[Foundation-l] Foundation-l

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

On 3/2/08, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> My advice as someone who may well be part of the problem: Don't make
> general complaints and put people on moderation with vague
> accusations. When someone sends an email that you don't think should
> have been sent, reply to that email off-list explaining your why not.
> Keep it specific and you'll get a better response.
>
>

My advice as a Usenet veteran who has seen it all, done it all
and whose T-shirt is moth-eaten, is to take a page from the
playbook of [[James D. Nicoll]], (and no, I don't mean precipitating
a "Nicoll event", just to be crystal clear), and either pledge openly
or by cunning subterfuge, to start "not-stupid" thoughtful threads
regularly. I think Mike Godwin will still remember this, and confirm
my recollection, if need be.

A historical recap to explain what I am referring to above;
James D. Nicoll is known (among other things) for saving the
Science Fiction related newsgroups from collapsing under the
weight of dross, by making a public (what became known as a
"Nicoll Pledge") promis to begin from time to time, threads
that would be conducive to intelligent and thoughtful posts;
thereby raising the tenor of discussion in the channel, and
specifically giving people the chance to choose to participate
in valuable threads rather than the ones which were essentially
trivial.

For my own part, I think I will attempt to do my best to start
some discussions at least that have the potential to become
thoughtful. (I think I have made some such tries before, but not
yet with much success, and of course, I am as guilty as anyone
of responding with trivial non-bon-mots, when the spirit moves me)


Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]]