I’ve warned Morales about this, but it applies to everyone: if you find your comments are dominating the conversation, if there is a whole series of comments one after the other by you, if the comment section is nothing but you talking, STOP. Slow down. Think before commenting. Try to assemble something coherent and substantial before clicking on “post”.
I gave Morales the guideline that his comments shouldn’t make up more than 20% of a thread (and he seems to be following the suggestion). That’s a good guideline for everyone — the goal is to have some healthy back and forth in the discussion.
“Drive-by comments”: BAD
“Dominating the comments”: BAD
Clearly, I need to adjust my level of commenting to the optimum level.
But if I can’t yell at beholder about Kamala Harris for the bazillionth time then arghblblbl!
As an international visitor (greetings from Finland!) I have a suggestion regarding comments. Could there be some tag for new/ international commenters? The comment section can get pretty vicious and its not very easy to hop in as someone who does not speak english as first language, as well as is not that familiar with american culture. Maybe it would encourage people to speak up if the fear of getting mauled verbally is lower.
PZ — Thank you. I think some kind of guideline is appropriate. Sometimes the threads become little more than squabbles between two or three people over some point of the original post, and often as not a tangential point.
So, taking PZ and @3 markush seriously, my suggestions are:
1) no machine guns (blasting a dozen comments at one article, give everyone else a chance)
2) no flame throwers (a little civility to other commenters doesn’t need to silence you)
That’s my one comment for this article.
I wonder though what happens if one has an ongoing discussion with someone or if one just comes up with many arguments at many different times. Isn’t there something lost then?
You make a fair point. Turning the comment section into your own personal blog isn’t very respectful. We’re guests here and should of course act like it.
Mano Singham has a “max three comments” policy.
Pretty sure I am one person you got in mind here. Roger, wilco.
I for one used to enjoy watching Morales run rings around certain clueless commenters hereabouts in response to their personal snipes. It was all very entertaining, and for me personally, highly educational.
Interestingly those snipers are still here, sniping away at Morales, still allowed to snipe at Morales, still trying to make threads all about Morales. All credit to Morales’ respect for you, PZ, that he no longer rises to the bait still so often presented to him. I would have preferred those snipers to have been told to stop than Morales being curtailed, but hey, one can’t have everything one’s own way!
That said, I usually don’t read overly long comments as I often have better things to do with my limited time as a small piece of animated earth. And when I see long-winded tirades I just go somewhere else until you all move on which to be fair is normally pretty quickly, though it would be nice to not have to do so.
FWIW I make multiple comments for a number of reasons.
(A) I gather that a lot of people dislike “walls of text” so rather than posting one long comment answering many people I try to break it up so I make several shorter comments replying to points or questions or relevant facts about each comment that I am replying to. I gather that’s better, clearer and more respectful to the other commenters to have their own reply?
It seems easier for people to miss things and skim over a long post than more targeted individual ones addressing individual points.
I get accused of making “walls of text” for trying to explain my views and positions enough anyhow so I thought breaking it up was at least one way to avoid that and allow people to address different aspects of what’s said, well, written, separately.
(B) Style being conversational when you are talking and responding to others you take turns talking and listening and responding to what they say. If there are two people going back and forth then I guess that ends up being a lot of comments from those two people but that certainly isn’t stopping others commenting or intentionally trying to hog the thread just the way discussions work. Its also the case that I’ll think of something after I’ve posted it thinking about the conversation or topic so I’ll then add that.
(C) Timezone factor – I’m an Aussie so when I am commenting a lot of others are asleep and vice versa. Obviously the first comment is going to be 100% of the thread at the time, the second 50% the third 33% (rounded to nearest whole number), etc.. Presumably the 20% rule can only kick in after a reasonable number of comments have already been made. But when I respond after a whole lot of other comments and reply in separate comments to separate people then that mean posting a lot of comments in a row simply due to the time zone and few others being awake at the time. That’s hardly my fault! Unless I do a single wall of text which, see (A) above. I’m not the only Aussie or person in different time zones posting here & I don’t think we should be disadvantaged because of our temporal geography.
(D) Mea culpa. I absolutely suck at typing and proofreading and sometimes hit submit instead of preview by accident.
I do also sometimes rush (because time flies, life is busy, etc ..) and, yeah, I guess I should slow down and try harder to get things right first time. I also suffer from Dupuytren’s (see : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupuytren%27s_contracture ) so my hands and fingers are clumsy and pretty stuffed
I do now often (not always but often) type my comments in Word first but spell check doesn’t catch everything and auto-correct can change words to totally wrong in context ones ad nauseam. Its very easy to see what you think and intended to write rather than what’s actually there. . If my typos don’t get me the auto-correct will.
Anyhow, upshot is if my comments has a lot of errors in it then I want to correct it to make it clear. I really wish we could edit comments here just to quickly fix such typos and eg italics and blockquote fails which are very easy to miss. The Bad Astronomy blog for instance, gave people a 15 min window to edit their comments which I think worked very well.
(E) To include extra links given the limit on links in a single post and for some PS / Addendums / footnotes. Given there’s a restriction on the number of links per comment I sometimes use another comment to include other good links that people can read or watch to get a better understanding or simply enjoyment over topic X.
I’m guessing this post might be about the recent discussion with anti-Democratic party trolls here “beholder” and their support troll “Silentbob” eg. here :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/09/09/a-call-to-action-for-the-post-trump-era/#comment-2311564
I gather some commenters find my calling out th lies and bullshit of these trolls and trying to hold them accountable for what they did in inflicting Trump on us all somehow annoying. (If they think they can do better at this task, they are most welcome to try!) It isn’t my intention to annoy anyone here but I think it seriously matters that their lies and undermining of the ONLY alternative to Trump’s fascist Repug party be called out and that they be made accountable so as to avoid yet another divide and conquer political catastrophe.
The bad faith Trumpy troll “beholder” spent years before during and still now afterwards working to get Trump elected by always attacking the Democratic party and their candidates and people including with outright lies e.g. falsely claiming Kamala Harris supported a genocide which she does NOT. “Beholder” is here under false pretences masking themselves as progressive when in fact they are a tankie fascist . (Eg them falsely claiming to care about Gaza at least when Biden was POTUS -something since dropped now that their preferred Putin puppeteered dictator is in charge.)
Then there’s the bully and liar ‘Silentbob’ the trump trolls support troll who spent years here feuding with John Morales and still attacks him as well as also being a tankie and coward who like the dishonest Trumpist Troll “beholder” does regularly does drive by lies and then refuses to answer questions like those asked here :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/08/11/this-is-what-happens-when-you-let-a-senile-fool-run-the-country/comment-page-1/#comment-2311021
He also spent years lying about & misgendering to chigau (違う) and has yet to apologise to her for this.
This blog would be greatly improved by the absence of these two trolls from it in my view and it si vital that their brand of Bothsiderist bullshit be comprehensively rejected.
@ 10 Nick Wrathall
Cool story bro.
Now tell us how “beholder” should be curtailed for sniping at “StevoR”. X- D
@ 11 StevoR
“Tankie” is a new one. X-D
(I’m a pretty hard pacifist.)
Also, Stevo, it’s not comment numbers, I think, it’s percentage of words. Nobody I think has a problem with you breaking up comments into smaller bits.
There is a known problem on this blog with a least one guy using it as his personal soapbox/playground.
Evidently more than one.
I shall be, um, oblique. Pearls, you know? ;)
https://web.archive.org/web/20120411081343/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/02/february_needs_a_molly.php *
(Disciple of truth machine, I am)
Deprecated now, but in the kilocomment era for this blog.
Even if one tried, no domination could occur. Too much buzz.
Wait a bit, there’d be half a dozen comments already; get in quick, or get lost in the noise.
The Pharyngula version of the Jurassic.
* BTW, that is a double dereference to actually access that old post.
—
I bear in mind https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1963-if-you-can-t-be-a-good-example-then-you-ll-just
(See how good I am? Old dog, new tricks)
@ 13 Moi
Reflecting on this more, it’s striking how Stevo’s position is, “everyone should enthusiastically and gleefully vote for genocide as long as they can think of something worse”, and my position is, “voting for genocide is always morally wrong”, and Stevo is calling me a “tankie”. X-D
Dude. Get some self-awareness.
@ 11 StevoR
This comment is so egregious I’m responding in the endless thread.
@Stevor#11Talk about missing the point. Have you never been told that brevity is the soul of wit?
I come here to read interesting comments on PZ’s posts. Quaint, I know.
And when someone makes a comment, it’s great when that comment stands on its own feet. I’ve seen many thought-provoking comments that have altered my views.
Comments that disinter previous debates and revive hurt from previous pedantry really get in the way. Once that happens, PZ’s article (or, indeed, Prof Singham’s posts before the new rules) is finished for me. Sometimes I will scroll down looking for an infrequent commenter, but they’re probably not there.
For those who must have their walls of text or their serial itemised tidbits deconstructing other commenters’ foolishness: go get your own blog. No really, it will be great over there, everyone will migrate over to your new place for their daily dose of dissension. Now and then you can even mention, here, the thriving debate scene you’re hosting over there.
@17 Silentbob
It would only be “voting for genocide” if there was a viable alternative that was against genocide. But there wasn’t. No sane or honest person would frame the choice like you do.
…even if not doing so increases the chance of even more genocide, plus the end of any further chances to vote.
Just completing the sentence for you, Silentbob.
I see I’ve been at best sailing close to the wind at A call to action for the post-Trump era. My apologies.
PZ’s OP is good guidance moving forward. People do get enthusiastic about certain topics, so there’s that. If I’m working I don’t reply as often but when off I have more time on my hands.
PZ’s post came across as a gentle enough suggestion, but even in this thread we have some quite negative meta going on in the comments.
PZ : Suggests people don’t make multiple comments and hog the thread.
Silentbob : Immediately makes multiple comments hogs this thread and goes off to befoul the Infinite thread too.
@2 Bad faith Trumpy troll “Beholder” :
You’d be so very happy wouldn’t you if people didn’t hold you to account for your actions and memory-holed the shit you have pulled here and continue to pull here and were suckered into voting against the left wing of the two major parties wouldn’t you?
Not going to happen and PZ Myers said nothing about my NOT continuing to hold you responsible for your words and actions and call you out for what you are, “beholder” you contemptible trumpist troll. If you don’t like it you are welcome to change your views, acknowledge you got it catastrophically wrong, apologise and change your behaviour. Or just fuck off from here forever.
@Trumpist trolls support troll Silentbob #12, 13, 14,17 & 18 (did I miss any others of theirs?) :
Liar. This is NOT my position at all. As I’ve already told you many times Kamala and the Democratic party did NOT support genocide.
The genocide in Gaza is being done by Netanyahu despite Biden and Kamala’s opposition and criticism of it and is now continuing with Trump’s enthusiastic support. Stop lying scumbag.
.
Yet you support the Trumpist troll who supports genocide and is ensuring genocides plraland worse. Go figure huh?
Because you’ve made it clear that is what you are. Nor is that anything new -you do seem to be having major memory issues don’t you?
You first, dude.
@ 19. Erlend Meyer
Sorry, I‘m not Oscar Wilde. Only Oscar Wilde was Oscar Wilde and this isn’t about being witty but making some points.
@20. EigenSprocketUK
So do I and I think I often make them. What is “interesting” is subjective and varies from person to person. This isn’t just your blog either. Other commenters have other styles to yours & mine & focus on other things than what interests or entertains you. Your problem with that is___?
I would definitely comment more if all the Old Pharyngulite commenters from the old days weren’t such unutterable bastards.
Louis (an Old Pharyngulite commenter from the old days)
P.S. That was a joke.
P.P.S. @Markush #3, there used to be a fairly international spread here in the Before Times, during the Never Never. I see a few old names pop up when I lurk. There were once definitely commenters for whom the idea that anything outside the USA was anathema, and if they acknowledged its existence, they disapproved. Typical arrogant Yank mentality, really. After all they only do it because they know that it’s actually really the UK that is the rightful cultural hegemon and they’re inadequate.
P.P.P.S. That, too, was a joke.
P.P.P.P.S. Because ACTUALLY the only correct cultural hegemon is Cyprus. WHAT!?
Here’s an example of personal growth for us all:
I saw Heddle comment the other month and didn’t immediately want to murder anyone because of his overwhelming intellectual dishonesty.
Why it’s almost like I’m a proper grown up.
Louis (A commenter so old he has never knowingly correctly spelled PZ’s surname)
FWIW Silentbob I have now answered your comment #77 on the Infinite thread here :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/06/28/infinite-thread-xxxx/comment-page-6/#comment-2311805
Clarifying that I do NOT hold you personally responsible for inflicting Trump on us all planet~wide. The Dishonest Trump troll “beholder” does bear considerable responsibility there since they worked had for years to achieve that. Why you align with him I do not know.
Once years ago, Pharyngula hada three comment rule -but itwas quite a different sort of three comment rule :
Source : https://pharyngula.fandom.com/wiki/Three_comment_rule
Plus I remember when I first started reading and commening on Pharyngula and there were these rules :
Source : https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/rules/
Although i think there was an even earlier one noting that thsi wa s aliveral blog, a rude swearing uncivilblog where evidence and good argument wa skey or something along those lines?
Also at one stage there was just the one rule of don’t annoy PZ Myers? hng, on.. Aha! Via the Phargyngula wiki from ages past :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/08/01/pharyngula-standards-practices/
Some things seem different now.. Guess that’s time’s passage for us.
@ ^ Apologies and fix here intended one of those links to be this one :
https://pharyngula.fandom.com/wiki/Pharyngula#Blog_culture