I have been part of this list for over 10 years, and basically have stopped reading almost all posts.
I remain passionately interested in the future, and in particular the future of work, but much of what travels through this list is, by my measure, very wide of the mark. A couple of years ago Arthur experimented with a week long 'tutorial' session which I lead (and hence I guess it is obvious that I enjoyed it) but it too attracted both relatively little interest and quite some dogma (I still have every email posted during the session, however, and still refer to them in some of the work I do). I am not sure what might be done to return to our roots, but I for one would welcome the return. Thanks Lawry for sparking this post. Charles Brass Chairman futures foundation phone:1300 727328 (International 61 3 9459 0244) fax: 61 3 9459 0344 PO Box 122 Fairfield 3078 www.futuresfoundation.org.au the mission of the futures foundation is: "...to engage all Australians in creating a better future..." ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lawrence de Bivort" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 11:07 AM Subject: [Futurework] This list > Greetings everyone, > > Since Mike posted this message a couple of weeks ago I have been thinking > quite a bit about this list and the state that it is in. > > Mike mentions one problem, and I think we have several besides this one. > > I've been a member for several years, and I have never seen the list as > dead > as it is now. There is very little that passes for conversation, and very > little genuine exploration or learning going on. > > We have always had a problem straying from the nominal subject of the > list, > the future of work. But we have always had vibrant discussions, until > these > last many months. > > Karen is carrying on valiantly with her Casey Reports, but receives no > feedback and little thanks. > > Harry and Chris doggedly pursue their pseudo-discussions with > argumentative, > unwavering, and repetitive self-righteousness. > > We have obviously lost many valued members in the last couple of years, > and > it is with sadness that I think of their brilliance, energy, bonhomie, > curiosity and knowledge. Some of these have explicitly or privately > referred to Chris and Harry as the cause of their departure. > > The moderators of this list, the list-owners, seem by their silence to > accept the deterioration of the list. > > Who else misses the qualities that we created here some time ago? > > And if I and Mike are not alone in missing them, what should we do to > bring > this list back up. > > The moderators may well tell me that I am overstepping my place with this > email, in which case I will happily follow my friends over the horizon and > disappear. > > If this happens, those of you who know that I enjoy and learn from your > postings, and who may from time to time enjoy mine, please make note of my > email address in the header to this message, and please know that you will > ALWAYS be in my heart and your contacts will always be deeply welcomed by > me. > > To those who are only lurking here, if you too wish for a day in which > vibrant conversations might again prevail, I would love to hear from you > as > well. > > And, finally, a desperate request: if any of you are engaged in > constructive > and convivial discussions in other fora and might welcome my > participation, > please email me.... > > Cheers, > Lawry > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer > Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 3:13 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Futurework] [META] Re: Bill Gates,Rockefellers & Africa's > biopiracy > > > Hello all -- > > I dropped off the FutureWork list a couple of years ago, not only > because Harry was trolling [1] the list, trying to provoke > opportunities for his condescending barbs and his > free-market-cures-all polemics but as well because all the other > bright folks on the list were politely responding to him as if his > posts were mature and sensible contributions and his jibes and > provocations were unintentional oversights. > > I quite missed the dialog so now I've subscribed again and, oh dear, > oh dear, what do I find? That Harry is still trolling for arguments, > intentionally provoking them and pointlessly prolonging them. It's a > bit reassuring that others are no longer tolerating his provocations > with good grace in the interest of decorum. On the other hand, > allowing the list discourse to degenerate into the kind of shouting > match that makes Harry feel righteous and important is not a big win, > either. > > I would hesitate to suggest that the list owner(s) bar Harry from the > list but perhaps it would be constructive to simply ignore all of his > posts that are devoid of redeeming value or which serve chiefly as a > launching platform for his belligerent rhetoric. Harry's skill is > an ability to be so irritating that one feels compelled to respond. > Suppressing that compulsion might improve the FW conversation. > > > - Mike > > > -------------------------- > /| /| | | > ||__|| | Please | > / O O\__ do not feed | > / \ the troll. | > / \ \ | > / _ \ \ ---------------------- > / |\____\ \ || > / | | | |\____/ || > / \|_|_|/ | __|| > / / \ |____| || > / | | /| | --| > | | |// |____ --| > * _ | |_|_|_| | \-/ > *-- _--\ _ \ // | > / _ \\ _ // | / > * / \_ /- | - | | > * ___ c_c_c_C/ \C_c_c_c____________ > > > > > [1] On the off chance that you haven't encountered the term "troll" > in a net context, here's a snippet from Wikipedia : > > In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally > posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about > sensitive topics in an established online community such as an > online discussion forum to bait users into responding. They > may also plant images and data...in order to cause > confrontation. > [...] > The contemporary use of the term first appeared on Usenet > groups in the late 1980s. It is widely thought to be a > truncation of the phrase "trolling for suckers", itself derived > from the sport fishing technique of trolling. > > > -- > Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~. > /V\ > [EMAIL PROTECTED] /( )\ > http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^ > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
