Lost Touch

[Gary Thompson]

"Michael D. Workman" wrote or schrieb or something:

> Hey Guys,
>
> Don't know if this happened with anyone else, but I lost the list for
> awhile (2 weeks or so) without realizing it. Was there a shutdown? Anyway,
> good to be back.
>

Are you sure?

I went AWOL for the same period, up to Houghton (or Hoton) Michigan,
site of Michigan Tech and the Seaman Mineralogical Museum (lots of talk
about getting your rocks off, bringing in a specimen, and such). When I
hooked up again, I had 570 messages! My delete key is wearing smooth.

There's been a subtle (?) shift on the P-list from a competition for
dominance,
a.k.a. a pissing match, which is based in differing ideas of what the P-list
should
offer its members (erudite and otherwise)--to flame-bait + responses, along
with
earnest attempts to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Everyone who says
"Stop it! Stop it! Just let it go!" unfortunately increases the latter. And
it's
sad-but-true that some foax just like to piss others off.

I would submit that this list and all lists are already "moderated"--it's just

a question of whether the list owner empowers himorherself to do it in the
name of subscribers, or whether in this case he, Murthy, by default
empowers the list subscribers to do it themselves through whatever sort
of public pressure they bring to bear on those who cross the implicit norms
of the collective membership. When it gets to be too much, some oldhand
like Doug or Chris or the inestimable John or my favorite Meg will come in
and say, Come on, guys! (This works also when someone gets too pretentious,
as I have in past. Thanks, s/Z . . .)
And then there's the likely side-effect of too much anarchy, with
unsubscriptions
and increased lurking rather than participation.

The list (we) can endorse a public statement giving responsibility to the
listowner
or his designate--or we can endorse a statement requesting that he not do so,
or just not talk about it and by default leave him to draw his own conclusions
that
he let us go about our chitchat. But it's all moderation, just with different
agents.

I'm on with notes starting July 12--I expect to post a few comments, mostly
scarft
up from Weisenburger and archives if I can get 'em. But this is my last list
word on
list-nannydom.

There. Flame away.

Gary Thompson