Marty,

Glad for the book titles. I really need more unread books piled everywhere! < g >

The other contributing factor is the "geek" personality. Usually pretty high strung/easily frustrated, not always socially adept or motivated to be so (we're valued for technical skill, not being 'nice') and we're often pushing the limits of things that are new and unproven, so there are a lot of opportunities for frustration.

If we wanted well-proven, predictable, routine types of tasks we'd all be selling shoes or something.

When the frustration rises you take it out on the dog or cat, or on the messageboard where the folks are out of arms reach and can't slug you back. Sometimes you drown it in beer or cover it with music.

I was the neighborhood mom-at-home for a few years and got used to handling situations where 10 boys came over on a school snow day. Included were a couple of ADHD kids, and all that that entails. I used to walk around smiling and carrying a baseball bat and threatening that "I get bigger and stronger when I'm angry." (Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno, "Incredible Hulk")

Here I usually just wait for the dust to settle. ;-)


>M2CW,

>The conclusion that the authors drew was that this medium breeds this sort of exchange... That when you combine the public nature of a message board with a group of subject matter experts, you will get, well, debates, like this.
>
>Once I bought into this theory, it helped me deal with the occasional brush fires that break out here. If the hyposthesis is true, then it proves that we are all approaching "expert-edness." And, since I buy the "it's inevitable" portion as well, I don't have a nagging desire to change other's behavior.
>