Okay, here's an attempt to describe my current understanding: it's not only about what is true and what isn't; it's about observing - i.e. it's important where we focus our attention and what the consequences are. Consider the painting "Jacob's Ladder":
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This is the "staircase to heaven" if you will. We strive towards reaching higher on our way and to do that, we are, in a sense, going in circles - but not really, because we simultaneously
move up - in a spiral. A narrow, difficult to climb "conduit".
Now, one manifestation of this "upward spiral" in real life is that there are different things to observe along the way, different topics to explore, different angles from which to look at the world. If you look at one particular location in the painting, there's one "station" so to speak where you, as the traveler on the staircase, focus your mind on specific issues, topics etc. - knowing, however, that you
can't know the absolute truth or the "thing as such". But you gain new insights, new information, new forms of understanding. Then you move on and focus on a different chunk of reality, using different tools - often as a response to reality unfolding. And since we are moving in a spiral form, chances are we'll get back to topics and issues we have previously explored, but with fresh eyes, a new perspective grounded in new things we have learned since. And so we continue to climb "Jacob's Ladder", so to speak.
That's the theory. But in reality, there are all sorts of traps along the way - it's very easy to fall all the way down! How does it happen? One danger is to dwell too long at a certain position, focusing too much on a specific chunk of reality without simultaneously refining your "toolkit" and "observing abilities", which you would do by continuing your way and exploring new things! What happens if you do that (dwelling too long) is that you might get sucked into the abyss, often by others who have done the same mistake and are dragging you along.
Here are some concrete examples: you can study the whole issue of race and IQ and realize that something's going on there. You won't let ideology stand in the way of the closest approximation of truth you can manage. But eventually, you say "ok, this is what I understand so far, let's move on". Perhaps you come back later as a wiser man with a better understanding and new information and so can much better judge what's going on. But if you get stuck on that particular issue, you will make it your "god" and assume it's the major thing to worry about. And before you know it, you join some white supremacist forum and rant about the deception of the "white race". You and your buddies will drag each other into the abyss.
Another example: you realize how our past traumas shape your behavior and begin studying your own past and history and how they shaped who you are. That's useful. But eventually, you move on and realize that what really matters is what you do now, not what anyone did to you in the past. But you keep it in the back of your mind and you might "circle back" to that understanding later with new experiences and knowledge under your belt and reevaluate your history based on that, so that you can extract something useful from it. But if you get stuck with "self-analysis", you get obsessed with yourself, you begin blaming others for everything etc., and you will find plenty of "friendly" people who walk that path - which, again, leads straight into the abyss.
You could find countless other such examples of course.
So, as far as I understand, this place here is about building (or uncovering) this "conduit" or "ladder" or "staircase" by having a strong network of people giving hints, encouraging each other to think about certain topics and issues, giving each other a hand if we have difficulties and stumble and giving each other feedback on our individual journeys "up the ladder". And yes, one important aspect of this is to protect each other from "falling off the ladder".
And this is why so many people here try to give warnings to those who dwell too long at that particular "Q" point of the staircase. If you look at the Q thing, acknowledge what you can find out about the phenomenon and then move on to the next station (such as another current topic here such as Intelligent Design/Evolution, the Islam issue or the countless other "stations" and stimuli available here) while forgetting about Q for a while, and then perhaps "circling back" to Q later and see how your new understanding connects with your observations, then no problem! If, on the other hand, you dwell there and make it the sole (or a very large) focus of your attention, forming connections to other "dwellers" and getting closer and closer to the abyss, then we see it as our duty to warn you about it and/or limit the "dwelling" here on the forum. What you make of that advice is of course entirely up to you.
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