The 9/11 Forum

[Administrator]

The intent of the forum guidelines is to provide a constructive environment for discussion and collaboration. Adherence to the guidelines will be enforced by the moderation team and repeated infractions may result in suspension or banning. See the Moderation Policy for more information regarding enforcement.

1. Report what you believe to be infractions of the forum guidelines.

2. Abusive language, profanity and insults will not be tolerated whether directed at an individual or a group. Statements regarding the behavior of leading figures or groups are only permitted under the “Leadership and Group Dynamics” sub-forum. Discussion of the behavior or qualities of regular individuals and members is not permitted. If you have a problem with behavior of an individual member, report the behavior to the moderators.

3. Advocating violence or terrorism and making threats towards individuals or groups is strictly prohibited.

4. Support your claims with evidence or analysis. If you feel someone is being disingenuous, simply ask them to support their claim with sources. If a member is repeatedly making unsupported claims report it.

5. Stay on topic. Start a new thread if there are dependencies. For example, if the original topic (OT) is “The bowing of columns with partial thermal insulation dislodgement”, do not start arguing how much, or whether or not, thermal insulation was dislodged. Instead discuss the effects of different amounts of dislodgement. Start a new thread or continue an existing thread on “How much thermal insulation was dislodged”. An additional new thread may be useful to connect the bowing of columns to the amount of determined to be dislodged. It may be useful to identify this thread as a Dependent thread and to which thread dependencies exist. This creates a dependency hierarchy which supports logical conclusions. All discussions about issues lower in the hierarchy should be taken in their respective threads. Alternative hierarchies are fine, meaning that it is OK to base dependent threads on different conclusions from other threads. This gives us the possibility of comparing two outcomes based on different inputs which is fine. Thread hijacking is trying to change the topic within a thread and is not permitted. This prohibition will be enforced by moving posts (and warning the offending poster to be more careful in the future). It is OK to suggest splitting a thread or starting a new one. A priori arguments are considered off-topic. Evidence for a given hypothesis should not be hijacked by a priori arguments against that same hypothesis. For example, in a thread about evidence for the thermite hypothesis, a member is welcome to point out the weaknesses of the evidence, but they will not be allowed to introduce arguments having nothing to do with the evidence, such as "Demolition of the WTC buildings would have required too many people" or "I can't think of a plausible motive." These a priori arguments should be discussed in separate threads. Another common complaint on discussion forums is the tendency of some members to respond to a counterargument on one topic an argument(s) on another topic. Don't move the goals posts.

6. Do your own research. It is not acceptable to demand that other members prove something unless they have made a claim. It is fine to ask questions, but be sensitive to the fact that if other members are providing answers and sources, that they are doing you a favor. If all you want to do is ask questions then this forum is not for you.

7. Arguments based on guess work and intuition maybe useful for establishing a hypothesis or setting the scope of a topic, but they are not acceptable for supporting claims and in general should be avoided because they interfere with substantial discussion.

8. Do not spam. Spamming is repeated posting the same image, statement or source. References to larger works are required to specify the page or section which refers to the issue at hand. It is always best to summarize the source or provide a quote.

9. Try to agree to disagree when you and another member have looked at the same evidence on a particular topic and are still not in agreement. Sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in. Sometimes taking a timeout is the best thing to do. Just say, “Look, we aren’t getting anywhere right now, let’s try again tomorrow or next week.”

10. Avoid strawman attacks. Make sure you understand what someone is saying and don't exagerate when referring to their claims. Repeated strawman attacks will result in moderator action.

11. Last, but not least, try to be forgiving. It is easy to get upset in discussions where people have serious concerns. Everyone will make mistakes and there is no reason to deride someone for being wrong about something. Changing one’s opinion is probably the one of the most noble (albeit unusual) things one can do. Hopefully, we are all here to learn and are willing to acknowledge our own limitations.