Disagreements and Conflicts between Audiophiles have we lost our brotherhood and maturity?

@whart

I agree

The current broad sense of polarization can and does color audio discussions (and many other topics of online discourse). This most often occurs unconsciously, so self-awareness is very helpful -- in other words, paying attention to those instances when others’ words begin to trigger us disproportionately.

There is also the fact that as humans, we are all susceptible to lashing out, given the right provocation. We’re all subject to being taken over by the reptile brain. This can occur even when outward circumstances are relatively harmonious.

There are those who deride a desire for civility as weak. They regard their capacity for verbal rough and tumble as a badge of honor -- of manly toughness. They appear to enjoy sparring and don’t mind when things get nasty-- "One in every bar", as @boxcarman put it. I try to ignore them.

I have noted that on the What’s Best forums, discourse is uniformly civil. I’m not sure whether this is due to more active intervention by moderators or something else but there is, at times, a marked contrast.

In the end, it’s up to each of us to decide how we’re going to behave and what sort of climate we wish to promote. We don’t have much control over others’ behaviors.

@calvinj 

Sadly it’s everywhere. People are more emboldened by being able to hide behind a keyboard.  For example, how many times has politics rudely popped up in our usual mundane conversations? I’m not saying there isn’t a time and place for it, but there should never be any of the anger that seems to come with it. 
 

My tubes better than your tube!!

I’m personally not bothered by a little back and forth on these sites, even if it parts from audio for a while. It’s a forum and sometimes they take funny shapes.

There is one communication style that I find annoying. I’m not sure what it’s called but tits when member speak of a component as the best, incredible, an end game, but it’s not far from what they had last time it was the best, end game, etc. It’s like they will get money for selling others on the product. Deep down you know it’s junk (compared to the wide world of audio) and they will soon list it for sale, if it’s not listed already.

Next they move to something else that’s "the best". It’s most likely from the same dealer that got them hooked on a slight "endless wallet" discount, and it’s cyclical. This annoys me because I’ve seen people earlier on in their journey listen to this and follow, only to find themselves back to square one again. It’s likely not even intentional but when we are in forum where some are looking for guidance it’s best to be realistic and have a strong foundation before having the fullest glass ever, lol.

Audio is such an individual pursuit and for me the path has been a big part of the enjoyment (except boxing heavy speakers) and is anyone really ever wrong? It's just often the tone, or way it said, and that's probably as hard as finding a warm system with great presence and detail.

The site seems calmer than ever but I haven’t been on as much lately.

Personally I thank you for dropping the all caps in your thread titles.  All caps tend to fire my adrenal glands

This

I've noticed a couple of things. 

The more technical or narrow-focused a forum or thread is, the more likely the conversation is to be friendly and informative always. There are long-running threads on here that are oases of courteousness and incredible fonts of knowledge. They're like that favorite hole in the wall joint you retreat to when you need a little haven of quiet.

It seems that the more inconsequential the topic, the more likely the discourse is to devolve into nastiness. People fight a lot more readily about audiophile fuses, Ethernet switches and digital streamers than about amplifiers and speakers.

Yes, ignorance and stupidity breed animosity, but in fairness that's true everywhere. An irritating trend of late has been some folks dropping politics into just about every thread they visit, like cows dropping cow pies every three steps. Fittingly for a stereo site, I guess, it's just as loud from the left as it is from the right, but still. You know who you are. Please stop.

@whart thank you for a very thoughtful post.