Hi Guys,
It's really saddening to see our beloved Car Talk section degenerate into a section where insults (both subtle and glaring) are being exchanged between members-all because of differing opinions.
Without starting to mention names, I want to appeal to all of us to please sheath our swords. Lets learn to accept that people will ALWAYS have different opinions about the same thing. These opinions CAN be discussed without being rude-its the norm in the academic world and we CAN do it here.
Car Talk has succeeded in educating a lot of us about cars and if a lot of contributors start backing off, then we have all lost an avenue for learning.
On behalf of all of us who feel slighted by some members of the section, I apologize.
Please lets start afresh.
t-die

Leaving the forum will not make it better, neither will it solve the problems at hand. And if members leave, how do we get to learn from each others wealth of experience.
Its not by force sha, but methinks that if we can surmount this challenge, then the Car Talk section would definitely be better for it, and stand out from other sections where strife seems to be the order of the day.

Supported.

Come on Guys, no sulking or keeping long faces....
How can´we make this Section better??

Abi make I borrow Obama Slogan...

YES WE CAN!!!!

Yes, We can.
&
Yes, We will.

I registered on NL because of politics section but decided to stay on because of car talk section. Now I realize what made me developed hatred for politics section are gradually crawling into my beloved cart talk section. I findout most of the great contributors here are those with good numbers of years behind them. They are matured adult with sound mind whose staying on here is more to others benefits than theirs. These people felt slighted by recent development in car talk thus they become less active.

Solutions:
1. I'm personally begging the aggrieved great members and contributors to sheath the swords, forget and forgive so that they can benefit us with their wealth of experience.

2. The rules are made by man for his benefit not the other ways round the moderator needs to go soft with application of some of the forum rules. It is better to jaw-jaw than war-war.

3. I will add more latter as they unfold.

The problem with NL is cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is not socially acceptable anywhere; but in NL.

Why?:
* Why should anyone restrain him/herself from certain expressions because of some hooligans?
* Why is NL a breeding ground for such?
* Why should one initiate a thread or comment and an insult thereafter is the response?
* Why should the discretion of responding to a particular inquiry be concluded via e-mail instead of the allocated reply row of the thread (due to strict content nature)?

All these will continue until a 0% tolerance to cyber-bullying is initiated and enforced. I'm not referring to NL's standard of a ban (which is wrong by all contexts of definition). A ban is permanent. A suspension is a cooling-off period that calls for evaluation of conduct. Such offenders are to be banned. Most of the time, they never return. In cases where they return under another screen-name, it usually doesn't repeat itself.

As though the points emphasized are not bad enough, posts of substance are hidden (or deleted) and purposeless remarks (that does no good) abound. We are humans; everyone has their points (critical) of inflection. If people are leaving or restraining themselves in droves, a root-cause is in place. We can't [all] pretend that nothing is going on; we are yet to come to terms with truth.

t-die:
Hi Guys,
It's really saddening to see our beloved Car Talk section degenerate into a section where insults (both subtle and glaring) are being exchanged between members-all because of differing opinions.
Without starting to mention names, I want to appeal to all of us to please sheath our swords. Lets learn to accept that people will ALWAYS have different opinions about the same thing. These opinions CAN be discussed without being rude-its the norm in the academic world and we CAN do it here.
Car Talk has succeeded in educating a lot of us about cars and if a lot of contributors start backing off, then we have all lost an avenue for learning.
On behalf of all of us who feel slighted by some members of the section, I apologize.
Please lets start afresh.
t-die

You are wrong on one note. It's either get it right in academia or you flunk. That is why you have exams. Your opinion does not matter, lest the world will be in chaos. The issue you are addressing is dissociated from academia or a controlled-community. This is epic to no/poor interpersonal skills.

Personally,I really don't see what's gone amiss.People join forums, and they are at liberty to leave them. I think the appeal should be that all contributors on this board, if we intend to make it different from others in the NL ensemble, should be as civil as could possibly be. The section can't lose its relevance in so far as there are car issues. There will always be people interested enough to offer their advice. This has been my experience as a member of much bigger car forums.

@ Trac;
I am also in Academia, and different opinions CAN and DO exist about some particular issues...at least in my own branch of science (Medicine).

I created because I felt that the pettiness of the other sections had crept into Car Talk and its entirely up to us to chart the way forward. It is also sad that our more experienced contributors are keeping a rather low profile these days.

However, if our major contributors (or anyone for that matter) decide(s) to leave the section, It is not a right or wrong decision; its THEIR decision, and has be respected.

It however still leaves the problem(s) unsolved.

Costee: Personally,I really don't see what's gone amiss.People join forums, and they are at liberty to leave them. I think the appeal should be that all contributors on this board, if we intend to make it different from others in the NL ensemble, should be as civil as could possibly be. The section can't lose its relevance in so far as there are car issues. There will always be people interested enough to offer their advice. This has been my experience as a member of much bigger car forums.

I couldn't agree more.

t-die:
@ Trac;
I am also in Academia, and different opinions CAN and DO exist about some particular issues...at least in my own branch of science (Medicine).

I created because I felt that the pettiness of the other sections had crept into Car Talk and its entirely up to us to chart the way forward. It is also sad that our more experienced contributors are keeping a rather low profile these days.

However, if our major contributors (or anyone for that matter) decide(s) to leave the section, It is not a right or wrong decision; its THEIR decision, and has be respected.

It however still leaves the problem(s) unsolved.

Your point on academia is correct and it applies to all fields; not just medicine. My personal observation about what is currently addressed in this thread is that it isn't relative to Car-Talk but Nigerians as a whole (people). The same thing is found amongst Nigerian-controlled organisations. It may sound like I am bashing but it is a honest opinion that took more than a decade to conclude on after watching from afar. While this is so on a collective aspect, it is not always so on an individual-by-case basis. Nobody wants friction with anybody. This is not to say that there wouldn't be exceptions to this.

To directly address your point (which is the overall relevance to this thread): it is true it will be a direct disservice to the community as a piece. It is also not good. It is not the differences in the opinions that is adding to the "laws of diminishing return" but the sheer rudeness and poor (quality of) organisation. It is discouraging and frustrating. Many [in person] will not open their mouths and speak their retarded opinions/comments (disrespectful) but behind the monitor, they are all they can be. On the other hand, a communication probably wouldn't have started in the first place. In organisation, that is another matter entirely. Some - understandable; many - unacceptable! The understandable(s) need not be addressed (in this thread) but the unacceptable(s) cancels all. We know it and play like it does not exist.

I was going to put on the Observation And Criticism thread about the objectives of Car-Talk. Moreover, Car-Talk isn't losing it's salt. It has always been like this. One would never have thought the Auto-Section were better "days." In other words, there was no written standard but everyone attained an expected standard.

i think is the rule