Nullian Law of Social Opportunity Cost of Spam: In addition to its direct damage to the usefulness of communications, spam has the hidden cost of absorbing the productive time of spamfighters.

This is a logical corollary to Rule #0, but of sufficient import to be its own top-level rule.

My instant motivation for pulling up the venerable nanae Rules of Spam was the moment when I realized Id spent most of my past days forum time quietly fighting spam behind the scenes. This led me to reflect somberly (and not for the first time) on people who do far more to fight spam than I do. What positive contributions would they make, what productive work would they do, what creativity would they work, if their time and energy were not spent keeping the forum usable for everybody?

Since the dawn of time, such has been the unending dilemma of all those who wage war on the ugly: Create beauty amidst a cesspool, or fight for an environment wherein beautiful things may exist?

I want more and more to perceive the necessary characters in things as the beautiful: I shall thus be one of those who beautify things. Amor fati: let that henceforth be my love! I do not want to wage war with the ugly. I do not want to accuse, I do not want even to accuse the accusers. Lookingaside, let that be my sole negation! And all in all, to sum up: I wish to be at any time hereafter only a yea-sayer! Friedrich Nietzsche