That is true, and everyone is doing his or her best at every time. Once the veil is lifted for good, everyone will get together and laugh about it ..peek-a-boo

Surrender in love...

I think I know who you guy's are talking about . I wish we got to vote for moderators 😂. Most of them are good though.

I love the Nexus. It has given me so much as a guest and now a new member. I want to contribute so much to this great community that it hurts.

Dont take it personal, guys.. Did you stop and think about why, out of everyone in the forum, Art is the only person with a little footnote in the attitude page saying that is allowed to talk as he pleases? None of the other mods are allowed that, even the admin The Traveler himself still abides by all the stated attitude rules..

We have decided that it is important to have a watchdog, someone that can bark without fearing repercussions, because at times peace and love and respectful talk just doesn't seem to get through some people and they need a little metaphorical slap in the face.

I can understand if you're on the receiving end, it may not feel so nice... But then I suggest you do two things: Take a good look at yourself and ask if there isn't something to learn from what he is saying, even if it's harsh...Secondly, remember that sometimes the watchdogs may bark at friendly people, maybe they mistake a shadow of a friendly person for an enemy, or sometimes the watchdog is actually just a tiny Chihuahua that poses no threat but just barks a lot... And thirdly, not taking it personally or being offended, because after all, being offended is also a choice, and these are just some weird symbols on a screen from a virtual world by someone you dont even know, so if you decide they don't touch you, then you should be the master of your emotions and avoid identification with it, and just laugh it off.

And if that doesn't work, feel free to pm me and I will do my best to try to find understanding between all parts involved.

Lastly, I mantain, be the change you want to see in this forum. Life isn't always so nice, sometimes things aren't as we want them to be, but we can always try to post in the most interesting threads (feel free to revive old threads too), and post your most quality words you can, and in this way, help this being a better place. At least me personally, I feel there are a bunch of amazing people here and some great quality posts, some being in the active

Yes i am doing great! I know that you guys are probably finding it hard now that i am not posting as much as i did. I am just not doing enough of a quantity of drugs that lead to the welcome uncertainty that incite the thoughtfulness in me in order to make decent posts. I still browse but you guys are going to have to soldier on without me for the time being.

And yes, getting offended is pointless. If less people got offended the world would be a much better place.

Poster Auxin (awesome moniker>>plant hormones that facilitate a plants capacity to "go to the light", amongst other intelligence florally expressed) related, "shatter the very fabric of reality" re psychedelics. Thanks Auxin. We need to remember what an extreme gift and allowance that psychedelics clue us into. The very fabric of reality is FAR from mundane. Someway, somehow we are GRANTED an experience that is in essence, INEXPLICABLE! Psychedelics inform us of that TRUTH.

Are there other avenues into this realization? Surely. However, most of those are rather unergonomic and frankly unfruitful for most of us average schmos. Like T McKenna said, "they deliver the goods".

Just a suggestion, consider yourselves fortunate to cohabit such a forum, as flawed as any human discourse will be, the Nexus embodies a genuine religion, small r.

Peace

Well said endlessness.

I know I'm a new member here but I have been a member on other forums for more than a decade, the same phenomenon appears all over in all types of forums. There is a glory period for people who join at the same forum era, which is about 2-3 years. They make deep connections and love the forum. Acrimonies with some members turn into deep long held resentments whilst pleasantries with others turn into deep friendships. The forum changes as it ages, new members join, old members drop out and the remaining members can be left feeling "What happened to the forum I loved so much? It's changed. They've let all these people into my family/personal space I don't even know". It's a psychological phenomenon similar to glory days syndrome that is sped up many times due to the nature of the internet. Some members seem timeless though. They transcend this shift and adopt new members as they join and let go the older members as they leave. Often these people are mods. Being a mod is often hard work for 0 thanks, especially when people can't rise above themselves and realise that that a forum is just that, a place to talk. Just a metaphorical campfire, with people coming and going from the darkness.

Alright, i've learned many things:

1. It is ok to be called a genocidalist and i deserve to be knocked out for having a calm, respectful discussion and neutrally explaining a differing opinion, in an aim to foster mutual understanding.

2. It is ok for moderators to bully because, apparantly, i've had it coming.

Life isn't always nice, sure, but we can work to make it nicer.

The biggest problem i have is not with the guy "barking" at people, but the attitude of allowing unwarranted and completly over the top insults. If our dog barks at the mailman he does not get a treat. Also, let's not forget that we are talking about a HUMAN here, not a dog. The dog metaphor is really suiting a misguided cause. To be honest, to always compare him to a dog, even i find insulting since he is probably a quite complex individual with a rich personal history. Of course everyone behaves out of their own history but...who watches the watcher? At the moment, it appears to be noone.

Honestly, i have choosen to just not reply to his post, because there is always personal hatred coming from him and i don't even know what his deal is. Fine, i'm not expecting everyone to like me, but the best course of action is to just ignore that person and move on.

But if the hatespeech continues and the rest of the power elite thinks it is OK and puts the blame back on the "victim"...that's just preposterous.

Look, situations like this can be resolved peacefully. How? Just by looking at the specific situation after it occured. If he had said sorry, or any of the moderators told me that this was way out of line...ok. But silently backing this and proactively removing all traces of it ever happening..

...that means about as much as you, the traveler and others supporting his amazing insults. And as you have made it clear in your last post, that appears to be true.

THAT is the real problem.

obliguhl,

First of all, I had no clue about what Art told you, and I neither know the context in which it was said.. You act as if all moderators are aware of every message being sent on the forum. Was this done by pm? in a thread? I had never heard about this until right now. You are saying your side of the whole thing, but it would be good to know the full picture.

Secondly, which moderators (plural in your words) are being bullies ? Is there anyone else apart from Art you have a problem with? If so, please explain clearly what was the issue, with links or quotes of the whole discussion including your messages, so that a better understanding is reached (and by pm to me probably better)

Thirdly, "power elite" ? Come on man, we are not being paid, we don't get anything out of this, we dedicate hours and hours to try to make this place a better place, rarely are thanked and more often receive unconstructive complaints and blames... all we have is a couple extra buttons on the forum like delete and ban (which i dont even remember last i used) and a private forum to discuss troubles and trolls.. not much of power neither elite.. and remember we are humans like everyone, we make mistakes, but we are certainly willing to recognize those mistakes and try to improve.

And you call yourself a "victim" and say you are being blamed, but where are you being blamed by anyone? If your comment is related to what I said, I merely suggested that you consider the possibility that there is something to learn from the experience, I never said you are 100% to blame (and neither that he is). .Again, I have never heard about this until now so how could I even form an opinion on what happened if I dont know what happened? How can we be "backing up silently" if we dont even know what happened? I even suggested you pm me and explain and I suggested I can try to mediate between you two, but you denied saying you have "forgiven him" , which certainly doesnt seem like from the amount of energy you are spending in this. What else do you expect me to do?

I think you seem to be projecting a lot of your own frustrations and have bought into a "mods are bad and im a victim" mentality which is not helping anyone really. When we disagree with how a place is, we can do two things which may be of any use: Try to make it a better place by making constructive suggestions on how to improve (suggestions which may or may not be thought by others to be good), or leave. So far I havent seen any constructive suggestion, I've only seen you calling yourself a victim and complaining about how bullies all the 'power elite' mods are, denying help and then complaining you dont get any help, saying you have forgiven but then keep going on about it both in pm and in the forum...

So my concrete suggestion to you: Pm me whatever discussion you have had with him with all the context included so I can try to help, post here in the open forum any constructive suggestions to the forum, and/or let this go and move on with your life, either in this forum with the quality posts you would like to see from others, or elsewhere if you feel you will be happier

I'd like to complain about a certain mod: dreamer042.

That bastard hogs all the mangos, and jacks up the price for the rest of us. EVERYBODY! GRAB YER PITCHFORKS! TIME TO SMOALK HIM OUT!

Ah, ok...i thought you were aware of this, my apologies! Everytime you are trying to access a "deleted" thread, you're getting the message that the thread has been moved to a forum you can't access. That's why i thought moderators would be generally aware of these questionable threads.

My beef was especially with that particular Thread...and how it was handled by the traveler (and i thought the moderatorS who i assumed had knowledge of it).



It's a mix of the changes the nexus has gone through + a feeling of helplessness.
You are claiming i have not made suggestions, that is not true if you look at the SM Forum. This might not make me the most popular member, but i have quite actively lobbied for more restrictions such as a ban of policital discussions, a vote for "back to welcome area" , the restriction of signups before the welcome area was established, the seperation of welcome area and normal forum posts on the homepage and so forth.



It's not about getting help with some petty conflict...but that conflict was certainly a sign of what i percieved as a lack of leadership..which i think does contribute to the overall state of affairs.

But i should have thought about the possibility of you or other moderators not being aware of this particular incident..that was really stupid of me and i would like to apologize again.

Of course i can't provide you with the context since the thread has been removed. I do know that sometimes people misunderstand what i'm getting at but the right reacttion is to communicate respectfully, ask questions, for clarificatitons and not to completly lose your shit.

Of course i'm attached to this forum and want it to thrive. I've spent 9 years of my life on here. That stands above any petty conflicts.

obliguhl, it could have been moved to the mods forum but to be honest I am too busy to keep up with every thread moved there, they are mostly sourcing talk or obvious troll threads.. I tried to find something there where you have posted but couldnt, if you remember the title of the thread or who started it, pm me and I can try to find to read the discussion.

As for your suggestions, thanks for them, seems some of them are already in place. The political talks are restricted to the political forum, and there doesnt seem to be any trouble with that lately unless I missed something (quite possible). Regarding the 'voting back to new member', that would take programing from Trav's side and I have no clue how easy it is, and I know he is a very busy person, Im sure his 'to-do' list is pretty huge. You can always point out to me or other mods wheneever someone is acting in a bad way and we can move people back to the new members area ourselves. And the other suggestions as you said have been implemented.

Regarding Trav, I think you have to realize that, he has put in more time than anyone here into making this place a reality. He has put in thousands upon thousands of euros to host, and countless (expensive) hours to program, update, going through great lenghts to keep everyone secure, etc etc.. The few donations that sometimes he receives are nothing compared to what he actually puts in.. And he has a life of his own, a demanding job, family, etc.. So I think its unfair to complain that he is not present in every little argument and issue that arises.

Thank you for explaining how you feel, and as I mentioned, im willing to help out in any way I can if I have the time, and im sure so are other mods.

I hope we can close this in a positive note and continue contributing to making this forum a better place.

Be well

All my fave forums are in mass decline. I blame facebook and other various social media that has just cornered the whole show. Doesn't have much to do with how ok I am. As far as the nexus is concerned I find it harder to contribute these days as the subject matter got more and more elegant beyond testing out step by step kitchen chemistry. I still try to read as much as I can but psychedelics aren't really my priority right now. Somehow I need to carve myself a life off of this crazy rock which is no end of stress and misery.
The main factor in my life seems to be trying to crowbar in new attachments faster than the rate of decline of my family and friendships are fading whilst trying to feed myself in the process. I will say though that although the nexus isn't as busy as it used to be, I still find joy in reading up from some of the old heads that stuck around and trying to get acquainted with the new. But yes although mostly silent, I'm still here.

Professional football player Peter Crouch was once asked if he wasn't a football player, what would he be. His response? "A virgin probably".

Now this place has never got me laid, but to say I've never met 99% of you guys this place has without question changed the course of my life for the better and that's pretty damn permanent.

Like a wise old sage once said....

"Be excellent to each other".

Good to know you are still around soulfood

This place has had a huge impact on my life, I'd say right up there with my psychedelic experiences. A bit of a sucker for nostalgia too, going on 9 years here - I can say without a doubt this is the only forum that I've ever devoted as much time as I have. I do miss many of the 2008-2012 members that used to come here, man..there's so many; though I understand that life does it's thing and people move along or come and go, the dance of ye' life.. There's many highly intelligent people that frequent here, some old guard, some new guard, it's all a beautiful thing when ya step back and look at it.

Life mirrored on the micro; this forum is ever changing, occasionally for the better, sometimes for the worse, sometimes changing into a multitude of other directions; but this forum, imo, is life reflected. That's how I look at it.

Many of us old timers are still around – just not posting as much.