Actually, I find that most stuff gets treated as seriously as the original post deserves. The ditzoid mudslinging session you refer to started out as a ludicrous piece of crap, and went downhill from there.

Most serious questions tend to get serious replies, even if some threads tend to wander off a bit after the initial question has been dealt with. Of course, discussions of a religious or political nature get kind of raucous, but then, I'd be suprised if they didn't!