Forums tend to wander off topic

I don't think I've seen a forum that has remained true to its original topic once it reaches a certain number of posts

One word stories become 5 or 6 words with multiple consecutive posts ... a post about racism becomes a debate between meat eaters and vegetarians and most other forums seem to focus around an argument between two people talking about some match no one else cares about but finds it fun to stir the argument

Is it human nature to just wander off topic?

Don't Corner the Dorner.

Well, if you don't mind the long comment, i have much to say on this. The problem is where to begin though? I guess i should start somewhere in the history of human behaviour.

Okay, here goes. In the beginning, there was... ooh, a shiny penny!

This type of exploratory behaviour is common in many species. Take the example of a human toddler who, if bored in his current situation devoid of arousing stimuli, will walk about until something interesting is found.

Topics could possibly evolve when new ideas to the topic are introduced. So when topic X is being discussed, idea Y gets introduced to support one side, and it leads to the discussion of idea Y. One reason why idea Y gets discussed could possibly be to prove or disprove the idea. Another could also be because it is a hot button such as the debate about vegetarianism. 

But is vegetarianism really more of a hot topic than racism?

The only thing I can think is not everyone is affected by racism. For those of us who have experienced it though it seems more a pressing issue than vegetarianism which is a lifestyle choice

That's not the topic of this post is it?

I can't say whether one is more of a hot topic than the other, but when people have already had some say about one topic, and another which could be about equally controversial comes along, people would have more input for the newly introduced one.

Heh, it isn't. It's a good example of "idea Y" though.

Seems so. It's the case on every forum and mailing list I've belonged to. One forum closed topics at 50 posts. Didn't seem to do any harm; the very few topics still "on topic" at that point started a new thread.

Sometimes its simply deflection.  

I always thought that topics sort of mutated over time after a few minutes of debation. However, mutation to the point of irrevelance to the original topic is not that justifiable. 

It's when they reach Godwin's law that there's real trouble. :)