On Jun 16, 2009, at 9:25 PM, William Beaty wrote:
Sometimes on-topic threads die, while off-topic threads attract
participants and go for days. But then, the meaning of "on topic" is
largely decided by the group. If alt-science experiments attract low
interest, it suggests that such experiments are actually "off
topic" in
the present community.
[snip]
Someone mentioned that Vortex discusses all sorts of things between
"Mylow" episodes. But in my experience, the "Mylow" threads don't
attract
interest. They usually only catch fire if the original poster
pushes them
with numerous messages, competing against other threads, until
slowly the
science thread steals participants away from all the others. If this
isn't done, then experimental science threads stand little chance.
The
other stuff is more interesting.
So why not give PBS its own separate science channel?
Rather than VortexB, maybe we should keep the main community
exactly as it
was, but add a "Classic Vortex:" an experiment-centered list
similar to
the way vortex once was, back in the Chris Tinsley era, a place for
alt-science people to discuss their current work. Build stuff.
Run tests
on odd claims and weird devices. It might remain pretty dead
except when
a "Mylow" event occurs ...or we'll find that plenty of experiment
threads
have always been there, but just couldn't attract a viewership.
There was once a list dedicated to experimentalism (freenrg). Didn't
that die off?
Despite the fact some science threads have had little interest or
comment, they certainly haven't generated complaints. Personally,
I've had interest in many science or science history or science
politics threads to which I have not commented. I especially have
enjoyed Jed's CF politics and science history/philosophy posts. I
think a lack of discussion is not necessarily a lack of interest.
We already have a vortex group that works to the satisfaction of
many. The off topic, vitriol, non-science politics, and religion can
simply be routed to the non-archived vortexB-l where it is dumped
into the bit bin.
It seems to me vortex-l is a valuable thing. It was working OK
enough before Grok. Why throw out the baby with the bath water?
It is true a lot of off topic stuff has crept in. That is probably
because it is so easy to write stuff that is purely a matter of
opinion. Writing scientific stuff, especially backed up with
calculations, references etc., is a lot of hard work. Also, there
apparently is a number of new people who unfortunately joined during
periods of many scientific-content-free posts.
I have had over 1000 unread vortex-l messages in the past, and have
over 600 now. If a thread title is off topic or goes off topic I
just stop reading it unless I have nothing else to do. I
periodically mark all such unread emails as "read" without reading
them. This is a small price to pay. I think the vortex-l archives
are valuable, and wish there were better search functions for them.
It seems to me we have a good group with good rules. All we have to
do is observe them. We also need to read what we write before
posting to see if it has any scientific content at all.
It appears to me that all we need is a little basic courtesy and
awareness.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
