What I've been finding humorous about all this that discussion about what should or shouldn't happen have no affect except to get people involved excited for a few minutes.

If that were so, all kinds of discussion would be futile altogether. People who write, say, "Don't smoke!", would be naive to expect that this would save a single cigarette from being smoked. Still, "Who smokes, under what pretext, and for what real reasons, and how much?" and "What are the effects under what circumstances?" are important questions, to which valuable evidence can be hoped for, if not conclusive answers. If some reader happens to take good advice, all the better.

Note that I am not one of "the critics", just a discusser.