Jenny wrote:

Good. Progess at last. A statement must be justified.

Well, actually, we had *that* particular argument a few months back, and it got rather unpleasant. :-)

If I say something that cannot be justified, then you have the right to attack that statement and show where I have gone wrong. If I think you are right then I will ajust that statement.

Therein lies much of the argument here. You've got to be persuaded before you change your point of view. If you disagree about the evidence, you're unlikely to be convinced. As for evidence...

But what we are implicity accepting here is that there is an actual "truth".

You might. I don't, for the reasons stated in an earlier post on dramatic productions. Elements of interpretation and interpolation become necessary, but they should be recognised as such.

It can also be extremly boring, especially when they start running about like chickens with their heads cut off if someone says something that contradicts their own personal fanons. "How dare you say that about Avon. I'm leaving the lyst. Blub, blub."

Don't recall that many people have left because of this kind of thing. It seems more to be because of how people said it; comments ceased to be about the series, and became about posters.

steve