Criticism of Permies.com 'saints' to be deleted?

I was somewhat surprised to find that my recent thread in this forum, titled "Allan Savory vs James McWilliams", has been deleted.

In it I was trying to start some discussion around media and academic responses to Mr Savory's recent TED talk.

I would have thought that if we are trying to find out what practices have most potential for healing the land, then we might want to consider how the talk has been received by academics and other commentators?

I would love to know why the thread was taken down. If one is not permitted to criticise and debate the efficacy of the practices promoted in this community, then I can't see much point in being here.

Sincerely,

Adam

I would suggest that the title you picked, "Allan Savory vs James McWilliams", probably contributed to the removal of that thread. Paul's guidelines for posting on this site specify pretty clearly that he wants discussion to be non-oppositional, and that posters should support their positions rather than tearing down other positions. I wonder if the thread would have been removed if you had titled it "Perspectives on Allan Savory's Work" rather than setting up two oppositional viewpoints.

I would also suggest that if you think that "If one is not permitted to criticise and debate the efficacy of the practices promoted in this community, then I can't see much point in being here", Paul will likely agree with you.

Stop the hate.

Paul has deleted threads for hating Monsanto. He has been pretty clear that he wants to focus on the positive.

If you can spin it and isolate it to only the positive on how to reach more people, great. If it turns into name calling of either side, game over.

nathan luedtke wrote:I would suggest that the title you picked, "Allan Savory vs James McWilliams", probably contributed to the removal of that thread. Paul's guidelines for posting on this site specify pretty clearly that he wants discussion to be non-oppositional, and that posters should support their positions rather than tearing down other positions. I wonder if the thread would have been removed if you had titled it "Perspectives on Allan Savory's Work" rather than setting up two oppositional viewpoints.

I would also suggest that if you think that "If one is not permitted to criticise and debate the efficacy of the practices promoted in this community, then I can't see much point in being here", Paul will likely agree with you.

Thanks for your comments. I have followed your suggestion and am creating a new thread with the title 'Perspectives on Allan Savory's Work'. Hopefully we can be allowed to discuss this there in a non-oppositional manner...

R Scott wrote:Stop the hate.

Paul has deleted threads for hating Monsanto. He has been pretty clear that he wants to focus on the positive.

If you can spin it and isolate it to only the positive on how to reach more people, great. If it turns into name calling of either side, game over.

Dear R. Scott,

I don't believe that anything I wrote was either hateful or name calling.

The article itself may have been a little harsh, but I was inviting discussion on it. I have since discovered more balanced articles criticising Mr Savory's work, and will give preference to those in my new thread.

Thanks,

Adam

Paul had already explained himself: https://permies.com/t/25570/tnk/debate-sharing

I don't know what was said in the thread, but agree that just by the tone it was not going to end well.

If I understand correctly, this is a forum for sharing your experience, give it a go if you have some, all experience is valid and valued. In contrast, there are a lot of venues in our culture for debate and criticism, the whole university system for one.

Adam Ormes wrote:If one is not permitted to criticise and debate the efficacy of the practices promoted in this community, then I can't see much point in being here.

Too bad to be so self-defeating, a lot of learning will be missed with this mindset.

Thankfully Paul has created a communication forum here that is as unconventional as his farming philosophy. We who participate are all richer for that.

Adam Klaus wrote:

Adam Ormes wrote:If one is not permitted to criticise and debate the efficacy of the practices promoted in this community, then I can't see much point in being here.

Too bad to be so self-defeating, a lot of learning will be missed with this mindset.

Please expand, if you would.

Ok, please see my reply in Paul's thread.

I have yet to post my new thread as I am as yet unclear as to whether it would meet the publishing standards.

I would love to know why the thread was taken down.

Because I felt like taking it down.

I pay the bills, so I decide what stays and what goes.

Also, I have a reputation for being a censor and an asshole. Some people find that intolerable. Other people find is rather heavenly. So I guess I enjoy appealing to the latter crowd and the former crowd tends to find another community.