Is there a point to having different topics of discussion on gokunming? If so, what is it? And if so, is there a good reason for bringing up other topics with no clear relation to the topic of discussion of the thread? If so, what?

No.

Thanks for your participation on this one.
Why do you enter comments on various topics of discussion - boredom, random amusement, what?

@Alien, I believe you would be in the best position to answer your own question. You have the most post of anyone I know and you seem to be in,every thread.

So why do you post?

I'm interested in many topics, there are some to which I think I can make a useful contribution, and there are others from whom I learn a few things. In addition I'm interested in the capacity and willingness of others to think things out. I also believe that agreement, as well as clear disagreement, between people is useful and hard to establish without dialogue, and that dialogue can improve our common environment - social and otherwise.
I'm not saying that any or all of the above is guaranteed, but I don't have much confidence in anything else, and I think that action, or even activity, without the above is probably disastrous in the long run.

Discussion of a labelled topic always leads to other topics, it's the natural way of discussion. Just because it doesn't always follow the strict path that some would like, it doesn't mean that you can't still learn something from it.

After all that is what discussion is for, learning... Whatever the importance of the knowledge!

GoKunming still has the odd titbit when it comes to picking up knowledge ;o)

I take your point and don't disagree, but it makes it difficult to come to any conclusion about anything. Imagine if scientific discourse were that way (e.g., Isaac Newton, apple..."Yeah,Isaac, but, you know, I prefer oranges" " But they cost too much because we have to get them from Spain" "Spain has nice beaches, though..."), or a meeting of parliament, or an academic seminar, or a meeting of military officers confronted with a battle plan, or anybody who's trying to come to a decision or mutual understanding about almost anything in less than an infinite amount of time. There are types of discussion which are not just bull sessions.

E.g.: somebody wants to know where to buy an ebike in Kunming and I tell them that their question reminds me of when I wanted to find a cheap 2nd-hand motorcycle when I was 16 in Bombay (which, by the way, is now called Mumbai...).
In short, the fact that somebody bothers to come up with a specific topic for discussion in the first place tends to indicate that they find some importance in it - there is more than one 'natural way of discussion'. I think that should be respected, and that anybody who wants to talk about something else can do so - elsewhere.
God knows there are enough bullshit chat groups around, and I'm not objecting to occasional humor, but I think that gokunming can be better than that.

Alien I think you should be looking elsewhere for deeper insights or conclusions. This forum is neither parliament, seminar or military. It's more like a group of lousy expats having a moan. By trying to hog all the threads you are only going to alienate yourself.

If you only want a moan from lousy expats you can have it, but I don't think I'm the only one who has other interests as well. Why not start a Lousy Expat Moan thread? I'll moan, and complain about other people's personalities there too. Seems to me that's why there are different topics in the first place. These forums can be virtually anything we want them to be, and it's unsurprising that different people have different interests and attitudes.

I can have an intellectual conversation with you if you want Alien but you always respond with a question