Firstly, thanks to Ross for moderating the Soap Box, which is often a thankless task!
Research shows that anger often stems (consciously or not) from perceived offences against either a social norm or a person's status in the group. With our geographical and cultural spread, the risk of misunderstanding at that level on the forum is higher than In local life. When we produce sharp criticism, it is therefore important (in my opinion) to make explicit that we are criticizing someone's idea-of-the-moment, and not attacking them personally.
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