63
votes
Sorry, but we don't care about your political opinions
Then do us the same courtesy
If you don't care about our political opinions (and you shouldn't; this isn't Politics.SE!), then please ensure that we're not being asked to care about (or silently ...
- 2,528
39
votes
Sorry, but we don't care about your political opinions
I just wanted to add a counterpoint to the other answer:
I think the moderators have been doing an exceptional job keeping things on track under difficult circumstances. (I do not envy them this job.)...
- 10.2k
16
votes
Is a claim that a public figure is transgender an acceptable claim?
I don't think we have a policy on this. But my personal opinion would be that this is none of our business. This is a very private issue, and I think this site should not be a tool to enable ...
- 43.7k
13
votes
Is a claim that a public figure is transgender an acceptable claim?
I have joked several times about needing a "None of our damned business" close reason. This question has made me never want it more. I had quite a visceral reaction against using this site ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
11
votes
Accepted
Why are my questions related to spiritual experiences downvoted?
I'm not one of the (current) downvoters on any of those questions and I can't speak for all of the downvoters, but based on comments I've seen on your questions there are a few reasons you could be ...
- 11.6k
7
votes
Can I ask a question about a claim I don't remember where I read?
Historically, our position has been that there is just too much risk that the claim has been misremembered or misunderstood, and if we don't have a source to check, we can't address that.
Meanwhile, ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
6
votes
Accepted
Help writing good, on-topic questions
I have some guesses as to why the community might be reacting this way, and some suggestions, but please just take them as guesses and suggestions, not mod directives.
Very Active
You have been very ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
5
votes
Accepted
Is this question suitable for the site? "Did Gaza have the potential to become a 'Singapore' in the Middle East?"
A question I sometimes ask people who post questions is "What would you expect an answer might look like, for and against the proposition?"
I can't imagine what a "No" answer would ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
5
votes
Do the requirements of an old claim change if the claim relates specifically to current events in that time period and not timeless scientific fact?
For these types of meta-questions, I generally recommend we go back to the goals of our notability requirements, so we are enforcing rules for a purpose and know when to bend them, and not just ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
5
votes
Is a claim that a public figure is transgender an acceptable claim?
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the mods here.
It's a gossipy claim but since we allow claims such as "Obama was not born in the United States," I don't see what would be the problem with ...
- 78.9k
5
votes
What kind of sources are acceptable to demonstrate the "existence" of a claim made on a History Chanel type program?
We ask for references to the claim in questions for a number of reasons:
So we can see that it is a widely heard claim. We don't want to waste our time reading/answering/editing/voting on spurious ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
5
votes
Accepted
Why was the recent question about Democrats inciting riots put on-hold WITH comments disabled?
I believe these to hold truth:
The comments are disabled because rejected migrations are automatically locked. This is an entirely automatic system.
Further to that: closing the question here sends ...
- 472
4
votes
Help writing good, on-topic questions
Don't forget that there are other Stack Exchange sites!
Skeptics prefers controversial questions where there is an active dispute, with proponents on both sides of an issue. But many of your ...
- 1,767
4
votes
How are we supposed to use tags associated with a person?
Trump is the object of the claim, in other words what the claim is about, and this means that the tag is appropriate.
If Trump were the subject of the claim, in other words the claimant, then the tag ...
- 78.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Is a notable discussion/debunking of a claim enough notability to ask a question about the claim itself?
(Just to be clear: The linked question is up to Revision 5 at the time of writing this, and I think the shortcomings have been resolved. So this is addressing the hypothetical question posed.)
I think ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
3
votes
Is it acceptable to ask a question about general methodology?
No, this would not be on topic on either meta or the main site.
You may have a valid question on Cross Validated, a Stack Exchange site "for people interested in statistics, machine learning, data ...
JamiecMod
- 9,066
3
votes
Accepted
Is answering with fundamentally a recitation a third-party analysis of a claim acceptable?
We do require answers to be from our own expertise, like any other stack exchange. Our expertise is finding reliable evidence from authoritative sources.
So, it's OK to quote an expert in the field, ...
- 78.9k
3
votes
Accepted
(IMO) There are inconsistencies between Skeptic On-topic criteria and some existing questions
Basically, this meta-question is questioning the decision of the community and mods not to close one particular question immediately.
Short answer: Yep. In hindsight, I wish it had been closed.
It was ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
2
votes
What happened to my Ken Bone question?
There is, of course, no taboo on Ken Bone questions.
Poor questions are normally placed "On Hold" to give both the original poster and other users an opportunity to make edits to the question to ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
2
votes
What happened to my Ken Bone question?
The question was put on hold by me as not notable (I certainly have no idea who "Ken Bone" is so it seemed not notable).
Subsequently this question was deleted by another mod with the following ...
JamiecMod
- 9,066
2
votes
Accepted
Where should quote-hunting questions go?
Your example question on the main site makes the answer here much clearer.
The sequence was:
Q: Did Goebbels advocate that you should do [unethical thing] with this quote?
A: No, Goebbel said the ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
2
votes
Accepted
Are questions about supposedly haunted places or objects on-topic?
I can't see any reason why such questions wouldn't be on topic.
We might well ask the questioner what sort of evidence it would take to convince them that the place or object was or wasn't haunted, ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
2
votes
To what extent is a notable claim of "we don't know" in scope?
I am worried this answer might be a bit vague - I don't have a simple, straightforward solution.
We sometimes get questions like the King Varkoooi XIV one: an expert scholar says "opinion is ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
2
votes
Deriving a well elaborated question on a delicate and difficult historical/actual topic
Unfortunately, the actual Live Journal article is being blocked from me with a 451 error.
There seems to be an extraordinary jump between the specific claims and the broader questions being asked here ...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
1
vote
Should questions asking to verify a disproportionate statistic be allowed without meeting certain criteria?
To be more precise, the 2nd question you linked to, while having the "disproportionate" in title, actually has a more narrow/precise claim:
Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate ...
1
vote
Should questions asking to verify a disproportionate statistic be allowed without meeting certain criteria?
If there is a notable claim that bags of skittles (generally) contain >50% blue skittles by count, then that should be the claim in the question.
If there is a notable claim that bags of skittles (...
OddthinkingMod
- 145k
1
vote
May I question the past findings of a tribunal or investigative body?
If you doubt whether he killed Jones, the trial is strong evidence and we can't simply discard it. It's one of the strongest possible pieces of evidence. Further trials and revisions would probably be ...
- 78.9k
1
vote
Is it acceptable to ask a question about general methodology?
As an alternative to asking a new question on this or another Exchange, you could simply add a comment to the answer to ask for clarification. Explaining uncommon or unusual terminology is definitely ...
- 2,401
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible