----- Original Message ----- From: "Adam C. Lipscomb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 9:52 AM Subject: Member accountability
> I don't know of a way to instill a sense of > accountability in listmembers. One of the prime memes > of this community is IAAMOAC. That seems to pretty > squarely settle behavioral choices on the shoulders of > the individual members themselves. > > One thing we can all do, IMO, is drop a subject when > it gets too heated. If it's continued offlist between > the main participants, that's fine, but onlist > discussions should remain level-headed and respectful. > It's something I've been trying to remind myself to > do, with mixed success. It was nice when Jo Anne > weided the Wand of Dinging, but even that set up a > relationship in which we didn't monitor ourselves, > instead relying on a reminder from someone else. > > A theme in Brin's work that's always struck me is the > concept of maturity - he usually addresses it on a > societal level, but it's equally applicable on a > personal one. We are all intelligent, articulate > people. We are all (to my knowledge) adult, or close > to it. We all have the capability to stop and examine > our actions, and make appropriate decisions on our > own. > > Is calling another member a "f**king Nazi" (to grab > the most spectacular example - sorry, Tom. Nothing > personal)a good choice? No. Is threatening a fellow > list member with potentially disastrous real life > consequences for calling names a good choice (Hi, > Jeroen - nothing personal here, either)? No. Should > we tolerate either? No. Should I ramble on much > longer? Probably not. > > I'm taking a roundabout way to say this: "We are > members of a civilization. We are members of a > community. Act like mature members of both, or at the > very least make a real effort." > > I remain proud of my membership in the Brin-L > community - I've dropped out of several other online > communities because they weren't as intellectually > high-powered, or were prone to vicious flamewars, but > I've stayed a member of Brin-L, and I intend to remain > a member, so long as the list can retain the character > and spirit I love about it. That's not a threat, just > a statement. I'm going to make a stronger effort > myself to live up to our ideals, both online and off. > Count me as with you Adam. The one thing most able to destroy what is left of the charm of this list is authoritarianism. If people have to be forced to treat each other with respect, I dont want to associate with those people. By the same token, I dont want to associate with whiney children either. I would also like to think that If I happen to behave badly for whatever reason, that apologising would not be an ordeal to endure, and that I would recieve some measure of forgiveness for my transgressions. Brin-L has no need for list lawyers IMNSHO. xponent Informal Maru rob
