These threads are always informative and interesting to read. Good points are brought up, and everyone agrees that there are dangers associated with lack of knowledge.
I can see where some people would like a "test" to move on to more advanced knowledge. If people build sub ohm coils without any understanding of what they did, it can be a very bad experience. However, I truly think that limiting access to the knowledge will be a bad thing.
We want people to be educated on the safety aspects of what they are trying to do, and, in my opinion, if we limit access to this knowledge by making it harder to access, we will simply encourage people to gain all of this knowledge on their own by making mistakes. Don't forget that many people come to these forums and just read (lurkers), and don't forget that the attention span of many people is quite low. For better or worse, society as a whole has become used to having any and all information readily available.
By forcing people to sign up, make posts, pass a test, etc., there will be those who decide to just jump into the deep end of the pool and forge ahead without the knowledge that they need.
Just my 2 cents
I completely understand where you are coming from on this, and I honestly feel like strong arguments can be made for both "temporarily restricted access" and "free for all access" ... neither of these approaches to disseminating information to new vapers is right, or wrong, and in either case it all comes down to choices, consequences, and responsibility. What am I, you, we, comfortable with being responsible for. There is our individual responsibility, and our collective responsibility as a community, whichever "way" is chosen, I, you, we are responsible for the consequences, and results, both good, and bad.
I totally agree, and accept that with a temporarily restricted access site, there will be those who do not like, or agree with that "process" of gaining knowledge and understanding, and who will go off on their own and just do it anyway, without having the knowledge and information they need to do it safely ... In this case, who is responsible for this?
That would be the individual who chose to "do it anyway" on their own, regardless of the potential dangers of doing so. The administrator of the temporarily restricted access site hands are clean, and is in no way responsible for the individual who did not have the care, or the patience for the "process"... nor would they in anyway be responsible for any ills that may befall the one who had not the patience to learn via the process. They are only responsible for the quality, and content of the information being offered, and "how" the information is administered on their site.
Now in the case of a free access site, which is the system that this site presently operates under, we know that one of the consequences of a free for all system is that there are those who still will not heed, or follow a process of learning that is being "recommended" versus "required" for their own good and safety. In which case those individuals, are greatly increasing the odds and probabilities that at worst, they can do some damage to themselves or someone else, and at best they will build something that merely doesn't work well for them and end up frustrated.
In this case the individual is still mainly responsible for choosing to not honor the process of learning, but isn't the site administrator also responsible to a lesser degree for offering free access to information that calls for a "process of learning" in order to make the best use of the information given?
Is this any different than the parents who smoke cigarettes in front of, and around their children, but reminds them all the time that they are too young to smoke, and that they have to wait until they are of legal age to do so?.. Or the parents who freely uses adult language around their children, all the while telling the child they are not allowed to use such language because they are too young?.. and we all know too well how that turned out. ;-)
Monkey see, monkey do! How old were you when you started smoking and using adult language? 10, 12, 14 ??? Would you have started smoking so early if the behavior wasn't constantly being modeled for you? If you are honest, probably not.
It is very short sighted, and a bit self deceptive to believe that you can flash bright shiny, cool, interesting, better, and more complicated things in the face of the masses, and they will not want to try it, imitate it, and to indulge in it, regardless of any "recommendations" made to the contrary in the name of safety and what is "ideal". As I have already stated, while Freedom is a lovely ideal, in reality not everyone is mature enough to handle the responsibility of Freedom. And when you knowingly offer such Freedom to a community mixed with those who are mature enough, and those who YOU KNOW are not, you share the responsibility for the collective outcomes/consequences of that choice... period.
So again, neither way "temporarily restricted access" or "free for all access" is right, or wrong (both being relative to the NATURE of the one who perceives the action) ... it is then a matter of which "choice, way, and consequences" is your conscience comfortable with being responsible for, individually and collectively.
There are times I use different builds and everyone has to choose what build (or equipment) they want to use at the time. I just don't think we should demonize anyone because they want something different.
