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This forum had a sweet spot as far as "meaningfulness" goes a long time ago. It was the type of environment that had a little magic in it. Everyone was open to new ideas. Everyone was open to sharing. Everyone interacted with a lot more flirting. Its changed a lot, obviously. I blame the general internet environment. Recent events have polarized and scared people. Instead of floating in the space between, people have been forced to choose a side and now approach arguments from that perspective instead of entering them open to all ideas.
So when people say they don't feel like they're evolving here, I attribute it to the way people handle themselves. No longer can you share your personal life with the internet because you think/know it will come back to haunt you. No longer can you listen to someone else's opinion because you were knee-jerked into your current opinion by recent events. Everyone has their guard up.
The TFP could really use a dose of innocence. We need people who are smart enough to ask questions, but not so smart that they have all the answers. We need people who see potential in the internet as a collaborative space rather than a battleground of ideologies. Most of all, we need people who want to have fun in this environment. As a discussion forum, we don't offer many bells and whistles, but we do offer people to bounce your thoughts off of. That is the start of personal evolution.
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