What edition / PHB are you quoting?
1e PHB but it's a purchased clone pdf so I'm asking if that rule is missing from anyone else's PHB's. I sold my 1e collection years decades ago and no longer have my original, and it's been over 30 years since I was playing 1e. My memory is definitely not infallible.
Oh geez, you're one of those people.
How does that comment demonstrate that you are a better than the complaints you are making? Put yourself in my shoes and read that comment as if it were directed at you.
I don't get mad over a difference of opinion. Ever since I figured out I don't need the last word in a discussion to be correct what you'll find is if I am getting annoyed or think a discussion is getting emotional I just step away.
If there is something in my tone that might off putting then I would ask that you read it in a different tone and see if it makes a difference. That's where I find the internet difficult at times. No body language and no voice to add.
Fine. In my experience, people that are both trained in actual classical rhetoric and have designated forums in which to do it, rarely to it well.
As such, it is exceedingly rare, given the HUGE number of people on the internet, and the volume of comments, to find someone doing it correctly here.
In fact, I usually can quickly see that the people determined to argue about arguing are the ones who are least equipped to understand these finer points.
So does your experience trump anyone else's experiences? Your experience is what your experience is, and I cannot say that I have not had bad experiences with open discussions on the internet because it is what it is. However...
"2. A conversation between people with divergent viewpoints with an expected level of intellectual rigor and adherence to norms and a desire to ascertain both the other viewpoint and to learn what the better assertion is."
This does not become impossible between people on the internet just because other people on the internet do not follow it any more than it would in a college lunch room.
But sure, that must be my "biased perspective." Whatever.
A long as a person applies the traits of what one person on the internet did to what a different person on the internet will do then it is, unfortunately. The actions or traits of one person are not the actions or traits of another person. That doesn't mean anyone's experience is invalid either. It shapes our perceptions.
It's off topic, however. If you want to discuss the acts of discussing I'm open to it. I just wouldn't want to derail this thread more.
