[PLUG-TALK] MRC - Internet's Long Memory

glen e. p. ropella gepr at ropella.net
Sat Feb 7 20:25:27 UTC 2009


Thus spake Russell Senior circa 02/06/2009 05:00 PM:
> I agree that people should credit the people they see as the
> credit-worthy antecedents.

Then we agree.  Plagiarism is bad.

> Leaving aside Michael Robinson's
> intentional behavior for a moment, if we require people to deduce what
> their audience *might* be thinking, I think that's a pretty
> substantial burden.

True.  But the very first thing you learn if you're trying to learn
about how to communicate is to _first_ consider your audience.  So,
anyone who is actually trying to communicate will make attempts to
deduce what their audience might be thinking.

Yes, communication is a substantial burden.  But if you're posting
diatribes to a mailing list, it's safe to assume that you are making
some attempt to communicate, even if you suck at it.  And that means
that you should be making some attempt to deduce what your audience
might be thinking.

> My opinion of Michael Robinson can't really get much lower, so I am
> not paying sufficient attention to responsibly judge what he did.  I
> guess I am just a little sensitive to the consensus "outlawing" of
> what might otherwise be considered prankish fun.

We wouldn't be "outlawing" Michael Robinson's speech.  We'd merely
prevent it from showing up on plug-talk.

> I think I said this before, but in case I didn't, I'll repeat.  You've
> noted the behavior.  The whole thread is archived, including the
> original and the modification.  It would be different had he contrived
> to modify the authoritative archive, but since he can't seem to do his
> own programming homework assignments, the risk of that seems small.
> So, problem solved.

Well, for most of the people on this list, I agree.  But there is the
point (made by someone) that this list is browsable by the general
public.  I could easily place an http: link to several of Michael
Robinson's posts in several locations across the internet and the people
who viewed those posts would not go back to the list archives, read the
whole thread (or any of it, really) and take the time to get the full
picture.

In fact, because of the lack of racial diversity in OR and Portland,
specifically, I could easily use Michael Robinson's post to _advertise_
Portland's homogeneity and, perhaps, use those posts as a recruiting
tool for racists and homophobes.  Yes, any racists or homophobes stupid
enough to read the single posts and not do a little more research to
understand how liberal Portland is, are going to be unhappy when they
get here.  But, after all, we're talking about racists and homophobes,
which presents evidence that they aren't that bright to begin with.  So,
my thought experiment is feasible.

The point being, that you can't just point it out (once) in a subtle
voice and then declare "problem solved".  You have to be emphatic and
thoroughly trounce the issue.

-- 
glen e. p. ropella, http://ropella.name/~gepr




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