I don't care what opinions members of this forum may hold, or which sides they take in discussions, but there's a difference between taking a stand and trying to beat everyone over the head with your opinions when they dare to disagree with you, and when this takes the form of multiple posts addressing every area of disagreement, it drowns out the conversation and makes things uncomfortable for everyone, even those who may agree with you. Basically, it's heckling. Don't be surprised when you can no longer log in and, in this case, there were warnings given. The future of human existence does not hang on the opinions of those who participate in our discussions here, so calm down, and allow people to hold opinions that you disagree with. Forum peace is more central to my concerns than world peace, anyhow. For those of you who get impatient for me to finally do something about whatever it is that's bothering you, this will probably always be the case, as I would rather err in favor of tolerance than intolerance. The wheels will continue to move slowly here, I'm afraid. A couple of years back, we lost a long-term member of the forum because she was upset with me for not banning someone who I had, indeed, already banned, so please keep in mind that I don't generally announce bans.
Now I have to try to figure out why this discussion is in this thread, to begin with. This thread, if I recall it correctly, was a plea for forum members to use their own brains rather than relying upon citations from their favorite experts, or on demanding such citations of others. If you know (or believe) something, why not simply use your own words and your own arguments? Most often, what is considered to be a credible source is one that agrees with whatever it is that you're trying to sell, and all others are to be deemed non-credible and, most often, the ideas or opinions that we're being sold are accepted wholly on faith, without an ounce of actual investigation. No, I am not banning citations or sources here. If you believe that they will lend credibility to whatever it is that you're saying, feel free to use them, as I do. However, in the climate that we are living under today, there are no credible sources. There are only those that you may trust, and which others may distrust.
it needed to be moved somewhere out of the virus thread it started in, and this looked as good as anything to me. I can delete it all now if you want ?
Sorry, I didn't know that you had moved it here. It's fine. I just don't want the purpose of the thread to be lost in the confusion of the last several posts.
. [QUOTE="Ken Anderson, post: 351994], Wrapping this up, for now, my point is to encourage more discussions from within our own brains, and to discount the idea that your own opinions aren't worth having. Keep in mind also that, even if everyone else disagrees with you, there's nothing wrong with being the only one who is right.[/QUOTE] "Take a stand even if your legs are shaking," Cheif Joseph of the Nez Perce