Guys I know that in the midst of a debate tempers can flare up. Forums don't allow nuances of speech that keep people aware that someone is being a smartass or making a joke, and sometimes things get taken WAY too seriously. Let's try and keep things a bit more friendly, and please don't take arguments across all the forums and threads.
I can't tell you to forget about disagreements and unpleasantness in the past or on other forums. I CAN tell you that the atmosphere and success of this forum will be negatively affected by making those disagreements your raison d'etre.
Here are some ideas of how we can more productively discuss things on this forum.
To all the practical people: If you ask advice from technical people then expect numbers and theory and some debate about the validity of numbers. This is the essence of science, after all. We are somewhat in la la land where theory can't reach and empirical observations reign. So the quality of the numbers (and the design of the experiemnt) are extremely important.
To the technical people: Don't take the "teacher up on high" attitude; it puts the discussion in a confrontational tone from the beginning. A link or two can work wonders to prove a point, and linking back to earlier discussions can help educate the newcomers and it also keeps you from repeating yourself all the time.
To everyone: NO PERSONAL ATTACKS! Keep that to PMs or e-mail (or to yourself)
I will try and follow these suggestions myself as well
