A listing of those topics which will automatically cause a topic to derail in circular arguments.
- Cast Iron cleaning methods
- Knife sharpening methods
- Coffee brewing equipment
- Flammability rates of electric cars
- Discussions about derailing
- “Misogynistic statements are ok when my favorite person does it”
- The proof of telepathy
- Why are we platforming [this person]. If we ignore them they’ll go away!
- Whether punching Nazis is bad
- Bidets
- Cycling
- Whether people who use leafblowers are bad people
- Bikes vs cars, or bike lanes
- Woody Allen, artistry vs creepiness
- Ketchup on hotdogs
- Pointless White Male hero worship and stanning/caping for insufferable asshats
16(a). Clever definitions of libertarianism - Homelessness in LA or SF
- Guy whose name rhymes with Peel On Rusk
- Rockstars and their penchant for underage girls (yes, even David Bowie)
- I did it to piss off Joey\
- Boingboing is not the same as it used to be
- Whether electric cars should pay road maintenance taxes
- How to pronounce “gif”. Hint: rhymes with knife.
- Masks: Protection or theater?
24(a). Also, which type of masks? The quality of items offered in the BoingBoing Store.[SOLVED]
25(a). Also, are they tactical or strategic?- Whether the retired “Pedant Pendant” is desirable
- William S Burroughs: literary outlaw, or wife-murdering pederast?
- Do definitions even mean anything?
- Are hot dogs sandwiches?
- Is “whom” even a real word?
- Lists; who is in charge anyway?
- Is the driver an idiot, or is the infrastructure to blame?
- Do we need to use soap and shampoo?
- When folk insist (and insist, and insist) on making a topic about themselves
- Gun control? You don’t even know the difference between an AR-15 and an M-16.
- Mоist vs. Damp
- Whisky vs. Whiskey
- The correct number of humans that should live on Earth at any one time.
- Anything filmed in portrait mode except for giraffes and the Eiffel Tower.
39(a). Saying “film”, “tape”, or “rewind” when talking about digital recording. - Racism and other forms of marginalisation; do average white men really know best?
- AksHuaLLy…
- Ed Snowden - Russian asset or principled hero? (or is that covered by 16?)
42(a). Also, what’s the best way to get to Ecuador? (Asking for a friend.) - Anytime someone attributes Kanye West’s behavior to mental health issues.
43(a). In fact, mental health in general. - Robots replacing cleaning crews
44(a) Date, time, proximate and societal causes and ultimate nature of the robot rebellion. - Kyrsten Sinema
- Cats, their habits, proper care and keeping of.
46(a) What side will cats be on during the robot rebellion? - Frozen peaches.
- Discussions on whether color XX is really present in an image (pixels vs perception).
- “Literally”, “figuratively”, “actually”, particularly the first in non-literary contexts.
- Is the correct plural of octopus Octoputrices or octoputrixes?
- Ancient engineering know-how vs. Aliens dunnit.
- The “correct” way to cook, well, anything really.
- Whether housing made from shipping containers are worth it.
- The only way to load a dishwasher properly.
- Whether electric vehicles or internal combustion vehicles catch fire more often [isn’t this #4?]
55(a) Are the robots testing vehicle fires as the first move of the robot rebellion? - People ‘fixing’ stuff their municipality hasn’t, aka Jobsworth Councils or underfunded, overworked people trying to do their best in shitty situations?
- What even is a graphic novel?
- Who’s the best on-screen martial artist?
- Any time the Boomer/X/Millenial/etc “divides” are discussed.
- Babies on airplanes
- The meaning of Milk and the people who drink it (See also #28)
- Axolotls
- A law cannot be racist unless it mentions a race
- The meaning of “Bad Faith”
- American “Exceptionalism”
65(a) Will robots treat Americans exceptionally during the rebellion, and what does that mean? - The effectiveness of bicycle helmets
- Whether US coins are legal tender
- The myth that adherents of veganism won’t shut up about it
- Climate change protests
- Do the billionaires deserve it? “It” being:
a. their wealth;
b. their inevitable hubristic comeuppance - Whaling in modern times
- Whether it’s okay for Snow White to be played by someone with melanin.
- Which generation was the worst. And what the heck even is a generation? Get off my lawn!
- Pizza Preferences
- What Westerns are and are not
- Benevolent dictators exist, for reals!
- Self-checkouts
- Self-checkins
- Whether peanut butter and chocolate should be mixed
- Do political polls mean anything at all?
- Is Starbucks categorically heinous or just generally terrible? (expect a chorus of opinions any time the brand is mentioned)
- The efficacy of using copper and nickel for their germicidal properties.
- Bring back cursive
- Artificial Intelligence (AI). What it is. What it isn’t. Whether it’s ethical. Whether there are any ethical uses of it. Whether it’s useful. Whether it’s creepy. Whether it ought to be extensively integrated into Discourse’s feature set. And so forth.
- What even is a McMansion anyway?
- The merits and otherwise of Discourse reacji, other than the heart. Also, no puke emoji?!
- Harbor Freight Tools. Are they all junk manufactured to go straight to the landfill?
- Whether deliberately adding foul-tasting products to a drink to combat bullying is a criminal act
- Daylight Saving Time
- The ethics of cloning extinct animals
- Whether it is a good idea to brandish bricks, foam or otherwise, while crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing.
- Should Pluto be a planet? (See also #28)
- Which is more responsible for road deaths in the US, the badly designed SUVs and passenger trucks or the badly designed roads? Also, should we blame drivers?
- Can you have an opinion about a film you haven’t seen, even if that opinion is just that you don’t want to see the film.
- When is architecture worth saving?
- Can cheese really be cheese if not made with milk? What even is milk? (See also #28, #61)
- Which president was (and could be) labeled “Teflon”
- Is it acceptable to eat food while
s*itting onusing the toilet? - Any discussion where Boeing is mentioned.
- Marmite vs. Vegemite vs. Neither.
- Whether its fine to expect vehicle occupants to have to read a digital manual to locate non-obvious car safety features before riding in a vehicle. N00b!
- Bratwurst origins, or Alles hat ein Ende nur nicht die Frage wo kommt die Wurst her?
- What shape is the earth? Spoiler: It’s an amorphous blob.
- Whether it is reasonable to expect pickup trucks (Pointy or otherwise) to withstand being launched off a ramp
- Is it a cake or is it a biscuit?
- Whether Georgia (the country) should be considered part of Europe or Asia
- Whether Green Day are actually Punk
