[ExI] Best case, was Hard Takeoff

[Samantha Atkins]

On Nov 21, 2010, at 1:25 PM, Ben Zaiboc wrote:

> Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wondered:
> 
>> On Nov 19, 2010, at 11:18 AM, Keith Henson wrote:
>> 
>>> Re these threads, I have not seen any ideas here that
>> have not been
>>> considered for a *long* time on the sl4 list.
>>> 
>>> Sorry.
>> 
>> Quite correct and mostly in much greater depth as
>> well.  I was beginning to wonder why all this needed to
>> be rehashed yet again with apparently little gained from the
>> copious previous hashing.
> 
> 
> I can see one reason, the same reason that specialist subject magazines keep publishing the same articles (more-or-less) every few months:  New people.

Would that it were so!  But I see many I have seen around these areas for a lot of years doing the rehashing.

> 
> I know we can all 'search the archives', but honestly, how many new subscribers do you think will do this?  And how would they know what to search for?
> 

You don't send them to archives but to extracted knowledge websites and wikis ideally.  Or particular meaty posts and papers. 

> It's often been said that public debates never change the minds of the participants, but that's not really the point. It's the audience that are your real target, not your opponent.
> 
> That's the main reason that I, for one, am quite content to rehash the same 'tired old ideas' every few months (or years, or whatever).  I know (or expect) that these discussions will fall on at least a few fresh ears each time round.  
> 

I am not so content or at least not doing it this way.  It is boring, frustrating and we have too much work to do.

> We can pretty much rely on a Gordon Swobe or an Alan Grimes to pop up every now and then, and give us a chance to expose a fresh batch of lurkers to the relevant arguments.  Maybe it's not the best method, maybe an FAQ or something would be better, but be honest, which is more likely to capture people's attention, a static list of items, or a good old argument?  

Much, much better.   And it is not static but evolving in clarity and structure.  This is the 21st century.  Let us embrace it.
I do find email a very bore place to lay out a more meaty idea or set of ideas.    Tools can be built that augment it or do something better without losing its plusses.  But they either do not exist or are proprietary or are not generally used.

-samantha