Annoying Colleagues

Al Tifrosh Min HaTzibur or "Don't separate yourself from the community," advised sage Hillel in Pirke Avot.  But sometimes a respite of uncertain duration may hit the spot.  This morning I opted out of Medscape Physician Connect discussions, where I tend to function as a sage, though perhaps politically more liberal and definitely more scholarly than most of the posters.  There's been too many diatribes, too much pooled ignorance, too much intolerance of other people's ideas.  When I started responding in kind, I knew it was time to neither read nor contribute for a while.