This site began because a friend and I were bemoaning the generally poor quality of discussion online. If only, we said, there were somewhere that we could discuss matters, important or unimportant, without being subject to endless trolling, personal abuse, and generalized profanity. So this site was born.
It has been a long while in the making because I am a perfectionist and nothing was ever quite right. But I am now persuaded that it’s better to make a start with something which is good enough without having to be perfect, so for better or for worse here it is.
Basically the site works like this: from time to time, I will publish a post about something which has caught my attention. My aim in publishing my thoughts is hopefully to engage in discussion about them so that I and my correspondents can learn more about the subject and correct any errors we might inadvertently harbour.
There are no rules, neither prescriptive nor proscriptive: I am a firm believer in Douglas Bader’s adage, “Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men”. But sadly it is necessary to have some level of order, so I have compiled a set of Guidelines for Contributors. They aren’t absolute – they’re meant for your guidance – and you are free, indeed invited, to disagree with them. But po9litely, please! Or else they will be become rules.