Fraser-
On the Iron Sun string, I haven't seen a multitude of members...I saw lots of Duane, Anton, and Oliver on the last two pages, but very few other people with very few posts. I don't mind leaving that string alone - I think Oliver deserves it - but just for the future, I think yourself and the mods should make sure that more than just two or three people make contributions to any big topics, because it spells pickiness in my mind when I see over five pages of the same two or three people on one thread with sparse contribution from other members.
Again, nothing against Oliver, I think he deserves that string, but just something for all of us to think about for the future...

Well, we could always try holding a gun to people's heads to make them post. That would work.

Seriously, come on, a couple of folks are enjoying a good discussion and you want to stop them from hogging the conversation like it's stopping anyone else from joining in? How do you propose we "make sure that more than just two or three people make contributions to any big topics" - honestly, I want serious suggestions.

What do you mean by "it spells pickiness"?

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"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."

OK, just as a thought experiment, suppose we mods told you that you had to make a meaningful contribution to the Iron Sun thread. What would you write? Certainly nothing is stopping you from reading the thread, and asking any of the people suggesting ideas to clarify something, or to post some observation of your own on this topic. As long as it is on topic, anyone's posts are welcome. It just happens that this is the place where Dr. Manuel is explaining his theory to all who are interested, which currently seems mainly to be Duane and myself.

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Forming opinions as we speak

Yeah, it would be hard to make people reply to something. I would reply to every thread, if I understood what was going on... :blink:

I havn't read the whole thread yet, but so far it sounds really interesting. Hopefully this summer I'll have time to read the whole thing and reply.

Why don't we turn Oliver's thread into its own forum? On physicsforum.com, a whole forum is devoted to Q&A with Michio Kaku! We should have something like that on here...I'm no pyschologist, but I think such a move would get more people into the Iron Sun crowd.

A Cosmology section was discussed, but there's no sense in having a forum on just the Iron Sun topic - the fact that only 3 or 4 people contribute to the topic is evidence in itself that a forum devoted to the subject would hardly ever be used.

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"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."

Just because there is only a handful of contributors doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of readers following the thread.

Personally I'm enjoying the Iron Sun thread. I haven't had time to digest all the postings so I don't have any need to contribute directly. But while the thread is active, I don't see any problem with it having a small number of active participants.

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Spike
:)

It is a bit over my head, but I keep reading it. I've spent lots of time looking stuff up just so I half way know what is going on. Like many others, I read to educate myself.

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Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

I am also one of the many who are reading and following that discussion, I say go for it, I am struggling to keep up, so it is good that a record i easily accessible.

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Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Optics, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

The only thing that has deterred me from reading the Iron Sun topic is how long it is. I suppose it will only get longer.... But it sounds like I'll have to read it if it is has interesting as everyone here is making it out to be.

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"Human curiosity and the desire to make the intangible tangible, has led us into a new age where the New World has been settled, and the West has been won. But if you think that we, the human race, has conquered everything there is to conquer, then just look to the sky--at space--last and greatest of the frontiers."

LMAO

I don't quite follow your logic here. Nothing to stop other people contributing to a thread, and of course, just because people aren't posting to a particular thread doesn't mean they aren't taking a passing interest in what is going on in any particular thread. Very strange logic you have there StarLab.

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer - renowned 19th Century German philosopher.