I get what you're saying, Tom, and like you, I don't remember every detail of that conversation, so I'll just apologize for my role in it, and leave it at that.

There are a few different issues being conflated in this "meta" discussion, though. There's no one single community view of what the BBS should be. I think we could all do with fewer ad hominem attacks, but as long as we can avoid those, I think there are a lot of people who enjoy a serious, passionate discussion of issues, but also some who don't. If someone is bullshitting, though, how exactly is the community served by letting the bullshit go unchallenged?

I agree that people should be allowed to opinions on issues they're not experts in, but I don't think everyone else is required to sit idly by if they disagree, under the guise of being polite. What I usually see around here is people raising objections on the substance of the disagreement. How is that ever a bad thing?

Let me respond specifically to this:



Yes, real life often intervenes, and "SOMEONE IS WRONG ON THE INTERNET" is not the most important thing in the world. But I can't help but lose a bit of respect for someone who's perfectly willing to engage in a debate early on, but becomes too busy when asked to defend their position. Of course we all have dozens of other things that are more important than posting here, but if I engage someone in a conversation, I feel like I owe them the courtesy of a thoughtful response -- even if it doesn't come at the best time for me personally. If I'm not able to respond, then other participants are right in thinking my argument is weak, because the right way to judge arguments is on their merit, as they are presented to the community.

I don't consider myself an expert in anything -- not even in my own profession. I do try to learn as much as I can about issues before I share my opinion, and I enjoy hearing from people with different points of view. Being uninformed on foreign policy matters back in the early 2000s led me to supporting U.S. intervention in Iraq, something I'm very ashamed of to this day. After that, I promised myself I'd work as hard as I could to understand issues before forming a strong opinion on them, which necessarily requires hearing from people with differing views. I really enjoy that aspect of the BBS, and I feel like people are cheating the community if they simply use it as a place to proselytize instead of engaging in a real discussion.