[extropy-chat] META: ExI List Quality & Future

[kevinfreels.com]

> --- "kevinfreels.com" <kevin at kevinfreels.com> wrote:
> > This is BS. Plain and simple. Since when was shutting out those
> > deemed
> > "inferior" been any benefit to any society?
>
> See: jails, crime, economic effects of crime.

No, jail is not for "inferior" people. It is for people who break the laws
that govern society. This list has rules which serve the same purpose. It is
not my point that anyone should be allowed to say anything, only that those
who follow the rules should not be further be censored based on the
"quality" of their posts.

On another note, it is interesting how you seem to think of criminals as
"inferior" and "inferior" people as potential criminals. I wasn;t aware that
ignorance was a crime.
>
> > How many times have baffled scientists gathered together and been
> > unable to
> > solve somthing when suddenly the answer comes out of some left-field
> > source
> > as a patent clerk or a med school dropout? How much "noise" has been
> > created
> > by such people as Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Tesla, Hawking, etc?
>
> "They laughed at Galileo. They laughed at Newton. But they also
> laughed at Bozo the Clown."

Right, so using YOUR point, since Bozo is an idiot, we should have ignored
Newton as well? Personally I would prefer to see bozo speaking here as I can
always choose to ignore him. It's much better than the alternative.


>
> Just because someone is a school dropout, does not by itself
> automatically make their words worth listening to.  (Insert
> other obvious statements here, but this needed saying.)

No, and I never said it does. Using your logic though, I should request that
your ignorant post be removed because your logic is flawed.
My point is that the alternative of keeping a person out because they are a
high school dropout is less beneficial than allowing all high-school
dropouts a chance to be heard. Most would never even step to the stage. The
few who do, may not have much worth listening to, but you never know, do
you? Apparently you think that having a superior education equals superior
intellect. I can assure you that this is not always the case.

>
> > But don't take a public list and turn it private as a solution to
> > your
> > problem. If there is a small group of people here who wish to have
> > some
> > smaller forum without noise, perhaps THEY should do the leaving.
>
> Public forums with minimal noise are of benefit - sometimes, to
> some groups, even measurable benefit.  See all the laws against
> making a disturbance - it's not so much the disturbance itself
> that is a negative, as the taking away from the public, the
> value of a forum in which to discuss certain things.
> _______________________________________________
>
Again, the rule of law is not in question here. I am perfectly aware of the
laws regarding public distubance. I never said there should be no laws. How
about a simple analogy? Your argument would have Martin Luther King Jr.
presenting his speaches before a government committee to approve before he
was allowed to go out and speak.

Sometimes we have to sacrifice to gain the ultimate benefit. My opinion is
that the sacrifice of time is worth the benefit of knowledge. I am sure many
would prefer to sit around and preach to the choir, but I don;t think that
will benefit anyone in the long term.