Bad Vs Useless

Sometimes we use the word bad when we really mean personally useless - ThinkingOutLoud.DonaldNoyes.20141208

Perhaps much of the not so useful debate surrounding the use of the word "bad" could be avoided if we would carefully consider what we mean when we use either of the words.

Thus the pages GoodThing and BadThing might more profitably be split between moral preferences and the user's preferences as defined in the pages:

UsefulThing
UselessThing
GoodVsUseful

see: PersonalChoiceElevatedToMoralImperative

I think there are some ethical issues in the word bad which make a difference from useless. For example, this site is subject to what is allegedly an experiment about scripting. For me there are ethical considerations in an experiment. If it affects other people or has other consequences then those should be discussed and those affected by it deserve consideration. An experiment which is conducted without those considerations should in my opinion be judged bad because of its effects on others. At the same time it may or may not be useless as it may do something. The purpose can be declared and a result established. -- JohnFletcher

True. The page was intended to be from the standpoint of personally valued or preferred alternatives, not from the standpoint of results of actions on a group of people and group choices or valuations. We can and do act and react in ways others find good, bad, useful, or useless.

Apologies if I have misused the page. Feel free to concentrate on the line of thought you have.

Other uses of the page are expected, my reply was meant to be something like:

  "True. While some people use words to describe their own feelings and personal values and alternatives 
  it is understood that some actions taken and choices made may be useful to one but bad in their effect on others."

While the present edit-war ( November-December 2014 ) by script and bot may seem right, good and proper to the individuals involved, there is still an effect which is undesirable and a result which is unsatisfactory to most readers. Conflicts like this occur when those who would want to change the traditional ways of doing things are opposed by those who do not accept changes in tradition or the method used to change them.

Are you sure that's an accurate summation of the current "troubles"? It came about from more than just our resistance to change, and we were happy to embrace the newcomer's ideas at first. The effect of the HardBan is certainly undesirable, but it is temporary: bullies find new targets when their existing targets no longer provide a satisfying reaction.

It was an observation, of "conflicts like this", not a summation of "current troubles". Much more could be added to such a summation. For now, because of the way wiki and the community handles RecentChanges, the unpleasantness is shortened to the current day only.

see: MeUsThemEveryone HistoryOfWikiChanges

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