jwb

I don't get the whole farewell message thing tbh

If you're gonna stop posting then just stop. You might change your mind later and come back anyway. It's almost like the only reason to do that is precisely to get this kind of attention. So if something bad actually happened to plankton or his loved ones I feel bad for him for that. But I don't feel at all bad for speculating etc nor was I ever particularly friendly with him when he did post. It would have taken me a while to notice he was gone.

jadis

Is that what a "social cue" is? Posting on an anonymous internet forum something that is, by design or not, attention-seeking and then... actually not sure what then, that's where it gets a bit hazy for me. Some cue.

Chula Vista

Maybe stop talking at me - and talk to each other instead?

__________________

“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

The Batlord

Because I'm not talking to him?

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The Batlord

Telling people you've been talking to for like a decade you're leaving for reasons you don't want to specify is fine maybe?

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jadis

Of course. I wish him well, seems like a nice guy.

I meant that "social cue" generally refers to IRL situations where you read someone's body language and tone of voice and all the stuff a platform like this doesn't have. Though now texting figures into it as well

jwb

it's fine to bait people into speculating and worrying about you, sure. It's also fine for people to take the bait and start speculating.

SGR

Problem is, we don't really have the first hint at all to drive any of our speculation.

If I was a betting man though, I'd say whatever happened wasn't good, but again, just speculation. Barring winning the lottery or inheriting hundreds of millions from his dead aunt in Switzerland, I'm not sure what good news might drive someone who posted here regularly to abruptly stop posting.

There's plenty of bad news that could drive someone to stop posting though. He said it was life-changing news, that's all we have to go on though.

I hope he's well, but like others have said, if he wanted to tell us exactly what was going on, he would've. I also agree with jwb that if he really didn't want us to speculate, he wouldn't have made that post and just stopped posting - or if he wanted to let us know he wasn't gonna be around but didn't want us worried, he perhaps just could've said something along the lines of: "Don't worry about me y'all, I'm good, but I think I'm gonna stop posting for a while" - but that's not what he decided to post.

Not much we can do besides trying to reach out to him. I'm not gonna do that though. If he wants to come back and tell us, he will.

jwb

Yes exactly. He didn't just say goodbye he said I got life changing news. Speaking of social cues, how likely is it someone would leave such a cryptic message about life changing news that was good news? Seems that leaving out any details but specifying that it is life changing news is designed to have us assume the worst. So that is what I assume.

Chula Vista

Plus, it's just an internet forum. All we got to do around here is either read stuff or post stuff.
Plank didn't ask anyone to stop posting in his regard so let's stop implying that wondering aloud about the guy is against some sort of forum or moral rules.

__________________

“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”