Zero tolerance

I believe all the regulars who post here want the same thing - a peaceful, pleasant forum, where people can be helped, and we can all extend our knowledge and exchange ideas.

What we have is a hostile environment, where people needing help feel sidelined by personal disputes, and any questioning intended to develop one’s personal knowledge, is taken as a sign of weakness and something to be laughed at. This is serving nobody.

All the regulars are a part of this state of affairs, and we all have a responsibility to put it right. You can not rely on me to do this.

What follows is an assessment of what a few key individuals can do to help put matters right. It is, by necessity, personal. My intention is not to cause offence, but simply to make public the things that each individual is doing to exacerbate the situation, and point out unacceptable behaviour.

If you find someone not doing what is asked of them, however minor, please tell me through the email address in my profile. We do not need vigilantes. Do not respond on the forum, just let me know. People will be warned (if they haven’t been already) and banned as appropriate. If you don’t respond at all, it is much easier for me to remove offending posts without leaving the forum looking like someone is having an argument with himself.

Should anybody fail in what is asked of them on this thread, they will be suspended. Yes, many of you have discovered how easy it is to come back after a banning, but it is also easy for me to remove all the work of your new incarnation at a stroke, and I will do this.

So, in no particular order, here is what is required of you all:

Joe, you are an admirable fellow; full of boundless energy in your 8th decade, and equally full of the will to help people. However, your prescriptions rely too much on your own ‘discoveries’, and never have you tried something and found it did not work. Other members (Murthy, for instance) take exception to your prescriptions; they do this not because they take exception to you, but because they doubt your findings. If someone contradicts you, it’s not an attack, it’s a learning opportunity - make allowance for their doubting too. Express your point of view, let others express theirs, and let the patient decide.

Murthy, people come here seeking answers. Your posts, where you say “this is not homeopathy” will not help, even if you are right. The reason being, people simply ignore you. If you want to help, you needpeople to listen to you; if you want people to listen to you, you need to show interest in them; you need to get your hands dirty and ask them questions, and then suggest a remedy based on your analysis. It often seems that you put strictly classical principles above helping hte patient. Surely, in any form of medicine, the patient must come first. If they are being cureded by non-classical methods,then they are being cured and that is what’s required; in these circumstances, there is no need to add anything. Also, please drop any other IDs you may be using.

Jacob, your approach is too rigid. By your admission, you were asked to leave one of the leading UK colleges after 3 months, as what you were learning was not what you already knew. It is possible that you are right and the college didn’t know the subject they were teaching; however it is also possible that they did, and thatyour teachers had a few cases from expereince. Like Joe, you need to admit that there is room for flexibility, and not get so confrontational when people disagree with you. Express your point of view, let others express theirs, and let the patient decide. You also have a habit of over reacting to any perceived slight. If you are provoked, you can still respond, but please do so by sending me a quick email.

Kuldeep, one ID is enough. You have written some great posts on botany, and the forum is richer for this contribution. However, your ridiculing of other forum members needs to stop right now, however subtle you believe it to be. In your eyes, they started it, so all is justified, but they have long since stopped, except for responding to your provocation, and now you must stop. No more sniping, no more analogies.

Nesha, your language is in general too harsh. It is off-putting to new members. Please tone it down, or leave. Your posts were tolerated for a long time because the forum needed a classcial counterpoint, but this is now being provided by other members, and if you can not change your tone, I would rather you took it elsewhere.

Pankaj, your intentions here are noble, and in the past, your posts were generally cordial, and well mannered. However, recently your posts to certain members have become more and more provocative. It may not be how your comments are intended, but it is how they are perceived, and perception is the essence of communication. Read through before posting, and remove anything that can be considered to be offensive.

Well, that’s it. I look forward to a lasting peace, whether it means banning noone or everyone...