Dear jimmy2shoes,

You are not the only one of that opinion.

Many others in the past have expressed the same
concerns. And of course, many have also left.
It would be good if a balance was maintained and
rational discussion dominated.

We can agree or disagree - as long as its rational
and does not get insulting or personal. Of course
people do respond and get off the rails when the right buttons are pushed.
It's simply best to either ignore and avoid what you don't like.

cont'd ...

I am used to discussions at university - where discussions
attempt to persuade through rational and critical judgement
supported by evidence and if one tried to downside the
other in order "to win" this kind of arguing was not
considered appropriate.

At university it was not important who won - what mattered
most was the quality of the argument itself.

The whole point was when you engaged in discussions you
were developing your ideas, advancing and clarifying your
knowledge and learning to think critically.

A discussion can change your attitude and ideas. It gives
you a chance to hear the thoughts and ideas of others.

It's an opportunity to put forward an opinion through the
process of reasoning supported by evidence.

People with just drive-by comments, insults, and labelling
of others were not taken seriously - at least not at
university.

Foxy,
I am beginning to see what your base is and where your coming from, which helps to understand you and your mindset.
Universities are educational mediums, this (OLO) is a social medium.
To make matters worse and further muddy the waters, it's mission statement is encapsulated in it's name; On Line OPINION.
Opinions are not objective and based on fact, but subjective based on an individuals knowledge and experience, but in a general/domestic sense, not in a professional sense.
At Uni, people discuss and debate, armed with knowledge of the topic in question, through the process of learning.
Some mis-understand the material, most do not, but ultimately one would hope that the mis-informed will, at some point have been educated/informed to understanding the truth on the topic in hand.
Unfortunately, OLO does not have the people or mindset necessary to cultivate and maintain a level of intelligent commentors with a full gambit of what they discuss.
I find you last posting ironic and humorous in that, as I read I realise it is you, you are criticizing.

ALTRAV,

Depends on what one does at university.

Some go to uni to become scholars studying all those fascinating Arts subjects like history, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, etc.

Others choose to do the fascinating Sciences to study how our physical world works.

But most people just do vocational degrees like engineering, law, medicine, architecture, etc. in order to get a job and earn a livelihood.

Mr O,

Ha, Ha, good one.

I wonder what, you know who, studied.

I suppose we can probably guess.
We should make that a topic of conversation, although I'm thinking she would probably be the only commentor, (as usual).
What would be even less interesting, is, if she graduated?
If we take her performance here on OLO, and the fact that she has to look everything up, plagerise, or just repeat the same boring points over and over again, I would not hold my breath, as I'd expect a NO as the answer.
TOUCHE'.

ALTRAV,

I am a graduate of two
universities - I come from an academic family who lost
everything during WWII when they fled from the Soviet Regime.
To them education was important - and not graduating
from a university for me was not an option.
I was born in Australia. And -
I have worked in prominent universities both in this country
and in the US.