Content-Type: text/shitpost

In most Slack channels, one of the permitted topics of conversation is the topic of the scope of the channel itself: it is acceptable to discuss what topics are appropriate for discussion in the channel.

However, there are some abnormal channels in which discussions of channel scope are inappropriate, and should take place elsewhere.

For example, consider a trivial channel #void where any discussion is deemed off-topic. I created one of these last week, in a sort of Slack-channel-creation-shitposting move. Or less ridiculously, consider a channel with an automatic feed of some sort of news; maybe indicent reports or support tickets or something of that type. Discussion of the news itself, as well as meta-discussion about the channel, might reasonably be deemed off-topic.

Discussion of what is on-topic for abnormal channels should take place somewhere, so one naturally wants to create a #abnormal channel to host discussions of what is on-topic for that various abnormal channels.

Now suppose you need to discuss whether something is on-topic for #abnormal? Where do you do it? Well, there is no real problem; you can discuss it in #random, which, despite being dual to #void, is somehow not ridiculous at all.

But you definitely can't do it in #abnormal, because #abnormal is only for discussing the topics of abnormal channels, and #abnormal is itself a normal channel. Or if you disagree and say that #abnormal is abnormal, then you have just said that meta-discussion about #abnormal is off-topic in that channel.

(Note that there's also no real problem with #abnormal itself. It can be either the channel for discussing all abnormal channels, or the channel for only discussing abnormal channels, take your pick. It just can't be both at once.)

Emanuel Buholzer suggests that such discussions could take place in private messages, outside of any channel. This shows that he prefers Morse-Kelley set theory to Zermelo-Frankel.