> Einstein wrote:

> Without me... this forum see's a thread a month on average I suspect.

With me discourse happens.

One thing to remember... quantity of threads doesn't necessarily mean activity.

If only one thread exists in a month, but that thread is getting upwards of 100 posts debating a signle issue, it's a debate worth keeping because it means participants are much more likely to be delving deep into said issues, and much more likely to be analyzing those issues than they would be analyzing any issues if said forum was, say, solely consisting of 20 threads with less than 10 posts each.

Not that I discount the value of having lots of new threads.  Specifically, with a giant pile of threads written, participants are more likely to find a topic that collectively interests them, resulting in giant discussions.  That being said:
1: Sometimes, new topic development can retract from existing topics.  If, for example, I already have a thread reaching 100 posts and still going, new threads would require I reduce my posting in the massive thread in order to consider the other threads.  The result?  Loss of argument depth in the massive post.
2: One interesting consideration when observing the forum records... it seems like the two people who tend to most often get in depth debates (for my review, I simply defiined "in depth" as "any thread with at least 100 posts... I didn't go and read every individual topic for quality posts) are you (though I noticed most of the highly active threads were global warming threads) and xeno.  Xeno, in contrast, posts maybe one or two topics a month.  However, the topics he selects tend to much more often attract large audiences (okay, yes, he attracts large audiences because it's one of the few scenarios in which he gets everyone from every side of the political spectrum to unite against him, but that's still argumentation and analysis) .

So no... lots of threads does not necessarily mean lots of debate.  Those first few posts are generally more often than not simply talking point repetitions, which are later forced to be evaluated once the debate starts to heat up.