No, there was plenty of mean 'n nasty personal attacks, not mere “differences of perception moderately presented”. Bruce and the mods bend over backwards with warnings, coaching and mediation, and to no avail.
I remember for a time that Terry got banned. He is a mone expert and is passionate about his mones. I guess thats the difference between here and there. You can say SOE here and not get banned. You will notice others mention NPA and TE. I like the products here and there but this forum allows us to express ourselves without fear of retaliation.
Oh! I didn’t know that Terry was banned in L-S! The Australian guy has a unique style of expressing his views which some of the forum members here misunderstood him sometime ago. So, they gave him negative reps and eventually he stop posting here. And as you stated above, he is a pheromone expert and a good advisor! He is the one who told me to join this forum.
May God bless him always.
I didn’t consider it fighting; it was more a clash of science and philosophy, with science taking a back seat to marketing. HEC was the best example and is probably still burdened with legal issues:
STLtoday - Man admits to selling hallucinogen
DrSmellThis repeatedly maligned me, and brought his nonsense here when I posted my introduction. I have no problem with him maintaining his anonymity (I know who he is), but like HEC with his outdated data and alledged illegal substances, he should have known better than to challenge the concept of human pheromones with marketing BS (e.g., his pheromone analogues) in any public forum. I didn’t ignore the warnings, but I couldn’t ignore the BS, either.
I thought that most people would look underneath the surface of marketing claims and attempt to find some substantiation for any claims, because I’m inclined to do that. Duh, I’m a clinically laboratory scientist, not a marketer, and I’m foolish for thinking that others would look beyond claims. Most consumers aren’t scientists, and don’t approach product choice with any expertise. Even Bruce at LS was easily misled. I think it was inappropriate for him to ban me from his forum, but it is his forum.
In a scientific forum, a colleague was “unsubscribed” = banned. The owner was upset with her postings on epigenetics (and most members couldn’t understand the implications). As it turned out, she probably was one of the most advanced and influential members: see for example
JAMA – Epigenetics at the Epicenter of Modern Medicine, March 19, 2008, Feinberg 299 (11): 1345
Simply put, this sort of thing goes on all the time, usually behind the scenes–where it belongs. I should have seen it coming to the public forums, but others should have figured out a long time ago that my research results will someday soon shame them into submission. Later this week, I’ll finish writing the abstract for the Society for Neuroscience meeting.
James V. Kohl
http://www.pheromones.com
Scent of Eros was introduced at a time when there were few other products being marketed. With its marketing success came a proliferation of products and many were cheaper to obtain, thus maximizing profits for a marketer. Once the marketer is doing sufficiently well with the other products, he can downplay products that require his increased initial investment for inventory. Banning me from the LS forum makes good economic sense–at least in the short term. LS can still sell my product, but keep my science out of their marketing, since the science conflicts with their marketing of products that cost less to obtain.
James V. Kohl
author/creator: The Scent of Eros
Hey James, I have bought a couple of products over at LS and have nothing ill to say about them, although I never joined the forum, and after having read just a couple of postings, lost interest and haven’t been back since.
I believe that a major difference between LS and Androtics forum members and customers is that over at LS they only have 1 or 2 chemical kits and don’t offer much of a choice for developing custom mixes. While here at Androtics a full range of consumer products, pre-release products, known pheromone molecules, as well as molecules with suspected pheromonal qualities are available to us, enabling us to create completely customized mixes, experiment with unproven molecules, and share our experiences about anything!
Androtics is truly a research and development company, and in my opinion, will wind up the undisputed leader in pheromone products as the science and acceptance of pheromones continues to develop and grow.
I personally, feel privileged to get to be a part of this forum, and read results others have experienced, as well as sharing my own.
Nah it wasn’t the bannings, arguments or the discussion restrictions that have slowed it down so much.
It was that the women were chased off years ago. 
James, does LS have some sort of exclusive right to sell SoE? It’d be nice if Androtics could resell it. I really like it, and appreciate the research you put into it. I was just curious. If this is something that can’t be spoken of publicly, I understand of course.
-D4
Actually Scent of Eros is still among a handful of my fav products. Goes great with A314 and oil based TAA. Unfortunately I seem to go through Scent of Eros like water. LS has excellent customer service so I don’t mind buying from them. You need to distribute the wealth and keep the competition alive for a healthy industry.
Actually I recall a few years back certain LS “boys” were unbelievably rude and insensitive towards female posters and the women left in droves. LS did enjoy some really hot times back in the day. The archives are shockingly extensive.
The impression I get of LS, is that it really limits freedom of speech on mones if you will. I have read stories of people having their posts edited and then they either stopped coming or what not. I cant believe they banned Mr. Kohl when he is a scientist. Well then again we have people in this world that call math “fuzzy.”
Androtics–and anyone else–could purchase the original from LS at wholesale prices and resell it, but LS currently controls the wholesale price. Agreements I made that may pertain to the overall product line are subject to interpretation/litigation, since the LS “product marketing” includes defamatory comments about me, and support for “anonymous” others. I doubt that LS would litigate, but have little desire to personally market my product or to spend time on litigation.
With proper secondary marketing, I could fund more research but I’ve been fortunate to make neuroscientific progress by incorporating the work of others into my model. And, I will make a huge leap with results of my study (with colleagues) that have not yet been accepted for publication. I have tentative plans for another product line, but am not very motivated by money.
Comparatively, marketers must be motivated by money, and therein lies a conflict between the presentation of scientific theory/fact and marketing claims. I think this Pherotalk Forum is an excellent blend of science and marketing. It is what the other forum could have and should have been–and perhaps what it could someday become (with different management philosophy).
James V. Kohl
The Scent of Eros
Open communication is essential to knowledge dissemination. I’ve quickly lost interest in forums and listservers that have private agendas. Business is business, of course–but I’m not much of a businessman, and thankful that I’m not.
JVK
The Scent of Eros