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Posting Differently To How One Posts

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20:20 / 07.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Flux = RAD:
[QB]I've been around regularly here since May, and I still have a hard time figuring out what the 'hierarchy' is here[QB]

Scratch that. There is no hierarchy on this board, of this I am sure.

I am of the opinion that you shouldn't have to have any knowledge to post on the Headshop, Switchboard, etc... just post your opinions, and prepare for them to be challenged! If there's any role I feel that the more knowledgeable people on this board should be performing, it's inclusively trying to lead people through references, otherwise unknown complexities and subtleties of arguments - and in this way, the collective arguing / meme-creating power of the board is increased. In other words, the board should be the mentor / oracle that it has been for the last couple of years.

It there's one thing for instance, I want to take away from the board, it's self-betterment, in whatever form. If I spend that extra few minutes wrestling with (frexample) one of Haus' more labyrinthine and intellectual posts, and found myself 1) understanding and furthermore 2) agreeing or disagreeing, I feel like it's been a good visit.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

14:47 / 09.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Nick:
As a matter of interest, if I posted a thread which acknowledged right up front that in order to understand what was going on, you'd have to read some background material on theories of social action and revolution, how many people would actually be prepared to do it?

To be honest? I probably wouldn't. Mainly because due to my situation most of the time, except for weekends I post from work where I obviously wouldn't be able to do such a thing. However, I've often read stuff based on other Lister's recommendation, so I'd read something if I thought it was of use to me, but not in a 'now lets have a debate' fashion, which I don't think the board layout is especially conducive to.

14:55 / 09.09.01

And let's face it, the attempt to dissect You Are Being Lied To failed spectacularly.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

14:11 / 10.09.01

Okay, that seems fairly clear. A limited amount of online reading might work, no-one's really going to participate in a discussion which requires specific research.

Cool.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

15:55 / 10.09.01

The 'You Are Being Lied to' thing was too sudden I think. I mean, I've read it now, I've forgotten most of it but Tom was expecting us to go out and buy it as soon as it was published. And his threads were the first I'd even heard of the thing.

17:46 / 10.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Nick:
Okay, that seems fairly clear. A limited amount of online reading might work, no-one's really going to participate in a discussion which requires specific research.

Cool.

Well, I mean, do you have the time yrself?

Disco is My Class War

04:16 / 12.09.01

I am probably guilty of complaining that Barbelith is getting boring or that 'I liked our old stuff better than our new stuff'. I've been here a while. And I think E. Randy's right; it's the people who feel comfortable with the mode of communicatoin on the 'lith who feel most able to shout others down, or not to engage with people -- because we already know what everyone thinks, right? So every discussion is just an endless recycling of already-articulated positions.

But it's not always like that, in fact it's only like that if you or I think it is. And it does come down to investment. The more you put in, the more you get out.

And Nick, I am very willing to go away and do reading to be informed on a particular thread. And I wish more people would, a bit, myself included. This is why I haven't posted to the Ayn Rand thread: I haven't read her stuff. So sue me. And with regard to the 'You Are Being Lied To' thread, well, first, I couldn't afford to buy the book. Second, I personally don't really dig disinfo that much, and have felt that the discourse here is way more sophisticated than what gets published over there.

08:11 / 12.09.01

I think the basis for much of this discussion is actually laziness. Too many of us, myself included, have got used to posting what we want, where we want, and not thinking about where our thinking may be MOST USEFUL.

Goodness Gracious Meme

23:39 / 14.09.01

reading fly's post and various others, one thing strikes me forcibly, that may be to do with a lack of valuing of difference around here...

tired and fuzzy but by this i mean that there seems to be a sense that people feel that there are more or less acceptable languages round here, ways of expressing oneself that 'count' or dont' count, a feeling especially taht people seem to have re the sites in the revolution... head shop and magic spring to mind...

maybe this is because they're dealing with specialist areas, but i find the idea that one has to 'speak' a certain way to be acceptable pretty dodgy... think maybe we could do with remembering the range of people, in ages/cultures/experiences that we have here is one of the strenghts, and not leaping on people because they don't put things the way we'd like them to, or because they may seem 'ignorant' of certain things that we (as individuals) think might be important... maybe a bit of trust and explaining terms or asking for explanations rather than leaping on people instantly?

think you can have impassioned and sharp disagreements (which is a damn good thing) without trashing people because they 'don't talk like what you do', which is something i feel happens around here..

at the risk of being the token hippy, a bit more enjoyment of our differences might not go amiss? I really wouldn't fancy the idea of 'talking' with a load of people who expressed themselves like me (take too damn long for a start!) but this means there's loads of potential for misconstruction (?) and signal breakdown...

Ganesh

23:44 / 14.09.01

I happily second all of that. I've recommended Barbelith to many people (who've asked me how I knew about the WTC bombing stuff before they did) and a few have registered - only to hassle me about how 'cliquey' it all is, and how difficult it is to break in.

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