boy...you take a few hours off, and entire civilizations rise & fall!

as to 'group mind', that sound a bit overblown...Mudcat certainly DOES function very much like a community on several levels, and consequently many 'members' will have similar viewpoints on some matters, just from being there.

Loook at your own neighborhood....don't you see similar patterns of behavior, if not 'exactly' the same? Issues of traffic, schools, government, shopping 'tend' to be related to the type of community...with some, ahem, notable dissenting, cantankerous exceptions! (sound familar?)

Yeah, there ARE communities where gates are put up and covenants written so as to strictly limit everything from house color to signs to type of vehicles allowed....and I suppose they 'might' come closer to a 'group mind', if there really is such a thing. (I would limit the idea to things like certain religious sects...but...*shrug*).

Anyway, I think Mudcat, is simply a group of personalities where there is a 'tendency' to have some similar views....with the notable exceptions noted..*grin* We 'tend' to be more liberal, anti-war, anti-establishment than a D.A.R. site, for example...but 'group mind'??....even with the disclaimers and explanations Samantha offer, it seems a a bit strong.