>>I think you are absolutely correct about everything you said. I also think his personal attacks - like all personal attacks on forums like this - were unworthy of anyone with the intelligence to do this for a living - much less to do it at the level JVP does it. Mental horsepower is not his issue, but intelligent human interaction often seems out of his reach.
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>>But the ideas were often met with vitriol that was more emotional than technical as well. And I think it unfortunate that the message got mingled with the messenger.
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>I suspect if you went back and looked at the threads over a period of time, you'd see that the reaction to JVP changed over that time. The more he behaved viciously, the less people wanted to hear his ideas.

And rightly so. Just doesn't speak to the value of the ideas themselves.


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>>But I definitely agree that gratuitous viciousness played a big part in JVPs message being dismissed. ( that doesn't - of course - explain why the same message was often met with equal venom when delivered by much more user-friendly folks )
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>I think that's also a consequence of JVP's approach that made the topic a far more emotional one than it needed to be.
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Again, I agree completely. I generally get along with some pretty prickly people - perhaps a survival skill I developed early on - but I still don't find engaging them pleasant so I won't play when the egos and emotions are overshadowing the arguement.

The attacks on you were particularly personal and uncalled for as in all the years I've known you I have never heard you utter a word that I thought called for an aggressive or irrational response on anyone's part.