I absolutely agree, but i think it just needs to be toned down a bit, by all means we should argue/debate/discuss and there is nothing wrong in a good old heated argument, facts cited and opinions supported, but when it gets to extremes like i have seen recently around here, it breaks down to immatruity and all of the other reasons stated earlier in this thread.
Things get heated because many people consider being wrong to be a sign of weakness.
I love to argue and disagree. I consider it a right that I should exercise daily. Keeps the mind sharp. But sometimes I have to be tough with people. I need to know they're not going to waste my time. It's a shame, but being a dick is a time saving device. The truth is that most people have opinions they made a long time ago based on incomplete information. And most people will respond not by filling in the gaps in that person's information but by browbeating them with their own ignorance.
Furthermore, most people just can't take criticism. You don't get enough of it on the internet. And you may tell me that you personally would want honest, brutal criticism, but how many people here do? How many here can handle it? You may find some of my posts giving criticism that people
asked for, and they cried like a little ***** with a skinned knee when they got it.
What I dislike about the way the moderators handle things here is they shut down the entire discussion instead of just cracking down on the ones at fault and letting the innocent continue as they were. And if that means I get a slap in the balls too, then so be it.