from what i've seen, there are several reasons for the confusion,
fighting and lack of intelligent discussion on the net:
- basic deficiencies in grammar and communication skills
among our native speakers. i often find foreign speakers
who post in english to be easier to understand, perhaps
because they restrict themselves to messages that are
easier to express to avoid confusion.
- the mosh-tribe, the ones who thrive on emotionally charged
posturing devoid of content. it's not what you think, it's
how convincing you are when you say it. this also afflicts
television news, and any other part of our society in which
"credibility" (the perception-driven side) can serve in place
of the facts.
- a general disinterest on the part of the net public in whether
anything is resolved, whether we are held accountable for our
statements, whether the truth is recognized and the BS is
exposed.
- a fear of speaking up in public. i've had several people support
me through private mailing who wouldn't speak out on the list.
- ego; the opposite. i've had people be nice to me in private, but
do everything but have me sent to a rest home for senility in
public because of:
- a general inability to admit we are wrong, or MIGHT be wrong.
humans did not come to dominate the planet by being gracious
losers.
- the natural desire everyone has to be included in the fun.
as has already been observed, this leads to an incoherent
unreadable mess, with its apex in IRC. (remember old compuserve
CB? do they still have that? "<Sweety> Hi All! <Boxer> Hi
Sweety! <Phoglio> Howdy Sweety! <Stomper> Hi S! <Mugly> Bye
all! <Fracas> Hi Sweety! <Sekandr> Bye Mugly!" etc. etc. etc.)
these things are the ones that pop into my head. i'm sure you
all have your own ideas about this and it doesn't really answer
the question of "where is the intelligent conversation?", except
indirectly. the intelligent conversation will not be wherever you
find the above problems. i agree that overpopulation is also a
major factor. i have been floating around the lists looking for
real conversation, but it always ends up getting shut down. at
this time, i have established ONE contact that i didn't have
before that i feel provides me with meaningful communication, and
from whom i learn. there are several other people i recently have
started talking with who i am learning from and who i enjoy reading,
but the lists as a whole are not useful for communication. every
thing you get from them, you can get from introspection or solitary
research. as far as their companionship value goes, forget it.
the flamethrower proliferation race takes care of that little problem
early on.
i don't know about you guys, but this is the first conversation in
my six months or so on the net that i have been a part of that wasn't
dominated by trivia, cookie cutter opinions, and heat. even in the
fracas i started before, it all worked out so nicely; everybody here
seems to be genuinely civil and polite, which in my mind is the one and
only prerequisite for intelligent discussion. including intelligence.
some of the most useless exchanges i have seen have been between
people who had great knowledge, good reasoning abilities, and could
express themselves well. of course, i guess if you're really
intelligent, you don't get involved in the waste in the first place.
there is something about the net (the "classic" explanation is the
lack of facial and vocal inflection info) that causes people to be
quicker to fight. i think it's in our nature. i think that when
they finally make a machine that directly connects two human brains
together in a single total realtime mutual awareness, (the ultimate
coition?) the two subjects will first rip the headsets off screaming
in horror, and then lunge for each others throats. The intensity
and frequency with which we argue and fight with each other varies
in direct proportion with our ability to communicate.
your pal,
robert h
This page last updated on: Jul 1 09:16