Hai.

Hey Carleas, how’s it going? In the time that I’ve been here, I haven’t seen much from you so I figured I’d make a post in a section you obviously pay attention to with something that hopefully you will perceive to be aired in a nice and friendly manner aside from the straightforward and logical manner in which it has just been presented. I’ve noticed that you have over 4,000 posts and yet I can’t remember seeing a thread you’ve started or participated in and it would be dismal to think that the majority of your posts is from answering threads in this section only or settling disputes or playing the mediator when it’s needed. I could go in search of your personal history here and see for my self the types of posts you used to make, but it does little to soothe my growing curiosity about the man who runs these forums or how he presents himself or his views on reality or any part of the whole thereof.

Obviously, your philosophies show themselves in your actions and reactions; the posts you decide to make while deciding not to make other posts that people can only guess at for not seeing the evidence of thought put in and then taken away, but one has to assume that you bite your tongue more often than not. At one point in time, you stated that it was all beautiful; meaning reality itself, I assume; and it is my current perception that you come off as relatively calm in nature and cool-headed based on what you do present which may or may not coincide with how you experience it and what view of your self you have in your own head. It could be that you have another account here, possibly moderator status, possibly not; or perhaps multiple accounts of varying status in terms of permissions given which would definitely encourage the embracement of multiple perceptions and perspectives and different ideologies approached.

Overall, this is just to say ‘hi’ and to try to strike up a conversation, so don’t take my quick, little theories of your personality upset you or offend you as they are just that, theories about something I’m curious about: You. It would be interesting to see you in the flow of things, discussing ideas and keeping to your calm and cool demeanor you seem to put off from your root administrator account; to see and hear what you have to say as an addition to life instead of just a bystander or mediator and to know that it comes from you instead of being based in another account if that possibility is accurately true.

It’s almost easy to sit back and watch something unfold without you, I imagine, once you get into the swing of such, but you should remember you are still a part of these message boards. I imagine things about your 4000+ posts, like how you might have been int he flow of things here once upon a time until something came along to put a stop to it and perhaps you were a bit hot-headed or other until something cooled it for you. Perhaps you loved certain members here that are no longer here; as one would love friends or perhaps more.

What was this forum like when it was new? That’s something that no amount of history searching can really bring forth to the mind even though I could readily imagine it, having been in other communities when they were fresh and watched them grow to decent heights before crashing down and devolving. I’m used to seeing communities of a political nature instead of philosophical and so they crash generally due to corruption, but here where the mind grants further power in terms of philosophical discussion, such crashed are kind of impossible and yet you must have seen times when you were so overrun with delinquents as to seemingly destroy something that might have once been beautiful and might still be again.

From your standpoint as Root Administrator, you’ve had the privilege of watching this forum grow for 14 years; what are your thoughts on its progression and how have you viewed it; what has it meant to you; how has it affected your life, if you’re willing to talk about your life beyond these forums at all; even in the vaguest terms. What caused you to create this and then 14 years later sit in it while barely saying anything at all? I can almost see the possibilities unfold in an infinite variety depending on what your personality type is and how you may or may not have reacted to different situations and circumstances in different manners. I can almost see the myriad ways of life of every single person who might try to undertake such a project as this message board and for the various reasons they might do so for. Countless different answers and yet none of them yours; none of them the truth until spoken and articulated by your self; merely views into the human behavior and what may have happened behind the scenes as well as in the open.

I find it endlessly fascinated that with my previous taunting of you and the force of my arguments here that you have not banned me permanently and I suspect equally that you have failed to ban anyone else permanently, including trolls to which I also find fascinating as it isn’t an approach most would go with. I see that most bans are put in place by other administrators here and not you which tends to speak toward your personality in greater magnitude whether you hold multiple accounts and act differently with each one or just have a singular account.

I don’t really have any help or suggestions for you, just saying hi, like I said. Not trying to really analyze you, just get to know you as a person. I find it kind of odd and intriguing to be a foreigner to this message board, not having been here since it was founded and having migrated from other parts of the internet where people did not tolerate my philosophizing, reaching out and extending a hand to you and saying ‘come back to your boards and be a personality here again like I suspect you might have been once or twice before; have this discussion with me and possibly others.’

In olden times, people used to actually host such conversations and meetings in their own homes or in a public place where many could sit and dine and wine together while merrily chatting and enjoying each others companies. I find myself in your metaphorical house, uninvited, preparing my own table and my own meal and wondering where my generous host can be that allows me to do so unashamedly. Come, sit down and eat with me; drink with me a bit; and converse a bit like people used to, if you wish to do so.

I didn’t create ILP. I came here as a regular user in college, and took over when the person who did outgrew it (his username is “Ben”, if you want to look up his old posts). I was a pretty good user, though I was in the Philosophy Hall of Shame at least twice.

I do have a second account (“Wax”), but I don’t use it. When I first took over, I thought I would want a way to post as a non-staff user. But it turns out that the way being the administrator affects my participation in discussions is much more about how I see my participation than about how others it.

Most recently, I created two threads in November:
House the Homeless
Proximately Tradeable Air Rights
And I carry an index card in my pocket on which I write other ideas for threads, most of which I will never find the time to create. But since I’m interested in policy and other kinds of applied social philosophy, I find the management of the forum to be something a philosophical discussion.

WHo pays and how?

I pay. With a credit card.

You really gotta get a paypal button up.

^ this.

How much does the site cost to run?

Billions.

I asked a search engine how much it costs on average to run a website and got this: startupdesi.com/costs-of-running-web-business/ :sunglasses:

I’ve responded to both, and have got nothing from you. :smiley:

That estimate is a tad high, as is Mr. Reasonable’s. Annual costs are in the low hundreds.

House the Homeless got away from the discussion I’d hoped to start and I lost interest. I read your response to Air Rights and I’ve been thinking about it. I will respond soon.