Re: end of thread: physics, non-physics, and airplanes

[Stefan Jeglinski <jeglin@4PI.COM>]

> Again, PHYS-L I apologize.  It was by my own actions that all of this
> "Newsgroups twisted nastyness" came pouring into the pages of this
> wonderful forum.  It was premedititated on my part.  I greatly
> overestimated the the civility and rationality of the parties involved,
> and I thought that the "positive forces" always exerted by PHYS-L would
> lead to a rapid solution.


Well, I don't know about anyone else, but in my experience with the
-modern- internet (last 4-5 years), the arguments here are still
rather civilized. Despite the mild (generally mild, I would say)
criticisms pointed at one another, I have found the exchanges mostly
quite positive and educational. Even the exceptions to this have
tended to self-correct somewhat or self-destruct.

What I find most encouraging is that the same people who are hotly
arguing one topic and occasionally casting doubts on each other's
characters in one thread are quite civil and can find plenty to agree
on in another. In my estimation, this may not be the ideal situation,
but it's a darn sight better than what you get on public newsgroups.
In addition, I find a good mix of humor and somewhat off-topic
statements, just enough to make it unstuffy but not to the extent
that the charter of the list is seriously violated. And I commend Dan
for knowing when to step in and when to let things run their course.

Of course, I could be wrong ;-)


Stefan Jeglinski