I see this recurring theme, where people who are very knowledgeable and experienced leave this forum when they begin to feel "underappreciated". Obviously, the value of this forum to most of us is predicated on knowledgeable and experienced people remaining.
So that begs a couple of questions:
1. At what point does an individual's (or companies') knowledge and experience become "unassailable" and above questioning? WHEN THEY'VE GOT 5,000+ POSTS AND HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A DECADE+. (IN MY BOOK. FEW PAGES.) Or is that EVER the case? Personally, I'm not big on answers that don't come with explanations. "trust me" isn't good enough for most people who like to learn. So I'm not sure there should ever be a time when we can't say "why?" or "show me". But what do y'all think?
I THINK THAT IF YOU'VE BEEN ON THIS FORUM FOR A WHILE YOU COME TO RECOGNIZE WHO ARE THE FEW REAL BRAINS. wHEN I SAY "FEW", I'VE COME TO RECOGNIZE ABOUT, SO FAR, FIVE PERSONALITIES OF WHOSE WORDS OF WISDOM DEARLY I HOLD.
2. Since the forum sponsor doesn't really moderate this forum at all (as far as I can tell), how do we self-monitor it to keep the offensiveness from driving good sources away?
I THOUGHT I WAS THE MONITOR.
I'm talking here like I haven't been guilty of it myself; I know I've offended some people here. I could've used a slap-on-the-hand reminder, I guess.
THOSE PERSONALITIES WHO DEEPLY I RESPECT I TRY TO NOT P ISS OFF BY CERTAIN OF MY COMMENTS FOR, WHEN SHTF ON MY RIDE, I'M HOPING THEY;LL CHIME IN. MY INQUIRIES THE PAST 2+ YEARS HAVE BEEN GENERAL IN NATURE BUT, WHEN I HIT THAT ROADBLOCK, I HOPE THEY CHIME IN.
Having read tons of old threads on this forum as I've been researching various subjects, I came across what I think is a pattern. Let's use Jake Raby as an example.
Guy asks a question.
Jake weighs-in on it.
Someone else says "I don't think so.... that doesn't really fit my experience"
9 other people chime in and say "You're a F*******ing idiot! Don't you know that's Jake Raby talking?"
Guy responds "well I don't really KNOW Jake... so explain it for the rest of us..."
Then ensues 12 replies demonstrating JR's resume, and why nobody should question anything he says.
Then the first poster says "I still don't know the answer to my question"
everyone else says "yes you do, you just didn't like it"
guy says "because it doesn't fit other's experiences, and nobody has explained why"
CHEERS ON THAT.
this goes on and on for days, with many threads.
Same happened with Pedro (though less frequently, and less aggressively)
Next thing you know, you get guys like me who don't drink cool-aid of ANY flavor... and we start disparaging the collective wisdom, because it isn't being "shared" it's being "enforced" by keyboard bullies.
I DRINK THE COOL AID BECAUSE WHEN IT GETS TO THE REAL 'NUTS AND BOLTS' (TEARDOWNS... SOPHISTICATED INTERNAL ENGINE COMPONENTS... ETC) I'M A SMALL-BRAIN. GRAPE FLAVOR, PLEASE.
that's what I've seen here.... over-n-over-n-over.