> Well, I guess I got my answer. It seems that manned missions to Mars can't arouse the passions of the people and spark the imagination quite as well as a good potato chip debate. No offense to anyone participating in the potato chip thread, but I just find it disheartening.
>
> -- Dave

Dave, are you looking at this as some kind of conflict of threads created between you and Sam? Both of you posted the "Snack Foods VERSUS the Missions to Mars" threads at the same time. The timing was probably unintentional, I guess.

General observation: Seriousness ("mindful weightiness") of a thread topic is inversely related to the number of replies it tends to get. Serious topics seem to demand a more time-consuming investment of effort, for most people. Since we're usually quite lazy slobs at heart, tell me which is easier of the two: a quick & dirty, knee-jerk expression of loathing over the idea of mustard+pretzels; or a thoughtful meta-analysis of all the factors which have resulted in our apparent loss of global interest in developing on-going space technologies?

The other thing I wanted to mention is that "weightier" topics tend to require a bit more time to draw replies -- that is, until those people who are (eventually) intending to respond actually *do* hop up and get around to responding. Patience is best, young grasshopper.

Wolf "Batteries Not Included; Some Assembly Required" spirit


P.S. to Mousie: Canned "Pringles" chips will hold up best in getting to Mars intact. But I don't think mashed and pulverized Pringles chips, mixed with water and served with the consistency of grainy tube toothpaste, will ever be a smash hit amongst the jet-setters taking space walks. Not to mention that our senses of smell and taste will be quite different on Mars than on Earth. And so on and so forth.