From time to time people bring up questions on science and technology in this forum, which in and of itself is quite understandable as that is part of why this forum exist, but they are then sometimes dissatisfied with the explanations given. This dissatisfaction seems to fall into two major categories... the explanation isn't detailed enough or the person's actual motives were to attack the subject. Strangely enough, the limitations to which anyone can provide an explanation for either category is the same... these are generally very detailed subjects that require a person to dedicate a significant amount of their time to have learned to begin with, and posted replies are neither the format for such in-depth explanations nor are they adequate substitutes for actually taking the time to really learn the subject matter. For those unhappy with the level of detail, at a certain point most subjects defy being distilled into simple sound bites. Often the basic concepts of a subject are built on the foundations of quite a few other related areas, and when attempting to go into details one needs to have a previous understanding of those foundations. Without that understanding what you end up with is a lot of technical minutia that makes little or no sense. Asking for further explanations of that technical minutia leads to a pointless process which can only really be solved by the person asking the question getting an actual education in that subject. There is no real way for anyone to pass an understanding that took years to gain to someone else within the course of a thread on a message board. For those who's only point in asking was so that they can attack a subject they know little about but disagree with... I strongly suggest that you guys take the initiative to first learn what it is you disagree with before solidifying your opinions. It is disingenuous to ask for an explanation on a topic when your primary goal is to attack it based on a simplified answer. Additionally, for those of us attempting to answer questions on topics in science and technology, I think there is a responsibility to convey the generally accepted answers first before interjecting opinions or personal theories on any topic. I have many of my own opinions and theories on areas of mathematics and physics, but even when those areas are brought up as topics here, I have not put forward any of them. This is not to say that a new way of explaining your understanding of the accepted answers on a topic should be discouraged, only that anything above and beyond that explanation should be clearly separated and noted as not part of the generally accepted ideas. The point is, beyond a broad explanation and a few follow up answers on some details the only way to really learn anything is to go out and spend the time learning the subject. No one is going to walk away from any of these threads with the same level of understanding of a subject as someone who has been studying it for years. And no amount of posting by anyone who has spent years learning a subject is going to impart the type of understanding that took years to achieve in the first place. It just seems to me that with these limitations well defined that we can avoid a lot of frustration on the part of both those asking the questions and those giving the answers.
the limits we make are by each individual for that individual. When in certain cases a mod may have to step in just to keep the topic focused on the subject idea is concerned even still depending on the scope of that subject that is what usually limits the actual discussion.,, in free society there are no limits for the individual but what one person sets as the limit to the topic may upset the next person or the person discussing that topic that had started it. I feel IMO that most topics questions are solved and resolved and then organized and published where they have had that extraneous bickering about and off topic posts in the topics discussion eliminated. I believe in ablsolute freedom of discussion in civilized manners and that is possible at any small level of gatherings. Povided that the off topic posts and those off topic posts posts fizzle out due to lack on interest.
Really, theres nothing quite like picking up the textbook from the local library and reading it yourself.