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From: reid@Glacier.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: online discourse
Message-ID: <4646@Glacier.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 5-Mar-85 23:25:07 EST
Article-I.D.: Glacier.4646
Posted: Tue Mar  5 23:25:07 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Mar-85 05:20:29 EST
References: <145@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Stanford University, Computer Systems Lab
Lines: 59

This message is primarily a snip back to Karl Kleinpaste, but I suppose I
might as well post it because there might be other people like you out there
who would benefit from reading it. I'm sure you will pay no attention,
actually; people who spend their time discussing firearms and Christian
theology are not among the class of folks who usually pay any attention to
people like me.

First the easy stuff. Karl, please don't justify the right margin of things
that you send online. It's harder to read (many studies over 50 to 60 years
show this, some even done by Arthur Turnbull at Ohio State) and it uses more
bytes. 

One of the things that I have always liked about Usenet is that it is
democratic. An undergraduate student and a full professor have the same
voice. A part-time programmer and the president of his company have the same
voice. The readers form their own opinions on the basis of what they read,
and they ignore (or don't even know) the writer's credentials. We quickly
learn that Lauren Weinstein and Dick Grantges and Greg Rogers know what they
are talking about, and we quickly learn that certain others do not. 

Every now and then it becomes important to advertise one's credentials. The
reason for this is not always obvious. Oftentimes network discussions are
won or lost on the basis of bluster and verbal skill and not sound judgment.
Sometimes there are differing versions of the "facts". Sometimes it is
important to know whether a writer has a vested interest.

But people often don't care about credentials. The new kid on the block with
enough energy to stay up all night polishing his prose will probably have
more superficial effect than the senior statesman who is in a hurry because
he's got to take his teenage son to the hospital. We all have our opinions,
we all form our concepts of reality from introspection and from our own
experience

In face-to-face discourse, the young whippersnappers learn their style in
verbal combat with each other and with their elders. When people make a
mistake they are sneered at; when people score a victory they are admired.
Through years of this process, people learn how to participate in educated
discussions.

One of the marks of a beginner is that he doesn't understand the limits of
his own experience, and incorrectly generalizes from a few data points that
he has seen in his young life. One of the things that helps turn beginners
into experienced players is the ability to calibrate their own skills
against the skills of the people around them.

I would like to advise you to keep your mouth shut a little longer. You are
obviously a beginner (you right-justify your messages, and you think that
experience with one mailing list of 35 members entitles you to make
proclamations about mailing lists in general and their relationship to the
network). Most of the movers and shakers of the network will have the good
sense to ignore you, because they have seen energetic loudmouth beginners
many times. However, if nobody tells you that you are acting like an idiot
then you will never learn and you will never improve. 

> Karl Kleinpaste @ Bell Labs, Columbus    614/860-5107  +==-> cbrma!kk
>                 @ Ohio State University  614/422-0915  osu-eddie!karl
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA