Are there really any Decepticons?

[Samantha]

Hello Nerdfighters!

I was on Youtube the other day (When I should have been writing essays for my finals!) and ran across this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD4qlM7Cbdw&NR=1

I thought he made an interesting argument. It's really easy to place people into categories and it feels good to belong to a group of people who share our values and whom we admire. Unfortunately this very natural tendency requires there to be an "Us" and "Them". This isn't always a bad thing but can become so when we start looking down upon those who don't share our values.

Is it really a good idea to label people as Decepticons or Zombies?

What do you think?

[Conzania]

*Waits for Decipticon to pwn this thread...* popcorn anyone?*

[Phineas de Romanus]

I was actually wondering if Decepticon had replied to this thread yet.

[Samantha]

I'll take some! *adds garlic* Mmmm!

[Decepticon]

[Samantha]

I cower in fear at this picture!! *cower*
I never noticed before but Decepticons all have very snazzy paint jobs. Maybe I should defect to the side with the fashion sense. : J
Do you have an opinion on the actual discussion?

[Leviathan]

[BSmith]

I have never liked the "us vs them" portion of nerdfighteria. Since there is no requirement to being a nerdfighter other than claiming the label, it seems absurd to label someone who doesn't agree with an arbitrarily assigned label a decepticon. Also, the reason many people choose to assign the label nerdfighter to themselves is that at one point in their lives they were made to feel small by the masses for being different. Often they were called a nerd, geek, dork, loser in an extremely hurtful manner. That's not right. It's also not right for those same people to turn around and assume an air of moral superiority because they have an arbitrarily assigned label and throw a hurtful label back at their "oppressors." This reaction to the label is maddening because it just shows that Nerdfighters are no different than anyone else. Saying you're made of awesome doesn't make you awesome. These forums are filled with just as much hate as the rest of the internet.

I will now prove Godwin's law right and point out that it is the same us vs them mentality that has justified the Holocaust, genocides, and ethnic cleansings. While I don't think nerdfighters will ever lead any sort of crusade to wipe out "decepticons," it sets a bad precedent for the community. I'd rather this community be about how to include everyone rather than how to include those who agree with us or have been excluded by such and such set of people.

[Samantha]

If you cite Godwin's law doesn't that mean that the discussion has to stop? I need to brush up on my internet rules.
I think it's a valid point that we're all here because we've all felt alienated from some group or another. But if we accept that as one of the only criteria then pretty much EVERYONE is a nerdfighter. At that point it makes little sense to label anyone as a decepticon. I also agree that we should try to include as many people of varying viewpoints as possible (And we've obviously done that!) I suppose that just begs the question, are there any values or viewpoints that we are completely unwilling to accept from our members, that would label them as a Decepticon?

[Olivia]

I think it's unfair of us to label people as decepticons, but if they are okay with the label, why not? Just like how we're okay with the label of nerd.
And what about when people say "You're an idiot." That's labeling. Are we just not allowed to insult people ever? Is calling Hitler evil bad because we're labeling him?

[Samantha]

That's an interesting point. Do you really think that people would be ok with being called a decepticon though? I mean, I imagine that the people who would be called that generally aren't aware of this community or the name-calling. If I found out that people were labeling me as short-sighted, inflexible, intolerant (What exactly does the name mean, by the way?) I'd be pretty upset about it no matter who the group was or where our ideologies differ. I think pretty much everyone dislikes being called impossible or stupid...
So I think it's pretty safe to say that the intent behind the labels of "idiot" and "decepticon" are more objectionable than the act of labeling itself.

And, honestly (And please don't take this the wrong way) I have a problem with calling any human being evil. What he did was evil, his contribution to the world was evil but he was still a human being. When we talk about Hitler being evil we deny his humanity. He was sick and his genius was twisted horribly but he was not inhuman or totally evil....If that makes any sense.

[Samantha]

I understand where you're coming from. I just have to wonder sometimes if we label things and people as inhuman because we don't want to recognize a darker aspect of humanity.

[Samantha]

I agree.