the list: discussion or riff?

[Seb Thirlway]

-----Original Message-----

Terrance wrote

[snip]

>> True, and difficult.  One the one hand it would be good to
e.g.
>> read something from Terrance, and then read everyone
discussing
>> it in the terms of the original assertion (which involves, in
>> this example, giving Terrance a privileged status in the
>> discussion - to say "that's not what I meant" where
necessary).
>> Can't say I could join in very well but it would be
interesting
>> to read.
>
>I don't think it's a privilege. To write something and see
>it taken to mean something else; to try to help and be
>accused of being pushy or privileged; to try to be
>considerate and be called an elitist; to try to write what
>will be interesting to some and not offend others; to try
>not to use certain terms; to try not to privilege anything;
>to try to establish a framework for meaningful discussion,
>only to end feeling like an fool, this is difficult
>indeed.
>
Not meaning to complicate matters, but just a note: rather than
saying "privileged status" which has other connotations, I could
have put it better like this: if someone starts a discussion (I
used Terrance just as an example) and would like to keep the
discussion focussed on the original assertion, they'd have to be
granted some kind of "moderating" power within that discussion -
e.g. to say "interesting, but not within the original terms -
start another thread here?".  To be allowed to do this without
fear of causing offence  Hard to enforce any rules as you say.

kindness is a study enough ship.

regards



seb