| Re: A further follow up which may, or may not, be of interest |
EasyNews, UseNet made Ea .. |
| smeagol (smeag@go|.|air) |
2006/09/15 16:27 |
On Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:43:22 GMT, johnny_fairview
<johnny_lightvision@hushmail.com> wrote:
>On 6 Sep 2006 12:47:03 -0500, Ruby <whatsina@name.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:43:39 GMT, johnny_fairview
>><johnny_lightvision@hushmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>Snipped at length for getting to the point and loosing the balderdash
>>posted by Y-Not.
>>
>
>I remembered your point about snipping when I came across the following
>article about failing to trim Usenet posts. It was written by James
>Follett, a British novelist, and he starts off by wondering why some
>posters in some threads repost the entire message to which they are
>replying:
>
>"Why on earth do people continue to post all this crap?"
>
>And then Mr. Follett goes on to explain why such posters are incapable
>of using usenet the way it was meant to be used:
>
>them in their entirety without bothering to trim a single word. They
>help spread the word. Trimming a follow-up is quite beyond the cognitive
>abilities of many.
>
>Actually the issue of correct posting to the Usenet was the subject of a
>paper published by the Tavistock Institute about seven or eight years
>
>difficulty understanding the incredibly simple guidelines on posting is
>philosophy. Many people are not being taught how to think. Arranging
>thoughts logically does require training of the mind. At its simplest
>this is writing a letter. A letter of complaint, for example, does
>require a marshalling of thoughts, arranging of facts, and then pinning
>them down on paper in a coherent manner.
>Many are so ill-equipped for this task that large organizations now
>encourage their customers to use telephones so that their operators can
>logical sequence, and so on. And it saves return letter-writing costs or
>ferreting on their part because their customers are now incapable of
>supplying all the information necessary to resolve a problem.
>
>Even writing CVs is beyond the abilities of many causing them to resort
>to professional CV writers. The authors cited a boiler-plate software
>package for writing CVs! A discipline that requires little more than the
>expression of a few facts and figures written on one side of a sheet of
>sunk.
>Good thinking requires good training. I was fortunate to have teachers
>who trained my mind to work clearly and to arrange facts/ideas and to
>brilliant thinker; the reason my mediocre cognitive ability has given me
>a comfortable living is because so many are worse thinkers than I am.
>The way society is being structured today ensures that many can muddle
>their way through life without having to think too much. But when
>Usenet, which has evolved over quarter of a century as a global forum
>buggered. Not only are the conventions not understood, but the reasoning
>behind the evolution of those conventions is not understood either.
>
>Firstly: trimming follow-ups to salient points does require the exercise
>of editorial skill i.e. judgement, and judgement is either instinctive
>or is acquired through training. Philosophy is the only practical tool
>to apply that training. Secondly: actually answering a specific point
>within a post and focussing on that point also requires a trained mind.
>Confronted with these seemingly insuperable obstacles, the untrained
>just top-post. Someone else can figure out what I mean."
>
>Conventions in communication are essential, particular so with Usenet
>that consists of millions of people world-wide subscribing to around
>100,000 newsgroups on an equal number of subjects. For it to work
>depends on the observation of protocols. The essential protocols that
>control distribution are imbedded in the headers of a post and not
>therefore understanding rests with the users.
>
>To ensure that the majority derive the greatest enjoyment and benefit
>from the Usenet a few simple conventions exist. They are not difficult
>to understand or follow if one takes a little trouble and is prepared to
>one author but many readers therefore the majority should be always be
>considered.
>Another advantage is that mastery of those conventions enables one to
>move with confidence from newsgroup to newsgroup and converse with the
>world.
>The Usenet is a remarkable tool that is worthy of respect rather than
>the consequences of such muddle-headed thinking."
>
>A very erudite commentary on one of the major failings of numerous
>repost it in its entirety in a follow-up?
>
>:-)
>
>Johnny
>
>johnny
>(change lightvision to fairview)
How do you feel when people do not snip?
-g
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