Fear of Discussion...

I am amazed by the fear within the TAY community to allow discussion of topics follow a path that supports various opinions to be heard and let the topic play through a full cycle of argument, foot-stomping, and eventual agreement.

Do the repressed discussions occurring on TAY reflect the inability of skiers in the BC to freely state their opinions in decisions that determine how a party should conduct itself in avi terrain.

The "let's be nice" school of communication eliminates the opportunity to learn from people beyond the experiences and preconceptions held by our shallow and limited group of ski buddies.

Accepting, or at least listening to a wider range of opinions than we are comfortable with is essential in life whether enjoying rants on TAY or sorting out the factors before jumping into a chute in the hills.

Please stop being social prudes and begin to tolerate differing views, and if you disagree, have the nutz to explain why.

The dearth of postings on what should be a happening website reflects the cultural wasteland encouraged by striving for politeness over valuable frankness.

I'm open to the possibility that I could have left that thread open, sure. Happy to hear opinions on it. For me, what it came down to is that discussions that are premised on calling out folks out for being stupid have, in the past, frequently devolved into personal attacks and internet stupidity.

I fully agree that listening to a wide range of opinions is very valuable, be it in the hills or anywhere else. I also feel that it should be possible to express those opinions without being an ass to the person you're talking to.

Again, totally possible that there is a better way to handle these things, and open to suggestions as to what that would look like.

Thanks for closing that thread, it went beyond any idea I had about entertaining stories of personal experience, while vapidly awaiting the total arrival of the next significant storm cycle to blast into the PNW.

I am amazed by the fear within the TAY community to allow discussion of topics follow a path that supports various opinions to be heard and let the topic play through a full cycle of argument, foot-stomping, and eventual agreement.

The "let's be nice" school of communication eliminates the opportunity to learn from people beyond the experiences and preconceptions held by our shallow and limited group of ski buddies.

The dearth of postings on what should be a happening website reflects the cultural wasteland encouraged by striving for politeness over valuable frankness. 

Is this serious?  Or just trolling or an attempt at humor?

I am amazed and impressed that Marcus has the patience to allow so much shallow internet bullying.  Or are you and I looking at the same elephant and calling it differently?  bullying = valuable frankness?   

And the threads I've seen Marcus shut down appear to be pointless arguing instead of eventual agreement.  It seems to me that a few loudmouths on TAY have eliminated the opportunity to learn from people who are more timid.  I'm happy to see Marcus limit the pointless arguing, and happy that TGR supplies another arguing venue for those who are disappointed with TAY.

Clearly it is important to be open to discussion and dissent. It is always a good idea to go back to the Greeks and think about Socrates. We should always be looking for the next question and be careful about assumptions. There is however a balance between constructive debate and the descent into complete nonsense. Personally I go to newschoolers.com to get my fix of ski nonsense. Check it out if you want to see how immature people can get. There is plenty of that online. I appreciate that the administrators here are making an effort to keep things constructive.

DITTO THAT!