>
> The big problem, as I see it, is that constructive threads are getting
ignored. I tried to get people to talk >about The Player of Games, since I
know there's Culture fans here, but no one was interested.
There are a few points about this that I've noted over the last few years
I've been on the list.
1) Fully on topic threads are very hard to keep going. Remember how JDG
worked hard to keep threads going on DB's work? I have seen very few
sci-fi discussion threads go for very long. Partially because, where such
threads do go on, there are folks who love to analyze every nuance in the
writing (Tolkin) or argue ideas on how the series of 100 books will turn
out (Wheel of Time). That won't happen here.
2) Science topics rarely generate much discussion among people who know a
great deal about a topic. I've killed science threads with one post on a
number of occasions. Mostly because the discussion was on a subject I
understood, and there are not a plethora of right answers to solveable
questions in physics. Sorta exceptions exist in evolution; there have been
some nice threads going there.
3) Political discussions usually generate lively discussions. These
threads can go forever. Mostly because it is hard to come up with a
difinitive solution. Further, a lot can be written off the top of one's
head.
4) Some people tend to get angry about topics that bore them; and claim
that it shuts other discussions down. I know that I've been fussed at for
damaging the list for posting on philosophy. It wasn't that I was
antagonistic towards the people I was debating; I felt it was a pleasant
debate; it was that people were upset that I was posting on something they
weren't interested in.
5) The topics that everyone seems to have an opinion about is list gossip.
Whether it is Mark's alternative reality postings; Jeroen and JDG fussing;
Jeroen and Eric fussing; etc. Look at the months in the last 2 years with
a lot of posts, and you will find a fuss.
> I'm frankly surprised at how much flaming has been going on these past
few months. First there
>was the JDG/JVB ugliness, then there was Mark and his hallucinatory
posting style, and now ER
>and JVB are having a lovely tiff.
Actually, IMHO, the last is not a real tiff. My understanding is the Erik
is posting a serial parody of Jeroen. I've been on the other side of
Jeroen's heated posts on a number of occasions; and I recognize a lot of
Jeroen's style in Erik's posts. I think Erik is playing Jeroen like a
violin. I think gigging him into shouting; which is what got JDG warned
"you are one step closer to being banned" is a good example of this. BTW,
Jeroen did state that I lost my credibility as a scientist because he
didn't like the way I analyzed data. So, even that bit was a parody of
earlier Jeroen posts.
But, even though I did appreciate the humor and parody in Erik's posts, I
agree that more than enough is more than enough. 100 posts from now,
Jeroen will not see why it is a parody. Sometimes the elephant in the
living room is seen by everyone but the owner of the house. Further, there
is no sport in it, now. Its like shooting fish in a barrel. IMHO, its
gotten to the point where its like hearing the same joke 200 times.
Dan M.
