(Just a little "bully pulpit" message here--a few thoughts.)

It occurred to me that it might help to remind you of a certain point about
wiki culture.  I guess this will be obvious to many of you, but for some, it
might be helpful.

You will enjoy yourself more on the wiki, and in general you will encourage
others, the more you remain fully open to expressing yourself.  Openness is
not just about being open to virtually anyone who signs up to an account--it
is also about being open to others' points of view, and indeed our own
thoughts.  It is important, in other words, that we do not censor ourselves
or others.  It's a work in progress and it's OK if we make a few errors.

You might find this strange for me to say, insofar as I sometimes have to
point to [[CZ:Professionalism]], which requires that we behave cordially, or
professionally.  But there doesn't have to be a contradiction.  You can open
and properly self-assertive without behaving rudely.

My point isn't that different from the message to "be bold."  I guess what
I'm saying is that the sort of openness that drives wiki work along
manifests itself in "boldness" very often.

If you don't like the "be bold" formula, try thinking of it like this.  This
is YOUR project.  (It's not mine--I didn't write all that!)  YOU can step up
and write about whatever you want.  As long as you are behaving yourself, as
virtually everyone does virtually all the time, no one will be standing in
your way.  So don't be worried that someone is going to come down on your
head like a ton of bricks.  This isn't like an academic project in the sense
that you must be perfectly careful, or else your colleagues or your
instructor will harshly take you to task.  It is, rather, a work in progress
that is open to development on all fronts.  Excellence happens over time, as
a result of an open collaboration; it certainly does not happen because
everyone always writes perfectly!

Again, I'm sure all that's obvious to most people, but I hope this will help
some.

--Larry

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