Re: poetry and philosophy forums
I do not go to philosophy forum because general philosophy clashes with my precious religious beliefs which to me are like a liquid encapsulated in a jar with a broken bottom... it's already continuously dripping and I constantly have to struggle to keep it filled and Allah knows how miserabely I am failing it everday... I do not wish to get a full fledge hole in it with the pounding of philosophy.... though Islamic philosophy touched upon by Allama Iqbal has always been my inspiration and subject of study... but then, I never ever found a single person to actually contribute and converse about Islamic philosophy... so never bothered....
As for poetry Forums, I was a pretty active member once upon a time.. enjoyed the company of marvellous, beautiful gem of a people ... I have always urged people to post more than "bahut khoob, one of my favourites, nice one, zabardast, wah wah" and the likes of comments... and if searched, I can guarantee that my more than 90% of the replies are above such robotic, monotonic, one-liners, or rather half a liners...
I have always read Poetry threads with a depth of understanding, in search of learning new things, asking people question about what they post... at the least, the poet name so that while we can give credit where it is due, we can always know the pattern of poetry of the particular poet... I have gone to the extreme of discussing some idea within the piece posted, or comparison with poet's other works or even trying to understand in the poetry of other poets.....
I do not know the statistics right now, but during the time of Amal as a moderator, when I was active, we used to have a blast of conversation.. discussion was at its prime.... It was a different forum back then.... :)
Poetry is a passion - you can only discuss it if you are interested and willing to learn with honesty.... I still participate there sometimes, but only when I see a person who I used to discuss things, posts or if I see a masterpiece in my eyes...
Our problem is that we do not give credit where it is due....! Injustice is the evil root cause of all problems..!