These things aren't complicated. Different people enjoy different things. Hurrah!
What's frustrating in these sorts of debates is when people get hung up trying to shield their opinions from criticism (objective/subjective rants, "everybody else thinks" defenses, "I'm such an iconclast" attacks) instead of just throwing their ideas out into the ring and seeing how they fare.
It's human nature to want to be right. And of course, most of us are lazy buggers, so we'd rather be right without having to figure out the truth. And finally, we've learned all our life that it's bad to be wrong. All that adds up to people digging in and insisting that their position is correct -- while trying to prevent debate, or shout down opposing points of view, or find tactics that seem to nullify the need for debate and analysis.
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I wholeheartedly agree with your first sentence. However, I think people like say, the creator of the website that was linked to at the beginning of this whole thread would probably view someone who liked the Fifth Sorceross as some kind of inferior specimen. I suppose my idea is that this kind of thread is an example of my "non-existant" divide. To me saying it doesn't exist is similiar to saying there is no difference between Liberal and Conservative political thought. The existence of moderates (where someone like you might fall if we take your reading habits to be an example) does not mean that there are not two different camps. It just means that not everybody falls into those camps.
I do it all the time. Cause basically I'm an insecure dork.
I run film sets and I run software development teams and I teach martial arts and in all these enterprises one thing is always true -- if people feel comfortable with being wrong, they will be right more often. Because when you can be wrong, you can enter into real debate on your positions and come out with an answer that is closer to the truth -- INSTEAD of trying to defend your position beyond the point of rationality.
It's very difficult to hear what other people are saying unless you're willing to consider the idea that you might be wrong.
Which neatly contrasts my previous notion that "Sometimes everybody else IS wrong." Life's like that a lot, I find.
First off, nothing wrong with being an insecure dork. You'll find alot of those in gaming forums. Again, a generalization.
Secondly, your career sounds interesting. You again, are an exception that proves the rule. Most people view computer programmers as sedentary, yet apparently you're not only active but into martial arts. I'd probably have a heart attack if I tried martial arts. I'm a walking...well, sitting....computer programming stereotype.
I am willing to consider the idea I might be wrong. In this case, this whole thread revolves around opinions however, which gets us into a subjective area. (Sorry, couldn't help the subjective reference, as my gaming group would say "I failed my willpower save")