Balance: I'm biased... and so are you. Someone recently posted that she welcomed certain comment because she believed it helped "balance" the cheerleading on this board. Balanced comment is something we get from objective comment - comment that seems equally open to both negative and positive.
It isn't something we get when we remain persistently closed to either. We're all biased one way or the other. Some of us have a greater vested interest. It's important that anyone, especially anyone new to these boards, or this particular board, keep that in mind.
Few if anyone posts to this board with no vested interest.
And a vested interest can and often does work to influence our perceptions - whether we're aware of it or not.
It shoud go without saying that any comment should be taken lightly, and only to the extent that it fits with what a reader already believes to be true.
We all tend to accept only comment that is in line with what we already believe and we tend to give little if any weight to comment that contradicts what we already believe - even when that evidence is well supported by the facts. In other words, poeple hear "what they want to hear, and disregard the rest".
That doesn't mean discussions are worthless. Sometimes a thoughtful, well-written post can trigger a new thought. But it helps to remain open to new ways of looking at things and it helps to try, at least, to remain as objective as possible.
This is a company-specific discussion board devoted to Bombardier. Naturally there are a few people here with different takes on the company's outlook.
We can all learn something from each other to the extent we try to keep things friendly and objective. But no one learns anything from personal comment and comment that denigrates another poster.
Good argument stands or falls on the basis of the facts alone. Most of us recognize well-reasoned discussion when we see it - whether it's for or against Bombardier. The best response to poor posts, posts with excessive negative, or personal comment, or posts you believe are too much one way or the other, is to simply ignore them.