1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I would try to contact that user and discuss this issue with that person. My hope is that the other person would understand that such a large number of arguments is not helpful.

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

I'd reach out to the mod and ask why it was closed/deleted/etc. This will help me understand why the other mod chose to do so. If I'd feel uncomfortable with that explanation, I'd present my arguments in the hope that the other person will understand my point.

3. Emacs.SE has become a very quiet site. How would you increase enthusiasm and activity among its members, and particularly its long-standing members?

This is a really though question. In my opinion the enthusiams and activity can be increased by a higher number of questions and good answers. However this depends from factors which are mainly outside of emacs.SE. We would need more people who ask good questions.

On the other side enthusiams can also be increased by more interaction. So having a some kind of event (for instance a regular chat among the members) can also help.

4. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

In a perfect world, nothing. :-) In my opinion most of the moderation work should come from the community. However this doesn't always work. So a moderator should keep track of flagged postings and decide of actions are needed. If the mod intervenes (esp. with questions or answers of new users), the mod should comment and explain why it was decided and how the person can do better. The mod should also check the review queues and help to keep the site on topic.

In seldom cases it is necessary to contact people directly by mail to resolve issues.

5. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

As a user I don't see a difference for me. A diamond doesn't make me a better emacs user. However I am aware that other people will hold me to higher standards regarding questions and answers. I represent the site in some way and so have more responsibility.

6. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

I won't reach a reputation of 10k or 20k in the next future. However as a mod of another site I know that it is sometimes hard to do all moderation work alone. SO I want to help the existing mods to share the workload.

1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I would tell them to stop arguing. Let their best response be their only response. And I would let them know what's at stake up to and including suspension.

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

I would talk about it with that mod and other mods. I will probably not press the issue too hard.

3. Emacs.SE has become a very quiet site. How would you increase enthusiasm and activity among its members, and particularly its long-standing members?

I think more, better, and more modern answers could rejuvenate the site. I will try to hang out in chat and help users with questions as I better myself at Emacs, and contribute more as I do.

4. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Moderators moderate. They might make decisions where reasonable users would disagree. They might clear out no-brainer decisions where no reasonable users would disagree, but perhaps the reasonable users would take too much time to process it, but then they should moderate as little as possible. They are human exception handlers, and it should stay that way.

5. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

I've been a mod for a while on Stack Overflow. I'm used to it.

6. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

I just want to help out here if needed. I expect not to get a lot of demand for moderation services here.

1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I think that being a good citizen of an online community is more important than getting correct answers and upvotes. The hypothetical person can learn a new way to contribute that doesn't ruffle feathers. (I have been this person in the past myself!)

2. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc. a question that you feel shouldn’t have been?

I would respect their judgement, though if the point seemed debatable I would debate it with due process and decorum.

3. Emacs.SE has become a very quiet site. How would you increase enthusiasm and activity among its members, and particularly its long-standing members?

I think it's useful to remember that all of the questions and answers here are available under the CC-By-SA license, and that in some cases they provide the best documentation for certain Emacs features out there. There are certainly some other places where people post Q&A (e.g., on Reddit) but the quality control here seems somewhat better. I think it would be useful to remind active members that all Q&A contributes to Emacs, but the higher quality posts, and more comprehensive solutions bringing together different perspectives, contribute significantly.

4. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

They shepherd the community along, and lead by example in terms of showing up every day to check if things are going well.

5. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

That's fine. I have a decent reputation on this site but haven't been hugely active before. I'm interested in being a moderator here now partly to better understand how the process of talking about Emacs here works. There are lots of other places to contribute, but due to the connection with peer learning, this venue seems particularly appropriate for me.

6. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

I think being a moderator is more about getting to know the people in the community! And my specific skills and interests are more about how people learn and create things together, rather than the ins-and-outs of Elisp or Emacs configuration (although I have done my fair share of these things too).