I think of my online list serv communications on a par with verbal communication. Things I post online are akin, in my thinking, to things I say with my voice in face to face conversations. I do not control my words once they are verbalized and I do not control my thoughts/ideas once they are posted. We can come up with many structures to attempt to control how our ideas/words/thoughts are interpreted by another. . . but no matter what structures we adopt, the mercurial quicksilver reality of ideas will remain ephemeral. Even if we privatize the archives of this list, something I do not think we should do, we will not control the combustion of thinking or the context of another person's use of our ideas. I don't quite think of open space as a technology. . . I think of it as an explanation for how things actually work, as opposed to the illusion that form and structure could control the nature of reality. If open space is a good explanation of how things work then efforts to privatize thinking is, in the very big picture, and in my humble opinion(IMHO), absolutely futile.
Given my beliefs about the nature of reality and the relativity of time and space, I don't think it matters if the archives for this list are open or closed BUT I have a suggestion. Would it be possible to give people the ability to delete their posts? A delete function might give people a different sense of safety on this list. . . and such a function would be, IMHO, akin to the law of two feet. _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar get it now! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
