Online Sequencer Forums

OS chat rule #7 (r7) states the following, "Do not discuss political, religious, or social issues". I have some questions to clarify the interpretation of this rule, as well as a few other questions. 

1. Does r7 mean the same thing as "Do not discuss political issues, religious issue, or social issues"? 

2. What is the exact definition of the word 'issues' in the context of r7?

3. Why is r7 the only rule to include a justification sentence?  "These topics frequently lead to violations of rule #1". Lets say that the topics listed in r7 never lead to violations of r1. r7 would still be valid in such a case would it not? 

4. What is the meaning of "discussion" and "discuss" in the context of r2 and r7? Are these words being used the same or different in these contexts? When is something a discussion, and when is it not a discussion? 

5. How do jokes and satire fit into r2 and r7? Example, someone in chat says "that's what she says", does that constitute a violation of r2? Does talking badly about a politician constitute violation of r7? (example, someone says "please do not vote for Trump"). What if someone says that Jesus Christ is a zombie? given that this statement is presumably a joke, does the statement violate r7? 

6. What does "social issues" mean in the context of r7? This is such a broad term that could mean several different things. Example, someone in chat discusses the difficulty of socializing due to autism. Under the most literal interpretation of r7, this conversation would be in violation of r7, but I feel that Jacob did not indent for such an interpretation. What defines a "social issue" that is banned discussion as per r7, and what defines an allowed "social issue" that can be discussed in chat? 

7. Can r2 be updated to reflect a more precise definition of 'nsfw' discussions? As a night shift worker, me and my coworkers talk about all kinds of vile and unholy topics without bating an eye.

If the Mods and/or Jacob could respond to this to help clarify things, that would be great. I want to ensure that all parties understand the rules in the same way. I am most interested in the answer to question 4 in this thread. I do believe that clarifications on all these questions will create a more uniform and consistent experience for users of OS chat. 
If you are not a mod, I'm not interested in your personal interpretation of what the rules mean or should mean. Thank you for taking the time to help me, as I believe clarifications on these topics will be beneficial to all the users experience on OS chat.

1. Yes.

2. Issues as in something where people will take 1 of 2 or more sides.

3. Because sometimes it isn't clear or obvious that it will lead to an actual argument. Most topics regarding political, social, and religious issues are controversial and have many people taking sides, which in turn can lead people to attack those who don't believe what they think.

4.
Discussion
noun
the action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas.

Discuss
verb
talk about (something) with another person or group of people.

To discuss social, political, or religious beliefs is the same thing as having a discussion about social, political or religious beliefs.
So essentially the same. Something is a discussion when people actively participate in talking about the same things, such as music. Something like spamming is not a discussion.

5. The phrase "thats what she said" isn't overly sexual, but a joke blatantly includes sexual topics is a violation.
If someone does talk negatively about a politician, that automatically would violate rule 7, because again, people take sides and then argue for THEIR beliefs, then its all back to rule 1.

6. Social issues would mean self harm, bullying, and whatnot. Discussing autism would not break rule 7 because while it is a social issue, I assume users would try to stay under other rules to not offend others. A social issue that would be banned to be talking about would be self harm, because no one wants to see that on OS chat

7. Probably, parentheses could be added to just keep things understandable

This is my take on some questions

if "issues" are defined as people taking one side or the other, this could cause problems. What if all of chat started discussing trump building the wall, and everyone agreed that was a good idea. This definition would mean that r7 would not be broken in this context. 
In regards to trap's response to point #3, are sa victims blamed for their own sa because they wore reveling clothing? I don't think so. Similarly, I personally think that anyone attacking someone for their beliefs, the attacker is purely at fault, regardless of what the victim said before hand. 
If the definition of discuss and discussion includes another party, than anyone could monologue in the chat to avoid breaking r2 and r7. I feel a better definition is warranted here. 

I feel like we should be allowed to discuss disagreements. Conflict is human. Would discussion about what key to compose music in be banned if we had one side that believed major keys were the best, and another side that argued for minor keys being the best? What if conflict arose when discussions about the best music genre came up?

I define it as in if people even outside of OS will take one of 2 sides.

Regarding your response to point #3, I actually agree

Even if someone "monologues" in chat, someone will most definitely reply with a contrasting opinion

With your last paragraph, yes I agree, but keep it civil. Also I've seen minor arguments about music, such as why hip-hop is bad, but yea lol I'm with you on this.

(11-26-2023, 11:31 PM)Soothsayer13 Wrote: [ -> ]OS chat rule #7 (r7) states the following, "Do not discuss political, religious, or social issues". I have some questions to clarify the interpretation of this rule, as well as a few other questions. 

1. Does r7 mean the same thing as "Do not discuss political issues, religious issue, or social issues"? 

2. What is the exact definition of the word 'issues' in the context of r7?

3. Why is r7 the only rule to include a justification sentence?  "These topics frequently lead to violations of rule #1". Lets say that the topics listed in r7 never lead to violations of r1. r7 would still be valid in such a case would it not? 

4. What is the meaning of "discussion" and "discuss" in the context of r2 and r7? Are these words being used the same or different in these contexts? When is something a discussion, and when is it not a discussion? 

5. How do jokes and satire fit into r2 and r7? Example, someone in chat says "that's what she says", does that constitute a violation of r2? Does talking badly about a politician constitute violation of r7? (example, someone says "please do not vote for Trump"). What if someone says that Jesus Christ is a zombie? given that this statement is presumably a joke, does the statement violate r7? 

6. What does "social issues" mean in the context of r7? This is such a broad term that could mean several different things. Example, someone in chat discusses the difficulty of socializing due to autism. Under the most literal interpretation of r7, this conversation would be in violation of r7, but I feel that Jacob did not indent for such an interpretation. What defines a "social issue" that is banned discussion as per r7, and what defines an allowed "social issue" that can be discussed in chat? 

7. Can r2 be updated to reflect a more precise definition of 'nsfw' discussions? As a night shift worker, me and my coworkers talk about all kinds of vile and unholy topics without bating an eye.

If the Mods and/or Jacob could respond to this to help clarify things, that would be great. I want to ensure that all parties understand the rules in the same way. I am most interested in the answer to question 4 in this thread. I do believe that clarifications on all these questions will create a more uniform and consistent experience for users of OS chat. 
If you are not a mod, I'm not interested in your personal interpretation of what the rules mean or should mean. Thank you for taking the time to help me, as I believe clarifications on these topics will be beneficial to all the users experience on OS chat.

1. Politics, like the government. Religion, like religious content such as stuff being very uncomfortable (like jews in WW2). Social... I don't even know.
2. Issues mean being uncomfortable.
3. I don't think they too frequently lead rule #1. I don't even know if that rule isn't even followed.
4. Discussion and discuss... what they mean is like having a talk about things like that.
5. I would say "Please don't vote for Trump" but I think it's because it's probably disrespecting other people's opinions.
6. I think someone being bullied might be a social issue.
7. NSFW (not safe for work) includes stuff like sex, violence, and images that are unsuitable for a work environment.

Ideally people would be able to disagree on the internet without taking it personally. If you and the people you're talking to are mature enough to do that, go for it. But chat is full of kids whose brains aren't fully developed yet, and will struggle with that, hence the rules.

If you keep the conversation respectful, the mods aren't gonna care.

Also, interesting related video: https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0