OK I'm going to post the thread, with a link to this discussion. But I've got a limited appetite for it, and I think the generaly consensus is that most do, so anyone interested in the issue should get into the thread when it goes up!

I'd also appreciate it if we killed this thread off, but I guess that won't happen for a while yet.

“OK I'm going to post the thread, with a link to this discussion. But I've got a limited appetite for it, and I think the generaly consensus is that most do, so anyone interested in the issue should get into the thread when it goes up!

I'd also appreciate it if we killed this thread off, but I guess that won't happen for a while yet."

I can understand why some may think that these comments are from one who is ‘torn’.

GrahamY:"I'm wondering whether too laissez faire an approach might have caused that."

I don't think so, Graham. On the whole, the forum is remarkably free from personal rancour (there is some, probably unavoidably), while vigorous and often well-informed debate is consistently produced.

Whether we agree or not with the views of others, as long as we are able to express our own views on those topics we find interesting, I can't see that the site is doing anything other than achieving its aim. There was once a fine tradition of public oratory and debate in this country and others, which has sadly waned as other forms of communication have taken hold. I see OLO as a modern version, allowing debate on a wide variety of interesting topics. One of the great virtues of such a system is that it exposes the holder of views to critique that would be unlikely in a more homogenous group. Speaking for myself, that has been a very good thing, forcing me to examine some of the basic concepts underlying my views and in some cases, modifying them.

OTOH, some subjects have been done to death and there seems little point revisiting them. I'm glad I'm not he moderator.

palimpsest,

2.7 degrees Kelvin. Redshift. Stratified Carbon-14 dating. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Plate tectonics. Evidence of an intelligent alternative to Genesis?

What was created c. 4004 BCE were the first city-states. Before that time, lore would have dominated early forms of wtiting. Mnemonics would have been employed to aid in recall and the transmission of stories: It would be very interesting Adam lived to be 47 and snakes didn't talk.

Oops:

It would NOT be very interesting Adam lived to be 47 and snakes didn't talk. Sorry.

O.

Dear Graham,

I have been an editor. As an editor you are an autocrat and have complete authority to decide what you want to publish or not. However, it is nice of you to ask.

If I were submitted a piece I would simply ask myself if it is worth publishing considering content, nature of the readers, quality of writing and whether it is repetitious of other material published. Considering the last item I would reject the piece as there has been too much comment in that area already. That is a subjective judgment on my part. You have to make your own.