For Productive Discussions...

It is quite clear to anyone that is part of a forum such as ATS that a lot of discussions can turn unexpectedly negative very fast. There is a reason for that.

When someone opens up a topic and reads it w/o an open mind, they will automatically dismiss anything new that doesn't coincide with their current beliefs. The problem with doing this is obvious. If you dismiss everything as false just because you haven't seen it as truth yet, you can and will never learn anything new. Not only that, but if you are good with words and appear to be smart, you could lead others away from what may be truth.

You must keep an open mind on these forums if you are going to be able to contribute anything useful to them. In this way, knowledge is allowed to flow smoothly in and out of the minds of ATS members and thus productively increasing the collective knowledge.

Dismiss knowledge based only on facts and never personal beliefs. Contribute knowledge as beliefs or facts and leave it to those with the facts to dismiss false beliefs.

reply to post by smithjustinb

Well said. And you're right.


Something I'll try to remember for the future.