dodge one wrote: Jim, I speak for myself when i say that that often as not i'm looking for a conversation and not a "Debate".
That's what the Village Pump is for. The U-Know! forum is essentially socio-political. As such, it's pretty much set up for debating rather than conversation (though obviously that does happen, and I'm not suggesting it shouldn't... merely that plenty of people DO come here for a debate).
Personally, I've never been one for "conversing" on the web. I don't find it a very satisfactory medium for that kind of interaction. I do find it suitable for debate, however. Each to their own.
dodge one wrote: Were all just common folk's here. Please take this to heart as from a friend, You can be a bit heavy handed in your conversational style.
As I say, I'm not conversing. If others find the web suitable for "hanging out and chatting" then I couldn't be happier for them. But that ain't me.
And nor do I describe myself as one of the "common folks". No doubt this'll get me crucified here, but that's how it is.
dodge one wrote: I'm not above critisim... are you?
No, I'm not above criticism. Far from it. And I suspect you'd be rather surprised at just how *self*-criticial I actually am.
But when I'm on this forum it's not about whether or not *I* am above criticism, it's whether or not *the position* I take is worthy of that criticism. And that's actually what makes this place (occasionally) quite useful. By expressing my position, I may discover it's not as robust as I expected and this allows me to modify it.
And yes, there are actually examples of that happening (biofuels being the most obvious one... I went from a champion of biofuels to an opponent over the course of a couple of months; much of that transformation being a result of reading objections to my position online).
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