[throwqwerty]

>If you think it's possible for a large, public internet forum not to get a lot of ignorant or shitty comments

why is it that the tech subs at reddit don't have the same kind of policing you practice here and are just as productive? i wonder if it's because community policing is more effective than whatever brand of dictatorial policing you practice here hmmmmmm. the only difference between the moderation here and at reddit that i see is your self-importance and the effect it has on anyone who feels they're part of the same self-important rarefied club.

[dang]

Which subreddits are you referring to?

[throwqwerty]

r/programming, r/math, r/physics, r/compsci. All of them don't have nearly the strict moderation you practice here and all of them are great places to have substantive discussion.

I'm gonna repeat what I've said many times: by enforcing a strict decorum what you actually accomplish, and I mean exactly you dang, is give the air/pretense of intellectualism without any of the substance. Hence the constant barrage of hypercritical (but superficial) disparaging comments. It's like any other system that privileges one type of language - those that can deploy it effectivity feel empowered and emboldened because they feel they are the defacto ethical/just/concordant.

If you wanted proscribe things for the betterment of the community you should proscribe content (e.g. hate speech) rather than language.

edit:

this comment is the exemplar par excellence of what your rules produce:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17034295

for many hours it was the highest ranking comment on that post. it is pure invective cloaked in "constructive criticism". it took me pointing outing how absolutely rude it was for it to start bubbling down. i'm not a hero. i'm simply pointing out that it is absolutely necessary to point out when someone is being rude.