New to the community

[Digital Daoren]

Hello everyone. I have considered myself a follower of the Dao for a few years. The internet presents us a unique opportunity to experience and explore the Dao that those before us couldn’t even imagine. Currently, I have a strong interest in the Yi Jing and Internal Alchemy. 

[thelerner]

Hello, its a digital world yet things of old have great value.  Welcome to the board.

 

We're an eclectic philosophy forum for learning, discussing and cultivation.  Below are 3 important sections: Our Rules, The Insult Policy and our 3 Foundations.  Before you join give them a read. 

 

Most of it boils down to being respectful.  No name calling or trolling.  Post as if your mom's looking over your shoulder.  Discussion and arguments are what the board is about.  Keep it civil, don't get personal.  Don't be a troll or one issue zealot. 

 

We're here for good conversation and making some friends along the way, to be a community.  Jump right in, start threads, ask questions, look for interesting threads and post your (relevant) thoughts. 

 

For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day.

 

 TDB team

 

Read and review Our Rules:

 

Please take a moment to review our Forum Terms & Rules detailed below. If you agree with them and wish to proceed with the registration, simply click the "Register" button below. To cancel this registration, simply hit the 'back' button on your browser.

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-Mal Rules & Use 7/22/11

 

 

Our Insult Policy- Read it, Live it

 

Quote

Tao bums is a moderated, privately owned, web site; all who agree with our guiding principals are welcome to join our discussions:

Treat other members with respect. No personal attacks.

Moderators are present to enforce this, please abide by their decisions.

Basically No personal attacks.
It is totally fine to vocally disagree with a person's opinion, technique, politics, approach, lifestyle choice, etc.

But no insulting (or links to attacks) of individuals, nationalities, genders, political preferences, lifestyle choices, etc.
While this may sound restrictive and categorically un-Taoist, I believe it is a useful guideline to help us stop for a moment and think about how to present our perspectives intelligently without just flinging unproductive rudeness at each other. This way other members can receive value from your perspective and you can gain clarity by reasoning out why you initially felt compelled to verbally put down someone else for being different.

 

No one, including the originating poster, gains anything from statements like "So and so is a complete moron", etc. If you have an opinion and you believe it's relevant to a topic at hand, post it as constructively as possible so we can learn from you, debate with you, ignore you, whatever.

If you can't abide by this simple constructive guideline, either create your post in a PPD or expect it can be moved. This is our mini-octagon here for those of you that insist on a more primitive breed of taoist war.

 

TheDaoBums' Three Foundations: Eclectic, Egalitarian, Civil.

TDBs' Cultural Context and Founding Principles  ver.2020-Jul-16
The purpose of this document is to concisely state the most fundamental framework principles that give TDBs it's distinctive shape.  This is not "all the rules, permutations, etc",  just the steel beams.

TDBs exists in the general field of "The Search for Truth".
The Usual organized formats (schools) for The Search tend to have:
    1. focus exclusively within a school
    2. hierachical learning structure, hierachical ability to speak
TheDàoBums' founding principles form a deliberate cultural counter-point:
    1. run independently of any school, which allows a more eclectic atmosphere
    2. conversational learning, egalitarian ability for members to speak
TDBs' social format is "cafeteria", not "classroom".  It's part of TDBs' premise that, broadly in culture, these two formats are necessary, distinct yet complementary.

TheDàoBums has a strong egalitarian ethic in that it's whole purpose is to provide a civil very open context for member conversations.  However, its governance structure is mostly top down; it's not a democracy.
- admins - own / run the board
- moderators - enforce rules
- members - converse 

TDBs' Conversational Context:
1. At TDBs member participation in conversation is non-hierarchical.  Meaning, members have equal ability to talk regardless of level of knowledge, achievement, or status / credentials of any kind.  TDBs has an underlying ethic of valuing the communication of each person.

 

2. TDBs most basic rules about conversation are around civility.

• While TDBs provides room for, encourages, lively, often vigorous and sometimes rough and tumble, debate ... that is balanced by protecting decency and sensitivity towards each other in such a variety of instances that no set of specific rules could ever adequately cover.
• A moderator's basic role is to moderate members' incivility toward each other in conversation.  
• Members support this process by 'reporting' offending posts

A fictional example of how 1&2 shake out:
If there's a TDBs debate about music between Mozart vs a beginning piano player, and it becomes heated enough that reports are generated for moderator consideration then, still, "level of knowledge, achievement, or status" are not basis for moderation.  Civility is, applied equally to each member.

It's up to each member, not moderators, to sort out the truth (and other questions of quality) for themselves in conversation.  Moderators just keep the conversation civil within reasonable limits.  For issues of staff bias, members can contact the current admin.

The staff (admins, moderators) also deserve and have protection against incivility and against abuse of staff resources.  Staff protection is enforced at the discretion of the admin, lead moderator/s, and by consensus of the moderation team.  The admin also has broad discretion to protect the civility and resources of any aspect within TDBs e-community.

 

signed,

- Trunk, author & past admin

- Sean, owner & admin of TheDàoBums