VishMahabir posted:Stormborn posted:To make this an intellectual forum for discussion, I would argue that the posters have to abide by two fundamental truths. One, they have to reveal their professional identity. Two , admin should include their professional affiliations so that the posters are aware of the person’s intellectual affiliation and professional affiliation. A case in point: TK has openly done so in the past, but the responders, who continue to remain anonymous, can pollute and infiltrate the threads with nonsensical responses for a variety of reasons (party affiliation, impending elections, etc.). This is the only way that sanity can be brought to this place and it is the only way you can encourage reliable and dependable discourse. There is no other way….regardless of the historical evidence you cited above. Furthermore, if I am going to debate an issue, I want to know about the person’s professional background. If I am asking TK a question about economics I know I can get a reliable response, rather than asking a similar question to someone else. This will also week out some of the more contentious contributions from posters whose intentions are questionable.
I participate in a few more specialized forum and everyone is an alias ( even if most are known.It is not the alias or the seemingly anonymity that caused people to misbehave. They act according who they are. You cannot function without standards. Since it is egalitarian, there is no necessity to show credentials....only good sense.
BTW no one here is anonymous. That is a myth. Everyone here leaves a trail of crumbs that one can follow to their identity. I used to write here with my real identity. That was so long ago that probably only one or two remember my name.