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Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 11, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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If I try to shape the direction of the CW thread, I am pretty sure I will get banned, whether or not my posts are charitable or not. Charity is hardly ever the problem -- I did eat a ban for slurring Trump, which was fair, but the others I've eaten were pretty unfair. The way it works is, when you have a bunch of controversial opinions, you have to let the others talk down to you an extra amount or you will eat the inflammatory posting ban. You have to give the forum huge breaks from discussing the topics you like, or you eat the wildcard rule / hobbyhorsing ban, while people posting nonstop about the White House never get banned like that, even though they should if you assume all topics are equal. All topics are clearly not equal, that is how the actual rules work, if I took the sidebar literally I would already be banned right now because I would have made too many hobbyhorse top level posts already.

What are your top 10 hobby horses?

All I can say is that SS has a fairly controversial/inflammatory opinion that he used to spam. He now only seems to Joo-post once a month or once a quarter, and doesn't catch bans for it. It's also the only topic he ever posts or comments on. So maybe yes, you are super persecuted by the mods, or maybe, you've developed a bit of paranoid neuroticism because of too much negative feedback. You are kind of catastrophizing about catching bans for anything you post, but I don't think that is clearly likely. If you made some post about the social contract and how we organize ourselves to allow collectivized killing as a punishment in different governmental systems, I think you could make that separated enough from current events so as to not be waging the culture war, and cool enough to not be an "asshole", such I think your chances of catching a ban would be extremely low.

you have to let the others talk down to you an extra amount or you will eat the inflammatory posting ban

This one neat trick: Don't respond to people you feel are talking down to you. Just ignore them, or let them know politely that you think they are being an ass and you don't think this conversation will be productive. I feel like there are some pretty easy solutions if you have some self control. I know it can be tough, I've had to learn to do it, but if you truly think you have a short rope from the mods, then getting in with the pigs is the wrong move.