Well, CJ, I think that you are considering this in a logical way because of the fact that what your saying does make since, but at the same time, IMO you have to remember that you can easily find more documented grows in one day over the net than someone like ED or Green have seen in 2 years of going to places and though there knowledge is great, some of the principles are more general than specific IMO.
I think that when you look at the 100 of grows on the different boards and follow the grows where people are getting the kolas as big as your head that you will see that indeed they are faithfully bringing lights as close as possible. For every 1 grow that you might find where a person is getting killer harvests with lights 36 inches away you could find about 20 or more where there getting them with the lights closer. Also, I believe that you may achieve similar results with some different growing styles having lights further away than 12 to 18 inches, but the knowledge that is needed to make up for the difference most do not possess, along with the other equipment that is needed to supplement the factor of the lights not being as close. Fore instance, look at tranables grow, he has the lights over 18 inches away I believe, but as you know by now he has all of the bells and whistles and a bucket of knowledge to go along with it and that is why his thread is the longest active thread around here, but do a quarter of people growing have his knowledge or equipment or the ability to use it if they did?? I think not. His grow is not typical in some ways, he even caught some slack over on OG for his style, but he proved them wrong as you can see with his results. But again, the man has his stuff down, but at the same time, in order to do a grow like him, with plant count numbers you are automatically put into the federal sentencing guide lines and would be facing a 10 year minimum for 2 of his tables and that doesn't include mothers and fresh cuttings. So using one grow to compare to dozens of other grows like the Crusty buckets where you can pull 3 pounds per plant with vertical lights sitting right on the plant, or KFB pulling 4 LB's off a plant or a BC grow I just read where they pulled 20LB off of 9 K of lights with 12 plants in a room that was 12x13 with some of the lights almost touching the leafs does not necessarily prove your findings in the way of real life experience, but rather more theory IMO, and I am not trying to knock the light studies, but rather pointing out real deal results.
I remember you stating before that the friend who was mentoring you and gave you your clones was getting about an ounce per plant under a 1K in a ebb and flow and maybe getting a little under a LB, or maybe it was less, I can't remember and don't want to mis represent you, but any how if something like his yield with a WW cross is that low then I think you are perhaps used to seeing a different style of growing than some of the more advanced and yeh, sometimes anal growers. I mean, GK has a thread that has been floating around for almost a year where he showed I think 3 plants being grown out in MG with a ph of 8 for a while and I think only 3 watering for almost the first 3 weeks under CFL's and I believe the yield was almost 1/2 a LB and if someone in hydro with 16 or more plants can hardly double that then,,??? I will leave the rest to your imagination.
Shallow Hal has a thread on here entitled, "What's in the flower room? And he is getting a ounce per plant throwing them into flower almost as soon as their rooted and I believe that his area is maybe 4x4 and he can put a couple dozen or more plants in there under 2 600W's if I understood him right, and he doesn't have any thing fancy going on in the way of inviermental controllers, not even a hydro grow, but rather coco.
In summery, I guess that I just want to say that, experience does play a large part in growing, if people see there nuggs getting fat and tight with lights close and didn't see that when they were further, what should they do?? If people see 100's of grows where people are dropping the lights right on the plants and getting killer harvests, what would they try? I love you CJ and am not trying to knock you around just putting my thoughts out there and don't necessarily expect them to change your views, but figured that my opinions were as viable as anyone else's on this thread so I put them out there.
Adieu and in the famous words of GK, Iloveyou