[Baeocystin]

I can't say it never happens, but I find it hard to imagine thinking in public to be a net benefit. Who you accept feedback from matters, and the reactionary frothers that are just there to screech outnumber everyone else in terms of posting volume.

The Socratic method requires a good-faith, cooperative approach in the participants, and that just doesn't happen on modern fora without strong moderation, which is a full-time job in and of itself. Otherwise the hecklers win.

[mschoeffler]

It's possible to avoid the froth - and get the right who. Imagine what could happen if you didn't have to deal with screech.

[Baeocystin]

I've been lucky enough, and greatly benefitted from, having wonderful whos in my life. Always from face to face, personal interaction, though. Maybe someday we will figure out how to better sort the wheat from the chaff of online discourse. It's an exceedingly difficult problem.