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And then...

Isanara said:
I've got an interest in alkaloids.
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Well, hello!

When and how did this start?

Are these alkaloids with you in the room now? :LOL:


But seriously, that's an exceedingly broad subject - some would claim that things like mescaline and DMT barely even count, and real alkaloids look more like strychnine, emetine and aconitine. That viewpoint gets inconvenient for the purposes of this forum, so I've generally been willing to give those poor ol' classic psychedelics a break and let them in the Big Boy alkaloid club 😁
They do a pretty good job for simple methylated and/or methoxylated (and, occasionally, hydroxylated) derivatives of arylethylamines.

Do you have any favorites?
 
My favorite alkaloids in terms of voluntary exposure are the methylxanthines, without question. I'm on them right now.

I focus a great deal on simple tryptamines and beta-carbolines, as well as the tyramines (or phenylethylamines) and isoquinolines.

I recall reading about San Pedro in a library book in the late 80s and being fascinated. That is likely the first time I gained an interest in alkaloids. I read about other active alkaloids as well.

And yeah, to some people things like mescaline aren't even real alkaloids. Since they have amine groups one could just call them amines. It's all a bit semantic but useful in context. Luckily we can use the names of individual molecules to communicate about them specifically, or even various structural names a molecule can be given.

To be sure my interest in alkaloids includes all alkaloids, but my emphasis is on the simple amino-alkaloids. It is also a rather academic emphasis, after a manner. I have no real interest in extraction or use of alkaloids at this time, but I am interested in alkaloid chemistry, biology, evolution and other related aspects, some of which are potentially useful for aminoalkaloid enthusiasts.
 
You mentioned moderation being easier.

I noticed something though, the moderation here is rather unfriendly and aggressive.

Like in the thread here
I agreed with VM and he immediately began arguing, as if he seeks conflict. When I behaved in the same way he was, he acted insulted.

And then here you Transform wrote this:
The argument around CHON sounds a bit grade-schooly to me if I'm going to be brutally honest.
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Right off the bat, you comment on my post with a passive aggressive insult.

And you go on:
All living organisms rely on those macroelements so it doesn't strike me as remotely ground-breaking nor even particularly useful,
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Again, a passive aggressive insult.

Did you feel like I claimed my theory on alkaloids was ground breaking? Why the aggression and insults? How I have I offended you by joining this forum and posting theory?

Have you ever read the theory I presented before? Can you find it somewhere else?

And as for it not being particularly useful, is that really something you are a good judge of?

You might notice that I mentioned chlorophyll is a material precursor to alkaloids under certain conditions. Meaning that the amount of chlorophyll of a San Pedro plant can influence its ability to make alkaloids. Plants with more potential precursor for alkaloid can produce more alkaloid.

I also mentioned that stress conditions that kill the plants first increase and then decrease alkaloids as they are are stored and then depleted. Under certain conditions, in which cuttings are stressed, alkaloids can accumulate but the plant is still able to photosynthesize enough to survive, despite being rootless. This results in cuttings keeping their stored alkaloids considerably longer, instead of depleting them to survive. To some people this is quite useful information.

Now, it took very little time, mere hours, on my first day here for two moderators to begin insulting me with passive aggressive attacks. I expected this. A close friend and I had a recent conversation about how this type of behavior from moderators seems to be a rule rather than an exception. I certainly don't blame Trav or the Nexus for it, it is the way many people online feel entitled to act. However I will observe that it isn't really good for the forum, or for members, nor does it reflect well on the moderator who engaged in such activity.

I hope in the future the bar here can be raised just a bit more, so that people like me can share openly without being insulted recreationally by moderators like VM and you.

At least, that is my sincere hope.
 
Isanara said:
Like in the thread here
I agreed with VM and he immediately began arguing, as if he seeks conflict. When I behaved in the same way he was, he acted insulted.
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I wrote something.
You shared your interpretation of it.
Based on what you said, agreement or not, I felt it was a misinterpretation of what I said and what I meant (I did start the thread afterall). So, in helping you understand, because you appeared not to (as well as unopen to my frame of reference and perspective for my own OP), I responded. I was not insulted, I was annoyed. And no you weren't behaving the same way I was, and in mentioning that, BE YOUR DAMN SELF.

You're mad you got corrected and you didn't understand. It's okay to not understand something or someone, it's not okay to make it seem like they're off when you haven't tried to understand them. If I recall correctly I tried to be playful in that thread with you to an extent. However, if you're going to try to throw hard logic at something meant to be esoteric, then I will dismantle the argument (it's in the spirituality and mysticism subforum for crying out loud).

And before you try and say I didn't try and understand you, there are two points to make. First, you didn't elucidate anything so I worked with what I had. Second, in the little bit you stated, I found it very unrelated to what my OP was.

Lastly, that was not an instance of me moderating. I was having a conversation, so you can lump me in with moderators sure, but don't lump that interaction into all of your interactions with moderators.

Isanara said:
Have you ever read the theory I presented before? Can you find it somewhere else?

And as for it not being particularly useful, is that really something you are a good judge of?
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So you think you can get in the ring with Ali and box, huh.

You should really get familiar with this forum. While the @Transform account is new upon the inception of this updated forum, he's been a pretty consistent veteran of this community for almost two decades. He's considered a chemical expert for good reason, providing consistent and accurate detailed information to the table. He's versed.

However, he can address your specific grievances that you have with him.

You make comments about not being surprised about your treatment here snd having a friend that warned you, blah blah blah. Let's be real, your friend that you claim is probably just you. And you are likely a member that has been banned in the past and is still upset about it.

One love
 
Isanara said:
Now, it took very little time, mere hours, on my first day here for two moderators to begin insulting me with passive aggressive attacks. I expected this. A close friend and I had a recent conversation about how this type of behavior from moderators seems to be a rule rather than an exception. I certainly don't blame Trav or the Nexus for it, it is the way many people online feel entitled to act. However I will observe that it isn't really good for the forum, or for members, nor does it reflect well on the moderator who engaged in such activity.
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I find your definition of an insult to be broad enough to encompass even harmless playfulness and joking around, which is how this whole thing started. Anyway, since you're so willing to put the entire moderation team under the same umbrella, even though you interacted with only a small portion of it, who is that friend of yours that felt they were grievously insulted by us? Just out of curiosity, so I can see what happened. From my humble experience on this platform, unjust moderation is not a thing that happens, and there's always factors that may or may not be obvious to bystanders.

So, will you stand behind your words, or will you hit me with a good-ol' "just trust me bro"?
 
It may not be clear in my comment, but in the conversation, the observation about the poor attitude of moderators being common, as the rule and not the exception even, wasn't Nexus specific by any means, it was an observation about forums and various online groups in general.

And it isn't a new development, it's the way the Internet is, though classically the moderation standards of the Nexus have been higher than those of other sites. The moderators who follow the rules and attitude pages, historically, appear less conflict driven and more welcoming than those who don't.

And I don't doubt Transform is knowledgeable and has learned a lot from this site over the last two decades, he's likely not alone there either. I wasn't attacking him at all. I was making an observation about his comments, which I found discouraging and curiously aggressive. I should note that I am aware that there is no apparent conflict there and things are improved considerably as far as that goes. In fact, the de-escalation and conflict resolution strategy employed by Transform there impresses me.
 
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