Theos-Talk Archives (November 2008 Message tt00398)

Thanks for your feedback.

As all of us have seen, every unmoderated group goes thru cycles of
increased or decreased noise and some of us get used to it. I guess that
newbies who come in at a time of increased noise may have difficulty in
understanding that the noise is transitory and given time, things settle
down.

I find the unmoderated groups have a very important role to play.

Firstly, we find info in them that you will not find in no other
moderated/censored group; and the the info is usually timely and very
useful. I have seen moderated groups also having a tendency to slow down and
die because the posters slow down as they may have difficulty in knowing
where the moderator draws the  line.  Sometimes when the moderator is a
employee of an organization or even if there is some close relationship
between them, sooner or later the organization will influence the
moderator's behaviour and this is quite understandable.

As for sometimes some facts are repeated, they are necessary to put a
message in right context for a new reader of the message.

So in unmoderated maillists there are going to be drawbacks;  but in my
opinion they play a very important role in protecting public interests.


mkr



On 11/19/08, Katinka Hesselink <mail@katinkahesselink.net> wrote:
>
>   Hi MKR,
>
> I'll be responding in between.
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>, MKR
> <mkr777@...> wrote:
> >
> > From time to time, you will find mention is made about the issue of
> respect
> > in messages posted in Internet. It is an interesting topic and I
> would like
> > to talk about it.
> >
> > First of all, Internet (especially the
> unmoderated/uncontrolled/uncensored)
> > independent forums such as this, is the most level field. Many of us
> have
> > been posting messages for several years and none of us have
> complained about
> > lack of respect in the messages.
>
> Well, that's because complaining does not help. One of the reasons I
> have not been all that active here is precisely because some people
> just can't seem to help flooding the forum with infinitely repeated
> arguments...
>
> > This is because, you cannot command or demand respect from independent
> > participants. You earn it by your actions both here as well as
> outside (if
> > outside actions are relevant and we come to know of them.) Some who are
> > are/were occupying positions of power of one kind or another, end up
> living
> > in a psychological cocoon and it is very difficult to get out of it
> in real
> > world where we are all equals because no one can exert any kind of power
> > over others.
>
> That is true. It is indeed an issue for anybody in power that they get
> isolated from people who disagree with them. It's one of the
> guru-traps: only meeting people who admire you and agree with you.
>
> > There was an incident in one of Krishnamurti's group meetings. He
> went round
> > and inquired each one present as to what they are. One said he is a
> doctor,
> > another a teacher, third an accountant, fourth a homemaker, fifth
> chef and
> > so on. When everyone has responded, K said all of them are wrong.
> Everyone
> > is human being first and foremost.
>
> Great anecdote, but he was baiting them. The usual answer to that
> question is to name your occupation, if you have one.
>
> > He said the doctor is a doctor when he is treating a patient. An
> accountant
> > is one when he is in his office and doing his accounting work and so
> on. We
> > tend to bring our profession and other personal accomplishments into
> picture
> > and they are irrelevant except when you are engaged in the specific
> > professional act. When we meet and interact with each other as
> friends, we
> > are all human beings and keeping that in mind makes interaction and
> > communication easy.
> >
> > So when we consider the question of respect, we need to be aware and not
> > expect respect in our message exchanges because of one's position
> (past or
> > present), one's accomplishments in other fields etc. When this is
> done, real
> > communication is possible and the whole focus on "respect" fades
> away and
> > one would not complain about lack of respect.
>
> I don't mind about respect. But I do mind when people attack people
> without thinking things through. Or when they repeat arguments they've
> already made & keep pounding on their favorite hobby horse.
>
> Katinka
>
> http://www.allconsidering.com/
> http://www.katinkahesselink.net/
>
> 
>


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