Why discussions generate into personal affronts...


Hello to all... I am a new-be in comparison to those who have thousands of inputs into forums/discussions.

I find it disappointing that in reading inputs, I have to waste time in members sniping at each other. Half the time it simply is a difference in opinion that breaks down into nasty idiocy,  and half the time I need some type of reference to past verbal battles fought about in other topics/forums. 

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO IMHO? Many times spewing personal dogma against each other just confuses simple people like me who are just looking for guidance - not miracles. We all view another's opinion with reservation - nobody's got a doctorate on audiophile experience; if I was to listen to and obey the professionals, I would never had experimented with 12g solid core copper, vinyl-jacketed wire, twisted and used bare wire no connectors -WHICH I AM VERY HAPPY WITH ...

SO: SOMEBODY fill me in why knowledgeable people generate into nastiness in discussions...
insearchofprat
@berner99
People's understanding of audio (and in general, the world) is a part of who they are. Dissenting views threaten that understanding which can be upsetting and people can get angry.
True, but it’s too bad that before getting angry they don’t spend even a little energy trying to understand the alternate viewpoint and how that perception may be valid for somebody else.  We have forgotten how to agree to disagree.  Newsflash, there are no trophies given here for being “right.”

To The OP

There are always places you can find reasonable forums that are well mannered. It's a function of the owners and mods that make a forum what it is.

No reason to get yourself stuck in the wrong place.

Michael

One wonders why the reasonable forums like AA and Stereophile are ghost towns now. 🤔
MItch2,
Toward understanding why:

When people hear a 5 year old say something silly/untrue about the way the world works, few get upset. OTOH when e.g. an engineer runs across people saying things about cables/interconnects that appears to contradict what they know, some get upset/angry. Nobel prize winning physicist Max Planck said:

A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.

People are very attached to their ideas and presenting contrary information can be very threatening to some people. Some people are open (perhaps too open in some cases) to new ideas, others not so much.

"We have forgotten how to agree to disagree" We do live in polarizing times, but I think it is more a matter of individual temperament.
Agendas and ignorance governed by pride and narcissism.

People become so attached to their world-view or audio-view, that it stops being a pursuit of audio nirvana and starts becoming an agenda to promote a particular viewpoint to the point of rejecting anything that may call that view into question.  Because its a commercial industry as well, holding onto that viewpoint can be for hardened for those with financial gain.

Those world-views are often built on narcissistic beliefs of one's own superiority, often cultivated by success in something not remotely related and flourish due to ignorance in the topics related to that world-view. Personal pride prevents admitting mistakes no matter how clear cut those mistakes are.