Why do you post on this forum?

[Daffy Duck]

Why do you post on this forum?

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

Do you do it to just pass the time?

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments? What does both teach you?

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

Would you say the forum has improved or degraded in the past year? The past two years?

[Manomanman]

I like to share my opinion. And I hope that people are clicking on my blog link. I want to know what other people think about my thoughts.

I have a strong desire to advance the evolution of the human species, very similar to Steve Pavlina's vision of the future...except that I do it Darkworker style.

[aggie]

i like sharing opinions.

i also have learned a lot about different subjects from world affairs to the paranormal.

i like the fact that you can get input from other countries.

sometimes constructive discussion, sometimes gritty...but learn from both.

hearing others and similar experiences makes one not feel alone and normal...what ever that is

if i have honestly ever said something that helped someone, i am grateful for that....i know i have been helped.

i like that even in the heat of discussion most keep a sense of humor...

i think it is pretty much the same from when i started....think there is more about politics and health care now than before

all around, glad to be able to participate

[Mogget]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Why do you post on this forum?

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

Do you do it to just pass the time?

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments? What does both teach you?

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

Would you say the forum has improved or degraded in the past year? The past two years?

Pretty much just to pass the time, and my time would probably be better spent elsewhere! I have come across one interesting thing here that I had not seen before and am investigating it now. I am yet to find a particularly constructive conversation that interests me. I only joined fairly recently so I cant say whether the forum is improving or not.

[reflections]

Expression helps me reflect and grow my own ideas.

[David Turnbull]

I only registered yesterday but I'm trying to become active to connect with like-minded individuals. And it's fun to share my opinions too.

[ken nubo]

To rant.

[brendannz]

I like to share and learn with smart people, and have fun as well.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Why do you post on this forum?

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

Do you do it to just pass the time?

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments? What does both teach you?

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

Would you say the forum has improved or degraded in the past year? The past two years?

I post to participate in the community and feel connected with the others of like mind on the forums.

I believe in constructive conversations and fun on the board. I can not see a good reason to be constantly confrontational. It reminds me that love is the answer.

I think my time spent here is exactly what I should be doing with that time.

I think the forums are like people they change and evolve. I would not characterize them as better or worse.

What are your answers to these questions?

[WillieLongIII]

I've been using forums for so long it's just natural for me to join one that meets my current interest.

[YourHumbleNarrator]

Refinement.

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Why do you post on this forum?

Because I like it here for the most part, and because I like to think that I'm doing something productive.
But I guess it's also in part due to what YourHumbleNarrator posted: refinement.

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

One of my original reasons for coming here was to gain access to the wealth of information available. So far, I think this has been satisfying this goal relatively well.

Do you do it to just pass the time?

At times it feels this way. Like right now...

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments? What does both teach you?

I try to stay away from the gritty arguments... They suck, but sometimes, they are necessary. The constructive conversations are what I came here for so, yeah...

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

Probably... but that's not going to keep me away from it just yet, I'm not busy enough yet... >.> That time will come sooner or later though and I'll have to revert to simply lurking again...

[ghozt]

Hey

I mainly view the site to get idea's and inspiration for my blog, and website. (just started on both of them). I have gained a few tips from the website, and I enjoy reading some posts.

Thanks
-Pres

[themaster]

Why do you post on this forum?

To help myself, to help others and by empowering others, empowering myself

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

I relearned through talking to you or others.. my old philosophy of "no judgments" I lost it in my early 20's I think..

Do you do it to just pass the time?

Mostly, no.. but it certainly does make a lot of time pass..

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments?

I would consider most constructive..

What does both teach you?

These are a lot of questions
By re-enforcing what I know.. experimenting with it.. it re-teaches me new ways to look at things.. new ways to integrate.. new ways of thinking..

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

Sometimes.. depends on how I feel when posting

Would you say the forum has improved or degraded in the past year?

Very improved, I'm out of the box.. somewhat

The past two years?

I've been improving every year we all have.. improving is evolution (well at least for most of us)

[Kindred]

I come here to pass the time mostly. I don't think my downtime could be much better spent elsewhere. Unless there was a Japanese personal development forum...

This forum has changed a lot since it started, in bad and good ways. I feel there were a lot more original ideas around in the beginning. But on the other hand, a lot more people are around here now lending their insight to others.

[lifetimelearner]

for friendship,kinship,fun, good conversation
and to learn from others

[Daffy Duck]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I asked for two reasons:

1. Just to encourage a conscious reasoning of why we spend our time here.

2. I asked myself the same questions not too long ago! Here are my answers now. This will be a little long.

Why do you post on this forum?

I was initially attracted to the forum after reading a few of Steve's old articles. I browsed the active topics and decided to join in. One area I was exploring more was the concept of "law of attraction" and my first posts were discussing these ideas with Angela, ALG, and others.

I haven't been posting as much as I used to (except for yesterday and today) but when I do it's usually because (1) a topic interests me and I feel I can add something to it and (2) I'm usually just distracted from something else I "should" be doing to achieve my goals.

Have you learned anything new you've been able to apply to your life?

I can't think of anything in particular I've learned that I've applied to my life. Much of what I've read has been interesting and has affected my philosophies on life, but there isn't much direct action that has changed.

One of the things I learned that I can apply is how the administration and moderation is done here. When I was a moderator, I saw a new way of doing things that I wasn't exposed to as moderator and admin of other forums.

In my other forums, when a moderator takes an action, nobody really questions it unless it was something big. But here, the "reported post" feature is used often, and the moderators will sometimes have lengthy discussion about what to do.

Do you do it to just pass the time?

Yes, actually, that's what it became for me. In my first year at the forum I learned some new theories and all, but eventually things started repeating. I saw the same questions and answers come up. For example, ALG would have debates with John Freestone, and then someone else, and then someone else. Nowadays he does it with SmartAlx. It's a pattern and I basically know what all the questions and answers are going to be, even when I ask a question myself.

So I stopped learning new things and started visiting out of habit. I did this with other forums too. So a few months ago, when I stepped down as a moderator, I made the conscious decision to spend my "forums time" on actively pursuing other interests. One of those interests was to take online classes on subjects I enjoyed from places like Academicearth.org and MIT's free online classes.

Do you find yourself in constructive conversations or gritty arguments? What does both teach you?

Mostly constructive. When I find myself in a gritty argument, it's usually one of two reasons: (1) I think someone is missing an opportunity for growth and I insist on throwing it back in their face for re-examination, or (2) I think a member of the forum isn't a good influence and shouldn't be here. The latest example of this was MarcusGreene, who some of you may remember. Not surprisingly to me, he got aggressive with Seeker5 and was banned.

Would your time be better spent somewhere else?

For my current goals, yes. That's why I haven't been on as much as I used to. Sometimes I'll go a week or two without visiting the forum once, whereas I used to visit multiple times a day.

But I can't resist seeing what some of you guys are up to.

Would you say the forum has improved or degraded in the past year? The past two years?

I think it has changed. Some people have said it's less "safe" than it used to be, which is a good or bad thing, depending on what you want.

For me, I'd like to read more about everyone's goals and their progress. All the topics about health, politics, or problems don't interest me very much. There's nothing wrong with sharing problems here and getting advice, don't get me wrong. But I'd love to hear more positive stuff too. I only vaguely know what the goals of some members are, but I know about the problems people have! This was one of my motivations for making the Mid Year Review topic a while back.

For myself, I'm also trying to move away from this whole idea of "conscious" versus "unconscious". When I was a Christian, some people in the church were proud to be Christian because they were "better" than others for it. I didn't agree with that attitude then, and I still don't. But I see somewhat of the same thing even here. Those who are "conscious" may feel they're at a higher level than those who are "unconscious".

And who are the unconscious? Well, people who don't live like us, of course! The vegan, the self-employed, those who acknowledge we are all one... these people are the "conscious" ones and are at a "higher level" than others. This just sounds like the same Christian "superiority complex" that I noticed in the past, and I've seen it used as an insult on this forum. Just recently someone said something to the effect of, "Well someone on your conscious level would think something like that." Sounds very much like any other religion.

So for me, I'm trying to move away from this whole idea of being at a "higher level" than someone else. It seems egotistical. All I care about is being happy (which I am, thank God) and living in a way that helps others be happy too.

[lyshirstri]

I was initially attracted to the forum after reading a few of Steve's old articles. I browsed the active topics and decided to join in. One area I was exploring more was the concept of "law of attraction" and my first posts were discussing these ideas with Angela, ALG, and others.