An online discussion forum today reached a unanimous and well reasoned conclusion following a week long debate among participants.
The debate, focusing on a highly charged political and economic issue, was described by one blogger as "a rich learning experience for all concerned, in which we all began to understand a little of the magnitude of our own comparative ignorance".
Against all the odds, the contributors cast aside the meaningless pedantry, petty name calling and violent sexual imagery which has been the hallmark of web-forums over the past fifteen years, and instead made well researched and logical arguments surrounding the key issue. Their hypotheses were duly weighed and a conclusion agreed upon which met with the agreement of all concerned. Policy-makers and opinion formers are now studying the outworkings of the debate carefully with view to immediately putting its findings into practice.
Those taking part in the debate paid tribute to their adversaries and expressed sincere hopes that the incisive dissection of their opponents' arguments was not mistaken for personal animosity amid the cut and thrust of debate.
Scientists have described the odds of a recurrence of the internet phenomenon as 'one in a million'. This was borne out by subsequent threads on the same forum, variously entitled "What are you looking at, dickhead?" and "Star Wars Continuity Errors - Part 87".
