Ever wondered how being vocal about yourself or your opinions affects your whitelist and blacklist count? I know I did, and although I voiced my opinions in some controversial threads (e.g. the ones about US elections), I never set out check this properly. Until today.

In each of the next 5 days I'll post a revealing thing about myself. In the following day I will let you know how many WL and BL I lost/gained, but to minimize bias I won't say in which direction until the experiment ends. To prevent having GAs skew the results, yet to still keep things in good giving order, I'll only post the GAs now, a day before I start posting the "reveals". The numbers in each list before the first reveal will be the baseline, but I'll keep them to myself and only report the increase/decrease. Suffice to say, I have three digit numbers in each list so plenty of room for reduction :-)

Oct 1

GA posting day (all Level 0, no filters) [All Finished]

Oct 2

I am Israeli and Jewish. I also served in the military, as a photographer. I'll dedicate a couple of reveals in coming days to my social and political views and to those I have on religion, but will add a few words here about my views of Israel military. I think a strong army is an unfortunate necessity for my country, and that there are few areas where Israeli military activities could have been significantly different yet still achieve the goal of defending the country. A few points where I object to how things are/were done: Use of administrative detention; use of one-ton bomb or similar for some not-so-targeted targeted killings; reprisal operations during the 50's and 60's. A few points where I think the army has much to pride itself on: Purity of arms ethical code, and specifically the extreme efforts that go into avoiding civilian causalities, with Roof-knocking procedure being a prime example. Another example is the huge investment Israel makes in developing defensive anti-missile missiles of different ranges - Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow - all of which, by definition, reduce civilian causalities (on both sides) compared to the alternatives.
Update: Gained 9 WL, Gained 1 BL.

Oct 3

I am agnostic-atheist. I've yet to encounter anything that would make me believe in God, so I don't. I believe it's impossible to prove that God exists, so I don't frequently spend time thinking or talking about this subject. I'm also not troubled by questions like "Where did the matter and energy in the universe come from?" ...I don't know the answer, and I doubt I'll ever hear a convincing explanation. As far as I'm concerned, God isn't a convincing explanation to such questions. I can at least find answers to some related questions in the theory of evolution, which I find very convincing.
In addition, I'm secular. I do celebrate most Jewish holidays every year, but I don't do it because of what they mean to religious people. I do it because I enjoy many of the traditions, I enjoy being with my extended family, and the holidays give a great framework for this. Similarly when I'm invited by people of other religions or cultures to celebrate their holidays, I seize the opportunity and gladly participate. 
Update: Gained 5 WL, Gained 1 BL.

Oct 4

My political ideology is mostly left wing and social-liberal. I believe the state should ensure that the basic needs of everyone are met, yet still reward people for hard work, enterprise and innovation. With the increase of automation (autonomous trucks anyone?), I believe more and more people won't be able to find a job. The only way I see to go about it would be for the state to ensure basic income to all. As a (currently) working person, I accept this and am willing to pay for it. I already pay about 40% taxes, and although I don't agree with everything my country does with the money, I do think that the amount of taxation is roughly where it needs to be if the country aims to fund (or at least subsidize) important things like universal healthcare, college education and paid parental leave. This is why I don't advocate for reduction of taxes, but do want to see the budget used better.
I always voted for left wing parties. This unfortunately means that my votes have been somewhat wasted most of the years, given the political system in Israel (where opposition/minority parties can work on legislation, but have very limited impact otherwise). I think the current prime minister of Israel (Netanyahu) and the party he belongs to are both bad for the country and that their supporters are blind not to see it. I think Donald Trump is wildly incompetent and is on track to become one of the worst presidents in US history, and that Hillary Clinton would have been perfect for the job.
A few quick points - I believe the state and religion should be separated; abortion should be legal; guns should in most cases only be accessible to the armed forces, not regular citizens; I'm against the death penalty; I'm for immigration, based mostly on merit, not religion or nationality (though I understand and agree to why it had to be different when Israel was founded, a few years after the holocaust). I'm strongly in favor of equal rights and responsibilities to all, but accept that there are some areas where it's not easy to implement (e.g. drafting and arming a citizen who openly opposes the existence of the state is not a good idea). Climate change is real and largely caused by humans.
Update: Gained 5 WL, No change to BL.

Oct 5

As requested (by one user), below are some opinions I have about SteamGifts. Most are not that revelatory, and only one or two are likely to be really controversial.

  • Suspension does not absolve users from unactivated wins. Users should be required to take care of their unactivated wins before being allowed to enter more giveaways.
  • GA creators should be allowed to not deliver a game once every 100 successfully-delivered giveaways of non-free games, for whatever reason, without having to justify it and without it being considered as a fake giveaway.
  • There's nothing immoral, unjust or bad about restricting one's giveaways and excluding users (aka "my giveaway, my rules").
  • Level 0 invite-only is, by far, my favorite type of GA to create. I do sometimes add SGTools filters that reward contributors in ways that are impossible to achieve with levels (e.g. favor other users who create invite-only GAs, or restrict access to those who create only group GAs). When I use such filters, I almost always make the GA accessible to Level 0 users who haven't won anything yet.
  • SGTools is an awesome complementary site to SG. I wish its functionality was integrated into SG.
  • CV and levels are highly overrated.
  • GA creators who use SGTools should not include multiple-win check in their filters, but should check their winners for them manually.
  • There is hardly anything I consider as "drama" on SG, I don't know why people keep using this term.
  • People are too sensitive. Nothing on SG ever came close to making me want to leave the site.
  • The forums are the best part of SG, not the giveaways.
  • I hate the term "leech" and never use it, except when I'm actually discussing the zoological phylum annelids (which I've had an unforgettable encounter with in the Sri Lankan rain-forest Sinharaja).
  • Level 0 users, and especially those who don't use auto-join scripts, are unjustifiably demonized by too many users.
  • The site should start presenting captchas to users whose usage pattern strongly hints that they are using auto-join scripts (instead of suspending them).
  • Bonus opinion about games: Game genres/attributes that almost automatically get games into my Not Interested list on Steam: Anime, RPGMaker, Strategy, RTS, Crafting, Bullet Hell, Shoot'Em Up, Clicker, Dating Sim, Hex Grid, Isometric, MOBA, Massively Multiplayer
    Update: Gained 7 WL, No change to BL (though there was some fluctuation during the day).

Oct 6

I'm a feminist. There’s great inequality to this day between men and women, with men being very frequently oppressive of women. It boggles the mind that so many women say they are “not a feminist”, while experiencing inequality, oppression and the negative sides of male dominance of society. Feminism really needs better marketing, because most arguments of those non-feminist women are quite detached from what feminism actually is (hint: it’s not about hating men).
A few notes about myself. I had women bosses and had zero issue with it. One of them was probably the best boss I had. I find working with women just as easy, if not more, than working with men. People who claim women bring “drama” to the workplace don’t know what they’re talking about, because it’s completely detached from reality. If anything, they're probably projecting their own views on reality.
In general, there's hardly anything that's important to modern living where men have an inherent born advantage over women, or the other way around. The vast majority of non-physical differences are due to how boys and girls are raised. I'm raising my 3-year old daughter to have as much knowledge and as many skills as possible, including skills traditionally associated with boys and men. There's no chance in hell that, when she's older, she won't know how to replace a wheel of a car or drill a hole in the wall. Hopefully I’m not alone in this.
Update: Gained 10 WL, No change to BL.

Summary: Gained 36 WL and 2 BL. I'm pretty sure that I would have been added to more blacklists before the advent of Two-Way Blacklists, or if I didn't include giveaways at the top of this post. The way to tell for sure would be to create a similar thread without giveaways, but it's too late for this now. Maybe in a few months, but I'm running out of opinions that I think are potentially blacklist-worthy. Also, my pretty good ratio may have something to do with the results. If my numbers of wins and created giveaways were reversed, I probably would have been added to more blacklists, and less whitelists. All in all though it seems less "risky" to voice one's opinions than many people think. I hope this experiment encourages more people to not hold back and be more open, and I also hope it doesn't backfire if they do ;-)

Note: I'm not going to participate in an endless debate about each reveal. The information in each should be sufficient for people to decide if they see enough to put me on one of their lists, or if (and I hope that's the typical case) they just see these as opinions that one should be able to make, even if they disagree.

7 years ago*

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Well, I want to whitelist you for being so enterprising and curious, but I'll wait to see where you stand on the subject of kittens tomorrow. I'm not saying how I feel about them, but I have VERY strong opinions on the subject and I will blacklist you into oblivion if you disagree even slightly.

7 years ago*
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Kittens are hell spawns. Also your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries.

7 years ago
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I agree with everything you've said, but I still fart in your general direction, because I am, at my core, a disagreeable person.

7 years ago
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I hope you step on a Lego at night when going to the toilet.

7 years ago
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Me too. I like Legos®.

7 years ago
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I love cats of all ages, genders and races.

Attached is an old picture of my beloved cat, Tzippi, who passed away a couple of years ago. I still miss her to this day.

View attached image.
7 years ago
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BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! That's a great pic!! Love it!

7 years ago
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Hm, what happens if I put you in both?

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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I don't think this will work as WL/BL is very subjective, and depends on people caring enough about the subject to do it.
Anyone who blacklists someone just for having a different opinion would seem a bit petty to me..

7 years ago
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Posted the first reveal in the OP (under Oct 2).

7 years ago
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...Jewish...

Ban!

I'm also doing my own experiment to see how many BL I'll get :P

7 years ago
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Well, you did get me to check if I'm on one of your lists, but I won't say what I found to not ruin your experiment :-J

7 years ago
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Well, the two of us seem to be on the opposite sides of the barricade.

7 years ago
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Are you proud of putting civilians in concentration camps too? Never again, unless it's us doing it?

7 years ago
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If you're referring to the blockade on Gaza by Israel and Egypt, just say so. I'm not going to go into a back and forth about it, but to help those who wonder about my opinion on the subject - yes, I think it's another unfortunate necessity that both countries need to closely monitor and control any goods that go into Gaza, at least since Hamas gained power and ousted Fatah from the strip.

7 years ago
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I would just give them their own country like you got from UN, don't see much difference there.

But anyways back to the topic, 6:50 at this moment and I managed to get both to 3 digits as well finally. Still a far way to go to get some acceptable non-leecher ratio, but thanks for the inspiration. :)

7 years ago
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I think those gibs will prevent a few blacklists, anyway... science !

7 years ago
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If people are spineless enough to blacklist for opinions but only if it doesn't cost them the chance to win games, then yes, they giveaways might have an effect. At the same time, giveaways won't prevent anyone from removing me from their whitelists.

7 years ago
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I stay out of political discussions here, but I'm pretty sure all but one of my blacklists have come after voicing an opinion about a game. The other one came after posting a comment in a giveaway. The creator posted a goofy picture and I made a goofy joke about it, and they took offense to it. Based on their Steam profile and the broken English of their reply, the giveaway creator didn't speak/read English well, so I'm guessing the joke didn't translate well and it was a misunderstanding. But since they replied to me in the giveaway topic and black listed me, I had no way of attempting to explaining it.

I would never blacklist anyone for having a different opinion or not liking my favorite game. The only time I ever blacklisted anyone was when there were a couple of mass developer giveaways for games I wanted, and some people won it and re-gifted it. This was a few years ago when there were fewer moderators and they went unpunished. I have since cleared my blacklist though. Out of curiosity, I checked the profiles of the people I had blacklisted, and quite a few of them were permanently suspended or have not been active here in years.

7 years ago
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The first three words ("I am Israeli") can. In fact I said so in the first comment in that discussion, so not a lot of deductive powers needed :-)

I don't think however that I posted anything about my religion or the army until this week.

7 years ago
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What can I say, I'm a precog :v

7 years ago
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And the proof someone blacklisted him two years ago for this reveal is there too.

7 years ago
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their loss

7 years ago
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Oct 2: I am Israeli and Jewish. I also served in the military

Sorry, but I can only whitelist you once.

However, me, myself would not and will never object against any means used to neutralize radical terrorists be they hamas, hezbollah or any other radical terrorist group that has as goal and devout believe the extermination of Israel and every Jew. Especially radical terrorists that use on daily basis their own people as human shields.

7 years ago
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I think that given our very different background, at least one of the next reveals may be a bit more challenging. I hope to still remain on the good side of you and other people who whitelisted me :-)

7 years ago
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Bring it on I say, but do know that SG is a place where besides many good and nice people also has some vile things like nazis, fascists, Anti-Semitic nutters and worse, so your thread could work like a magnet to attract and trigger those things.

7 years ago
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already have you whitelisted ! :D

7 years ago
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I am so incensed by my seething hatred of you after your first reveal that I accidentally whitelisted you.

7 years ago
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Eh, you were already on my WL, and I don't believe in BL/WL changes for differences in opinion.

7 years ago
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Posted the second reveal in the OP (under Oct 3).

For the previous reveal: Gained or Lost 9 WL, Gained or Lost 1 BL. I'll post the exact change (actual direction) when the experiment ends.

7 years ago*
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That's what most people (except the very old) are in Nordic countries. Probably more controversial elsewhere. :)

7 years ago
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I'm the same as your October 3 point, for the most part. I was raised Catholic and stopped going to church in college after years of it not feeling like a right fit for me. Despite that, I was glued to the tv when John Paul II died because that whole ritual is interesting as hell to me.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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At least in Hebrew there's no link between the word for a jewish person ("יהודי") and Moses ("משה"), and you probably don't need to be able to read Hebrew to see this ;-)

7 years ago
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The name of Judas comes from Judah, son on Jacob, and Judea was (part of) the land of the Jews. Here's something about the etymology of 'Jew' on Wikipedia.

It's also not inconceivable that the word 'Jew' was meant as an insult just as you describe, but it's a weak insult considering the above.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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"Where did the matter and energy in the universe come from?"

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle + broken symmetry = matter/energy ;)

7 years ago
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When I wrote "I doubt I'll ever hear a convincing explanation", I should have added "that I'll actually be able to understand" ;-)

7 years ago
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Day 1: Cool experiment.
Day 2: You're Jewish, big deal... /s
Day 3: You're secular, big deal... /s
So far nothing's changed in my books.

7 years ago
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I am Israeli and Jewish
[...]
I am agnostic-atheist

I have to admit I was a bit confused at first, but then Wikipedia explained it to me. That's some complex definition...

7 years ago
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The definition being Jewish is indeed complex, but can't duality similar to what I described apply to people of other religions? For example, does one stop being a Christian or a Muslim if he or she, decide they don't believe in God?

7 years ago
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For Christians, as far as I understood there is indeed a strange category of "non-believer Christian", and also the "non-practicing Christian". But I'm pretty sure none of those will describe themselves as both Christian and atheist. I'm from a Christian family, but really I'm just atheist.
I believe, from what I understood when discussing with a few Muslim friends, that the same goes for Muslims: they were like "I don't believe in God, still I'm Muslim". I didn't ask them specifically, but none said they were atheist. Labels, eh... 👀

View attached image.
7 years ago
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Modern day Judaism comprises both a religion and a Nation so if a Jew is an atheist or converts to any other religion, he or she will remain a Jew.

7 years ago
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"I cease the opportunity and gladly participate" -- you presumably meant to say "I seize the opportunity" or it's part of the experiment and you're subtly testing how people react to English that isn't always 100% perfect.;)

7 years ago
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Good catch, thanks! Corrected :-)

7 years ago
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I don't BL or WL (nor make many giveaways these days), so won't add to the stats, but I'm certainly on the same page as you, and that link to Wikipedia lead me, as usual, to read some stuff and think about it. For example, I disagree with Richard Dawkins's quote that God either exists or doesn't. That would imply that God is well defined. It's possible that 'a god' exists or 'a deity with some aspects of God' exists, etc. These wouldn't be 'God' as most believers think of Him, but might still count as God in the scheme of things.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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I'll be happy to try to answer, but as a secular person who never spent much time learning about different groups within Judaism, I'm probably not knowledgeable enough to give you a complete and authoritative answer.

What I can say on the subject is anecdotal, based on how I see and experience things. When I voice my view to other secular Jews (who are the majority in my social and professional circles) I never really surprise anyone, probably because atheism in general is not that unusual. When I voice it to religious people (which is rare), it quite often ends in a discussion about belief, the existence of God, evolution vs creationism and the like. It never ends in anyone being convinced, and I rarely hear any new arguments, so I normally avoid such discussions.

One common claim I heard, but I don't know how true it is, is that many religious Jews have more animosity to religious Jews who belong to a different group (e.g. Orthodox vs Reform, Hasidic Jews vs. Mitnagdim) than to secular Jews.

Lastly (and AFAIK, just like everything else in this comment) having a family member or a friend convert to a different religion is considered a disaster if it happens to religious Jews or Masortim (those who define themselves as neither strictly religious nor secular), and to a large degree would be frowned upon by many secular people, partly because Jewish identity is not defined by religious affiliation (i.e. one can be an atheist and Jewish).

7 years ago*
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7 years ago
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I am agnostic-atheist.

So what? I'm a religious observant Jew and after my health problems last year I got somewhat more orthodox and conservative in my faith and how I practice my religion. But having friends who are atheist of from any other religion is totally ok for me because they don't pose any danger to my own faith and believe in HaShem.

Ari Goldwag - Am Echad - One Nation

7 years ago
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What's "HaShem"? 😮

7 years ago
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It means The Name and it's used so one doesn't say The Name of G*d in vain.

7 years ago
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I've seen "G*d" or "G-d" used before but that isn't The Name, so writing or saying it isn't using it in vain

7 years ago
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As a religeous Jew, I'm used to not mention His Name(s) but only to refer to Him except in prayers or reading The Torah. You shall not take His name in vain is one of our Ten Commandments.

7 years ago
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Ah. I see. I'm sorry about my username on Steam... Don't really use it to offend.

7 years ago
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Actually Elokim is another word for G-d and it has one letter substituted to not say G*d his name in vain.

7 years ago
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That's good :) It's the "h" that has been substituted for a "k", right?

7 years ago
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Yes.

7 years ago
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I'll just have to try to challenge you more then with the next reveals ;-)

Seriously, I wish everyone shared your view on this. Most people, both religious and secular, aren't very open and don't get many chances to see the "other side".

BTW, cool song. I had to read the comments to find out that all five are the same guy. He did a good job.

7 years ago
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Bring it on brother, please. ;-)

Also the child dancing next to him is his first born son.

7 years ago
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Also, you might want to fact check / share your view here.

7 years ago
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I already did.

7 years ago
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I was referring to the question by FameTaker about the views towards atheism and conversion to other religions.

7 years ago
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Doesn't stating the fact that this is an experiment void the experiment?

Interesting information about yourself thus far, some of which I already assumed based on your prior posts. I learned to limit details about myself and not state my opinion on SG a while back which I guess makes me boring, but that's not why I'm here. I do enjoy reading the banter when it's an intelligent exchange of ideas ... which is rare on the Internet, but you do provide it, which is a nice/rare sight.

7 years ago
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Doesn't stating the fact that this is an experiment void the experiment?

It wouldn't have been a real scientific experiment even without that, but even when stated it tests something.

7 years ago
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View attached image.
7 years ago
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Ah would like to know results. Usually, i believe its negative but who knows.

7 years ago
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you are doing this wrong

7 years ago
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If this was aiming to be a scientific experiment, then yes, it would be very accurate to say I'm doing this wrong. But both lists have more activity than usual, so the results will be telling to some degree.

7 years ago
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if I do this I would get double than your BL, bit I will wait to ser the numbers

7 years ago
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You mean double the change? Could be. But you'd probably have a long way to catch up with my triple-digit blacklisted-by count.

7 years ago
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bump!

7 years ago
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