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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (77041)	10/9/2003 9:45:51 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 82486

Raising the caliber of online postings by example I have been on a campaign to raise the standards of posting in the psychedelics groups and on the net in general. A few postings are outstanding for both content and form (not a difficult achievement in the alt.* newsgroups). I am surprised by how quickly my writing ability has advanced since raising my own standards. I've been giving a lot of thought to form and content, clarity and substance. The Internet newsgroups have great untapped potential. Clear and balanced writing really catches my attention now -- it feels more open and reassuring than the claustrobic jungles of typographical and grammatical chaos and garbled utterances that almost entirely clog the mind of the net. I now try to write all my postings so that everything I write can be published in a collection later. In fact, DejaNews is archiving everything posted, whether trash or gems. It's not that hard to write carefully, and it's very rewarding to feel my communication skill increasing. I thereby strive to set an example. Now I write with the intention for setting the standards for the entire network. The whole of the net can be improved through this strategy. Most people in the psychedelics groups simply lack a clear example of clear writing. They are intelligent people capable of much more than it appears. >It has been a PLEASURE in no uncertain terms to communicate with someone who is tactful, intelligent, and open minded. I only wish this were the norm in this newsgroup! A friend writes: >Yeah, word up on the poor level of discourse on the internet. I've been appointed "discussion leader" for a list which covers Aristotle's logical works. Very time consuming. But there are some _bona fide_ good participants -- one fellow who teaches philosophy of Cambridge, some from Canada, University of Hong Kong, Switzerland, etc. Some of these people can rattle off the most beautiful remarks. It hones your skills to talk with them. The net has great potential and people are influenced by seeing role models and examples of disinterested pursuit of truth. In 5 years, the net population will consist of the same people, but by then, they will have matured out of the flaming mentality, because it is simply not worth the time, and fails to change any minds. Everyone can make this happen simply by raising their standards and eliminating the tone of vindictive sarcasm that is currently the standard attitude rampant all over the net. The newsgroups are not entirely bad. My posts are proper discussion, not mere exchanges of grunts. But alas, it tends toward monologue. I have been coming down hard -- not flaming, but ranting -- about the lameness... and I have found it very hard to specify exactly what is so lame. It's something to do with short postings that fail to even attempt to add any substance or value. I've been holding a mirror up to them, and telling them it doesn't have to be this way. I've been reminding them of the emptiness of American "education" and telling them about books. Not just drug books, but general interesting books. American kids don't know anything except how to program and how to flip the remote. It's not their fault that they are perpetuating this downward spiral of standards and intellectual aspirations. I've had to read like mad for several years to educate myself as well as the typical high school graduate in a decent educational system. And I got out of the American schools before they got really bad. It is not that the people here have merely an IQ of 100. The people here probably have much higher than 100 IQ. But they have been crippled, retarded, by American schooling and culture. The universities are no help -- they have become trade schools -- glorified shop classes for auto mechanics. The American college graduate has no more ability to judge and reason critically than they did after 6th grade. That is, no ability. This rant may be invalid, but it's true. They can redeem themselves by, first of all, reading higher caliber material than is typical of these "joke" newsgroups on the net. Some other newsgroups have good examples of true conversation. It all amounts to deliberately trying to post something of substance. Contribute something constructive. I'm tired of fishing in this pond that CAN AND SHOULD have rich yields, to come up with only guppies, again and again. BUT IT COULD BE DIFFERENT! I am saying this for selfish reasons, as much as any -- I want to build the momentum of profound exchange. I want people to try to try. egodeath.com