Or maybe it's just you wanting to return a kind act?

I feel it too, but I make sure to hold back unless it's actually warranted.

I meant that same post where the thank you is, not a post from someone else who thanked mine, though that probally has some influence as well

I only do it if it warrants it it may serve kind to remind me that the person who thanked me helped me too but that's it or it's just........!

Oh, my mistake, I misread

Regardless, I get that feeling too. And my warranted opinion still stands - I force myself to read the post and decide for myself so as to not abide by the "sheep mentality".

Did you know that if you get thanked your reply power goes up.

Good choice, I try that too, though I must admit that a post has much greater chances of being thanked by me if it is already thanked

Yes. I dont really care for it though, Im not the kind that gives up his views winhout a good reason just because someone "smart" is saying otherwise

In my own case, I thank posts because I appreciate the conversation more than the person that posts it. In some cases I also thank individual posts because the comment is very well informed or generally very good. That being said, there are many posts that lack those qualities. But I think that's a notion that many people on the forum do not understand.

Do initial "thankings" induce a sort of sheep mentality that lends to a post being thanked multiple times? I do not think so. If I come across a post which has been thanked multiple times, chances are it is written well and coherently and might tempt me to examine the whole argument more closely. That being said, "thanking" seems to be just a sort of advertisement. And if people want that effect, just put a whole bunch of emoticons in your post and grab the person's attention.

But thanked posts in my mind signals that the post may contain some level information which is interesting to read. Thus it may be part of a good, interesting, and philosophically inclined conversation, which is why (at least I would hope) we are all here on this forum. And I don't think we can fault some post or the poster for having more than two thank-you's because it has substantial content compared to others.

I cannot deny that I have seen quite a few posts thanked because there was some form of friendly understanding between two people which results in frequent thank-you's even though they may not be part of the thread. But isn't this the nature of academic circles though?

Also, since I consider this an interesting conversation, I have thanked everyone who has participated so far. But check out what happens (also keep in mind this is a set up for an experiment).

i think the real test is thanking someone with whom you almost violently disagree. People give very convincing and informative arguments with which i don't agree all the time, this thread has served as a reminder for me to show appreciation for those posts more gratitude.

????????? me neither just saying coz i only found out yesterday

I use thank you as a way to let people know I appreciate their post. It is nice to know that you are giving valid input on a conversation ro topic and it helps (believe it or not) to direct the flow of information and to keep things from getting hostile as they have and can on a forum of this type. Thank you's are a way to participate in the community and be a part of its continued growth.

Also, your rep power goes up when you thank people as well as when you get thanked but rep power doesn't realy mean anything to me. What means something to me is having a good community to discuss the topics which I like to discuss and to have the freedom to talk about whatever ideas I might have without a strict filter or absent dismissal. So I will continue to serve the community as well as I can while I am here.

I think it would have been best to keep that a secret, knowing that we are in an experiment will affect our thanking tendences and make us question whenever we are thanking like we normally do or not