I'm undergoing alot of harassment and bullying online

FireDragon76 · Jan 27, 2026

I'm being harassed and bullied online.

I am working on "natural philosophy" research applied to chess engines, using neoplatonic and information theory concepts as inspiration, applied to neural network evaluations, and receiving alot of pushback for talking about using philosophical concepts as inspiration, and taking teleology seriously. The amount of vitriol I've received has been unreal. People call us names, mock our age (ageism), accuse me of being a liar, using "AI slop", being "unethical" for not showing proper devotion to their "community", even violating GPL copy law (we aren't, they are just deluded about GPL). I'm a sensitive person, and seem to attract all the negativity when I stick my neck out sometimes, and it's hard to shake off and feels like a moral and spiritual injury or attack. It's like I'm disrupting their worldview, their sense of stability, just by thinking outside the box, using LLM's and generative AI to assist in research (we are a small team, and the Stockfish community openly mocked my initial attempts to reach out to them for technical assistance), and that angers some people in a way that suggests they are almost possessed by something.

Michie · Jan 27, 2026

FireDragon76 said:
I'm being harassed and bullied online.

I am working on "natural philosophy" research applied to chess engines, using neoplatonic and information theory concepts as inspiration, applied to neural network evaluations, and receiving alot of pushback for talking about using philosophical concepts as inspiration, and taking teleology seriously. The amount of vitriol I've received has been unreal. People call us names, mock our age (ageism), accuse me of being a liar, using "AI slop", being "unethical" for not showing proper devotion to their "community", even violating GPL copy law (we aren't, they are just deluded about GPL). I'm a sensitive person, and seem to attract all the negativity when I stick my neck out sometimes, and it's hard to shake off and feels like a moral and spiritual injury or attack. It's like I'm disrupting their worldview, their sense of stability, just by thinking outside the box, using LLM's and generative AI to assist in research (we are a small team, and the Stockfish community openly mocked my initial attempts to reach out to them for technical assistance), and that angers some people in a way that suggests they are almost possessed by something.

Prayers for your discernment and comfort.

FireDragon76 · Jan 27, 2026

I suppose the worst injury is that whenever I do try to say anything positive or conciliatory that's still grounded, they use it against me, or twist it in a way to attack my character or intellect. It's like I'm dealing with somebody that sees black as white.

I've decided to severe contact with the main chess engine forums, unfortunately, because it's just too emotionally draining and destabilizing for me. The rumors are all circulating now that's i'm a quack, charlatan, or thief.

Whoulda thunk that beneath the happy hippie exterior of "community", "collaboration" and "information wants to be free", that there's this dark, twisted feudal "royal perogative" at work. You must kiss the ring, debase yourself, praise the emperor's new clothes, and perform devotion sufficiently, or you're seen as a threat.

linux.poet · Jan 29, 2026

Gracious Heavenly Father,
I pray for relief from these people who have no interest in being civil or trying new ideas. Please help FireDragon76 to find a healthier place to discuss his ideas where he isn’t bullied.
In Christ’s Name,
Amen

(we do have a Technology subforum and a topic dedicated to chess around here somewhere, though I’m not sure about this forum’s level of LLM development expertise)

JacquelineDeane55 · Jan 30, 2026

JacquelineDeane55 · Jan 30, 2026

I know what it is like to be bullied online. When I was a kid I was bullied by strangers for my love of cats. They were really immature and told me they thought dogs were better (but I have no preference). It leads me to believe they were other kids by the way they spoke and acted. They said something cruel along the lines of that a cat was so dumb it would run off a cliff to its death on its own without provocation. Their words really hurt me and I remember I cried quite a bit. That was when I think I was 13. Many years ago.

I guess they must have really hated cats and couldn't handle the thought of someone else actually liking them!

In reality, I like a lot of different animals and have no preferences between any of them. Maybe I should get my own zoo if that is the case? I have love in my heart for the tiniest of God's creatures...(yes, even frogs and mice)

RileyG · Jan 30, 2026

I’m sorry you experienced this. Hopefully you can block them and have zero contact.

Praying for peace and comfort!

God bless!

FireDragon76 · Jan 30, 2026

RileyG said:
I’m sorry you experienced this. Hopefully you can block them and have zero contact.

Praying for peace and comfort!

God bless!

A few people I've started just ignoring.

Unfortunately, I've been banned on one forum and accused of violating the GPL license. I don't think any lawyer worth his salt would take that seriously, but some people are into using intimidation tactics and they are ignorant of the law. They are confusing what they think of as the spirit of the law (coerced community norms or "unwritten rules") with the actual legal strictures.

William J · Feb 1, 2026

I pray that God would work in the hearts of the people who are bullying you and change them to more kind and compassionate. In Jesus' name, amen.

RileyG · Feb 4, 2026

FireDragon76 said:
A few people I've started just ignoring.

Unfortunately, I've been banned on one forum and accused of violating the GPL license. I don't think any lawyer worth his salt would take that seriously, but some people are into using intimidation tactics and they are ignorant of the law. They are confusing what they think of as the spirit of the law (coerced community norms or "unwritten rules") with the actual legal strictures.

Continued prayers!

bèlla · Feb 4, 2026

Perhaps you should see if private communities exist where similar discussions occur. There may be a small fee required but you'll encounter a different crowd and they're usually less tolerant of harassment. Most of that behavior is typically found in free settings. The only instances when I've filed complaints along those lines were in those.

Look for a membership and you'll be free of it all. Good luck.

~bella

FireDragon76 · Feb 4, 2026

bèlla said:
Perhaps you should see if private communities exist where similar discussions occur. There may be a small fee required but you'll encounter a different crowd and they're usually less tolerant of harassment. Most of that behavior is typically found in free settings. The only instances when I've filed complaints along those lines were in those.

Look for a membership and you'll be free of it all. Good luck.

~bella

The scene I'm involved in is heavily open-source oriented, almost exclusively. It's supposed to be about the free and open exchange of code and ideas, but there's alot of unwritten gatekeeping, norms, and probably more than a few people that are just misanthropic or machiavellian. This is the first time I've seriously engaged with software development in any form, and it's been eye-opening.

bèlla · Feb 5, 2026

FireDragon76 said:
The scene I'm involved in is heavily open-source oriented, almost exclusively. It's supposed to be about the free and open exchange of code and ideas, but there's alot of unwritten gatekeeping, norms, and probably more than a few people that are just misanthropic or machiavellian. This is the first time I've seriously engaged with software development in any form, and it's been eye-opening.

All work should be baked in prayer. Whether it's directly related to the Lord or not. You are the conduit for His light and will attract hardships because of that. Is this for your livelihood or a hobby?

~bella

FireDragon76 · Feb 5, 2026

bèlla said:
All work should be baked in prayer. Whether it's directly related to the Lord or not. You are the conduit for His light and will attract hardships because of that. Is this for your livelihood or a hobby?

~bella

It's just a hobby. I don't tend to think of things as work v.s hobby, though, in general. I'm not doing it for the money.

linux.poet · Tuesday at 5:09 PM

FireDragon76 said:
The scene I'm involved in is heavily open-source oriented, almost exclusively. It's supposed to be about the free and open exchange of code and ideas, but there's alot of unwritten gatekeeping, norms, and probably more than a few people that are just misanthropic or machiavellian. This is the first time I've seriously engaged with software development in any form, and it's been eye-opening.

There is a heavy spiritual element that runs through online forums, as I discovered when I was banned from a Bionicle forum many years ago for mental health issues and speaking out against transgender behavior. Even if there is seemingly no connection between the subject of the forum and God, the ethics of the leadership end up in the forum rules, and if the leaders of the forum aren’t Christians, eventually the ethics of the moderators will conflict with yours, which will eventually lead to a ban if you don’t leave first. In addition, the mechanism of debate tends to reveal the spiritual nature and the ethics and morality of the participants, revealing conflicts between the ethics of the members and the administration pretty quickly.

Needless to say, the forums I have become extensively involved since with all have the same thing in common: Christian leadership, or some kind of economic structure that tolerates Christian ideas.

Open-source A.I. development seems to be cruel in my opinion - aren’t A.I.s supposed to be worth a lot of money? Another odd phenomenon of online forums is that is they tend to inspire people to work for free, because human beings are designed to serve our Creator and each other at our core. We want to work for people who believe as we do to advance the interests of our God. But on an online forum with corrupt moderators and non-Christian ethics, that can be exploited. A forum based on cruelty will treat people cruelly. The evil fruit comes from the poisonous tree.

Finally, the chess world is full of drama and tension in general these days, which has led me to distance myself from it. It had its season in my life, it was helpful, but I have moved on for now.

Gracious Heavenly Father,
I pray for Your provision for a space to discuss the matters of chess LLMs that FireDragon wants to talk about that is honoring to You. Raise up Christian leadership in this area for Your glory and honor, please.
In Christ’s Name,
Amen

bèlla · Thursday at 6:23 PM

FireDragon76 said:
It's just a hobby. I don't tend to think of things as work v.s hobby, though, in general. I'm not doing it for the money.

Elemental prayer will help. If you're not conversant in the subject I can message you with something to deal with the bullying and favor too.

~bella

FireDragon76 · Thursday at 7:09 PM

bèlla said:
Elemental prayer will help. If you're not conversant in the subject I can message you with something to deal with the bullying and favor too.

~bella

You've got me curious. I think I know what you mean, but I could use some clarification. The only thing that's akin to this that I know of is St. Patrick's "Lorica":

St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer | Traditional Catholic Prayers

St. Patrick's Breastplate: An Ancient Catholic Prayer for Protection, pray it daily.

traditionalcatholicprayers.com

I are working on developing my software ecosystem potentially, and just ignoring the naysayers. With AI tools, it's getting easier to write complete apps. @linux.poet also makes a good point about online spaces.

bèlla · Thursday at 10:33 PM

FireDragon76 said:
You've got me curious. I think I know what you mean, but I could use some clarification. The only thing that's akin to this that I know of is St. Patrick's "Lorica":

It invokes elemental elements under man's domain. My response on this thread required their engagement. The personal prayer in the OP was the culprit. I'm asking the Lord to set aside the sin/offense in deference to my standing with Him. I mention the manifestation here but it departed swiftly. The elements I'm referencing are the winds and each has a specific purpose. God used them and Christ spoke to them as well.

~bella

Rescued One · Saturday at 11:15 PM

I prefer tame parakeets. We don't have to like every person's pets, but I don't like bullying at alL.
My allergist told me I'm allergic to dogs and cats.

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