well, LH...I have posted more than once..several (5-6-7??) different times why I bother to debate and critique....and at least a couple times have been in direct response to you.

1) To force myself to think thru the issue and refine what I really think about it and why. You gotta work a bit to be sure you say what you mean and be relatively clear.

2) Because it would both dull and dangerous to let only one view of some of these issues grace these wide-ranging threads. These are not silly, neutral, irrelevant topics...They are about something, and the way we approach them is in many ways a mirror of how we act, vote, care, buy, support...etc., in the 'real world' where a few hundred votes in Florida can affect the entire way the country and the world are run for years to come. We make whatever waves we can, in the ways best suited to our status. 'Maybe' my exhortations about careful patterns of thought will have ripple effects...if Mudcat lasts as long as Max says it will...*grin*.

3) Because I feel I can be a moderating voice between the believers and claimers who unwaveringly support some of the arcane and abstruse claims that are made, and the loud, insulting, cynical notes of some of the naysayers who tend to ridicule rather than discuss & debate. (Why, some of them even from Canada..*grin*)

4) Because I have this background and a piece of paper that SAYS I am certified to meddle gently in areas where HOW to think and reason are legitimate issues! (Wolfgang is in many ways even more certified than I am, and has **credentials** ! *grin*..I know he can cite counter-examples more explicitly)

5) Because....and this is not meant to be cute or sarcastic....since I do realize that I am NOT likely to change many minds, I'd like to see people who DO continue to believe just as they always have understand what defenses and arguments are good and valid and relevant for their positions! Astrology and 'intelligent design' and religious doctrine and Tarot and Ouija boards and pre-cognition...to name a few...all have their history, backgrounds, studies and anecdotal reports to support various aspects of their claims.....and it is important to present whatever supposed evidence there is in the best way possible, as it may help to convince skeptics like ME someday as more information becomes available.

If I was to start over, I might say all that a little differently, or have 2 more reasons, but that's close.

oh....

6) because it's interesting to learn & compare ideas!!! And that could be the ONLY one if I was pressed about it!

3)