<p>joemama -- maybe; on the other hand, when I've been polite to trolls in the past despite feeling in my gut that they weren't in it for any meaningful conversation (itsallgood in the Caltech vs. MIT thread) I ended up feeding them for far longer than I should have. I'm the first to admit most of your contributions are intelligent and polite. But you have made snide and needless insinuations and it would be a mistake to politely stand by while you do that. (If it's not clear, I thought that was really quite below you, the message about confirming stereotypes that I paraphrased in the last post.)</p>
<p>So the short story is that if I have been needlessly antagonistic, it's because people have been needlessly snide... after all, I have nothing to gain from being polite to trolls or people who act like them. I do try my very best to be maximally polite and helpful to those who come in the spirit of constructive discussion (though I have been getting a bit impatient with sakky lately, which I feel bad about).</p>
<p>So why don't we both try to cut out the nonsense (no more snarky vapid remarks from you, no more antagonism from me) and we'll all be happy.</p>