Yeah, you're probably right Michael, and I must admit, one of my pet hatreds is this thing of floating ideas without evidence, and without an understanding of the foundations. Going back maybe 30 or 40 years I was a massive offender in this respect, but I finished up with egg on my face too often, so these days I if I float ideas I want to be able to support them. Thus it annoys me when I see ideas floated that are just ideas. My deficiency, and it should not effect anybody else, if, as you say the ideas are qualified as possibilities only.
But the real problem is, I think, that things said here can get picked up and retailed in other places. If those ideas are taken out of context, and without the qualifying rider, then you can get a situation where a wrong concept gets started.You're right, this discussion group will not ever achieve academic status, and I doubt that most members of it would want that in any case, but it is the most widely accepted internet keris reference in a western language.To my mind, that makes it something that we should take good care of.
The nature of any discussion is that any contributor to the discussion can say whatever he may please to say, provided he is prepared to stand behind his utterances. If this is accepted, then of course anybody may float any idea they wish, provided any other person may speak against that idea. The essential element is that we maintain discussion, and do our level best to prevent that discussion from deteriorating into distasteful argument.
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