE Metafilter Network, LLC, and if only one of us can be happy, it must be you. No one would debate this. But now, now Matthew, it is no longer a binary choice between our wishes. Embrace this new feature, and take it to where it needs to go, where the world clamors for it to go -- OPTIONAL HYPOTHETICAL FILTER. Off by default, if you wish, waiting, lurking, for your legions of hypothetical-loving denizens to leap into gleefully. I believe in HypotheticalFilter. I believe in Metafilter. but most of all, Matthew, I believe in YOU. Give me that checkbox, and I promise you, I will click it, oh I will click it with all of my heart. What say you, sir, what say you?

when mods post dupes!

deejay jaydee — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:46:05 -0800

um, i don't really know what to do about this. and i've got no general prob with the mods. but, as you can see, one of the mods has posted a question that has been asked before. so . . . what happens now? does it get deleted? does the original get deleted? does the whole thing get ignored? are these even the droids that anyone is looking for? . . . just asking . . .

Are Questions Okay When They're Based Around Finction Worlds

grumblebee — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 06:41:56 -0800

Some people feel this question violates the guidelines. I disagree. If I ask, "If there was a sequel to 'King Lear,' what would happen in it?" that's a problem, because there are infinitely many answers, and they can only come from chatfilter. On the other hand, if I ask, "If there was no gravity on Earth, what would happen if I released a ping-pong ball from my hand?" we have an answerable question. It's based on a fiction, but it's a bounded fiction. It doesn't have infinitely many answers, and its answers needn't be based on opinion. If I say, "the ball would turn into a clown," I'm wrong. There are many banal questions on AskMe that are set in fictional universes: "I'm coming to New York next week. Where can I stay for under $200 a night?" That assumes a fictional universe in which prices next week will be the same that they are now. In general, it's safe to assume "all things being equal."

Zombies vs. bears vs. monkeys

allkindsoftime — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:36:24 -0800

This is a great question but it didn't include the obligatory "For the purposes of a work of fiction..." disclaimer to keep it from being deleted as hypothetical filter.

Bears, baby. All the way, bears.

allkindsoftime — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:01:06 -0800

This is a great freakin question. I'd just like to use it to once more point out that we really should be able to reopen this discussion for a more full, rounded finalization.

What Not Tot Post to AskMe II

orange swan — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:42:05 -0800

In honour of the 1st, we're revisiting the "deliberately flameworthy hypothetical AskMe question thread" over at MetaChat. Feel free to join in with fake questions or answers.

Regarding philosophical AskMe questions

ontic — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:36:14 -0800

Regarding philosophical AskMe questions and answers to philosophical questions... [far too long for anyone to want to read]

Gross violation of AskMe etiquette.

tkolar — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 15:02:17 -0800

Gross violation of AskMe etiquette.

I don't think Lucy's question should have been deleted

Baby_Balrog — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:12:16 -0800

After much careful consideration, I don't think Lucy's question should have been deleted.

Deletion objection

ThePinkSuperhero — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:04:16 -0800

Not really so hypothetical. I think the question should stand.

Hypothetical question

brina — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:47:03 -0800

Am I stupid? Re: My very first deleted post. Yes, I've read the FAQ and some of the related discussions, and yes, I realize that hypotheticals are generally a no-no, but I thought this particular question could not be framed in any manner that was not hypothetical, if you catch my drift. Please berate me appropriately.

Boo, my Askme question was deleted.

jokeefe — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:57:18 -0800

Boo, my Askme question was deleted. I'm disappointed, because I did mean the question seriously-- I was actually hoping to get some scientific information/insight into radioactive half-lives, heavy-metal contamination, global warming, etc. Was the tone too flippant? Could I have phrased it better?

Somewhere on the border of ChatFilterDom

antifuse — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 02:25:35 -0800

Is this really what AskMe is for? There's some good conversation in there, to be sure, but it's treading a real fine line between "genuinely want to know an answer to my quesion" and "trying to start a conversation with my question".

What if these threats became real?

Meridian — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 03:52:06 -0800

What would happen if someone on MeFi actually took up Smedleyman's disturbing offer to pay for plane fare out somewhere to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger?

Post deletion reason?

bshort — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 11:54:25 -0800

Why was the AxMe post "If you were going to relocate permanently from the present day to Rome circa 100 BC, and you could bring only one piece of luggage (standard carry-on dimensions) what would you pack?" deleted?

Where is my AskMe question about parallel universes?

Panfilo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 23:04:32 -0800

So I posted a question about parallel universes on askmetafilter yesterday (got a bunch of great comments within the first hour) and when I checked in this morning I can't find the question either on the page or in the archives. Where is it?

Will we spin ourselves off with all these spinoffs?

MiguelCardoso — Sun, 23 Mar 2003 11:31:06 -0800

Already there are BookFilter for books; SportsFilter for sports; a 9622.net and 1142.net for chattiness and fun. Not to mention the increasingly vigorous #mefi chatroom and other offshoots I may be unaware of. There's been talk of a MovieFilter and a News and/or PoliticsFilter. The admirable FreeFilter project makes it easy to set up other special-interest, breakaway micro-MetaFilters.
Is it possible that all this syphoning-off will one day syphon off the core of MetaFilter itself? Or are all these spin-offs mere adjuncts? For what it's worth, I'm plainly on the side of eclecticism and inclusiveness.

can any grievance be brought to MetaTalk?

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 13 Mar 2003 03:28:03 -0800

So, can any grievance be brought to MetaTalk? [More inside.]