A Policy Against Flame Wars.

Flame Wars are a ridiculous drain on time, thought, bandwidth and brain cells. Opportunities for understanding and being understood are squandered as the flame war dynamic kicks in and I and my opponent are reduced to a cartoon caricature in each other's eyes, and we defend our egos by attacking the other. I have decided to avoid flame wars as a matter of policy.

1. I will refrain from personal insults and abuse, (although an acerbic wit is not a bad thing) and when I engage in personal insults in spite of myself, I will admit the error, and apologize, not matter how right I think I am.

2. I will not respond to personal insults or abuse in any way, except by linking to this blog. (Although an acerbic wit is not a bad thing.)

3. I will not engage people who are not interesting.

4. I will do my best not to say things that are dumb.

5. I'm The Decider! I will be the person who decides what is boring and what is dumb, what is abuse and what is a witty retort, what is worth addressing and what isn't. My ego will not be subject to the whims of whoever happens to be logged on.

As a public service, anyone who wants to adopt my anti-flame war policy is welcome to link to this page as a way to explain the policy to others, and as an alternative to escalation.