do you think jerry's dismissal of the arguments of others is (a) a resolution of the issues left unanswered and (b) put's jerry's position in any better light?
I'm curious, because the only impression I get from it is that he is using an excuse to avoid an issue he cannot or doesn't want to answer.
Regardless of Jerry's reasons for walking away from a discussion (which I won't comment here), I think it IS the proper way to go about things in the situation you described. If people can't agree simply whether a question has been answered or not, there's no ground left for discussion. It's just not possible. I think there is a time and place for walking away.
You're right that the tactic, if used improperly, will look like dodging. But if done in the situation described, it looks like somebody realizing there's an impasse. The alternative is to get into repetetive posts with somebody until an admin says "stop it."
does it also resolve the issue for the next time you are discussing things with said person and they point out that you ran from the last confrontation?
This is like grade-school stuff. If somebody calls you a name, just suck it up. State your reasons for leaving in your post. If somebody says you ran away, tell them that you can't post without a resolution of the issue you mentioned in your final post. If they resolve that issue, you'd be happy to post again, but without it, there's no way to proceed.
If somebody continues to badger you, just ignore them. Stop debating with them. Why would you debate with somebody who can't debate you in good faith?
it seems to me that asking the other person to substantiate their claim (in this type of instance) is so easy a step to take that it is silly not to do it and actually RESOLVE the issue.
To ask once or twice is an easy, reasonable step. Your scenario sounded like you already did that, and you got a response that "it HAS been substantiated." So, at that point, asking to substantiate AGAIN is NOT a reasonable and easy request. It's pointless. Common ground for discussion is gone.
I'm not trying to address that point here at all. I'm just trying to suggest a way to deal with the situation you posited. The post at the link you provided is WAY downstream from that point. And analyzing that post is WAY more than what I was looking for when I posted my suggestion in post ... 213?
™ Version 4.2
