Given currently it is Political threads that are causing most of the problems I thought I may pass some observations.

1. Psychologically it is proven that changing an individuals opinion is a considerably hard affair. Though I haven't seen statistics for it, I'd presume, it would be very hard for people who only interact on a forum, to change each others political position.

I bring this up, as both Conservatives and Liberals are getting frustrated with each other - I don't think either of you will convert the others to your cause. This is not me saying don't debate or ask questions, but to make the point that getting frustrated/angry over the other side not changing their mind, even if you think your argument is superior. If you are going to get angry over such threads, it may be beneficial for you to ignore said political threads.

2. Most people will vote the way there parents vote; this at least suggest to me that Political affiliation is in most cases nothing to do with who's the best candidate/who has the best policies etc, and everything to do with an emotional decision.

3. Be civil - by flaming or being snarky etc, you really aren't going to bring the person you are discussing with round to your way of thinking, but just going to further entrench them in thinking they are right.

4. Think about your sources; all sources have bias (fact) - as they are all written by humans. If you use sources which are seen as being very fundamentalist/hard line even if you think they are correct most people will rule them out.

Finally, I have heard several people in Forum, mention that I'm very patient, with regards Kavar's I don't expect to change anyone's opinion. Nor am I bothered if someone thinks differently from me - there are 6.7 billion people in the world, it would be a very boring place indeed if we all thought the same. As such I like hearing different people's take on the world, though if I think someone is incorrect, I will try to ask questions that will get said individual thinking, rather than trying to batter them over the head with facts and statistics. This is mainly because if someone is "open-minded" and you raised a good enough question, they will find out the answer for themselves. If they are "close-minded" then I haven't wasted a whole load of my time trying to change someone's mind who was never going to consider the facts.

Most people vote with the majority of what their friends say or family. Or who they see advertise the most. I will admit I am a harden REPBULICAN! So i can be a bit bias but i know what they represent.