Hi, Bob,Having one's nose out of another's reach via the keyboard tends to make some people puffy with extra confidence. It becomes their therapy source for the other frustrations in their lives. I used to run a BBS before the browsers brought the internet to the masses. I knew most every one of the 400 users and the people who seemed at the root of this sort of problem had many varied personality quirks and personal situations that seemed to fit a pattern. The insecure ones were always anxious to show they knew more than someone/anyone else, the angry ones had deeper personal issues that angered them and the topic of the moment was simply an easy outlet for their hostilities. The bossy ones inevitably were people who resented their subservient employment or marriage roles and on an on! After I started to understand this, I actually began feeling pity on these folks.... but at some point, I would need to protect the other 98% of users from their vitriol and distraction from purpose with time-outs or outright banishment (only 2 of those over the years).
Of course there's nothing wrong with disagreement! This list would be pretty boring otherwise (as you rightly mention).
Some people are natural needlers and are only successful when someone takes the bait. If we take a moment to decide if we're adding to the general good of the group before typing a response or simply angry or massaging our own needy ego, the whole discussion area will be the better for it!
