Dialogue (was: Quality of source material from Development)

["Jane Carnall" <jane -dot- carnall -at- digitalbridges -dot- com>]

Nora Merhar wrote:
>I have been on this list off and on for much of its existence. When I
>rejoined earlier this year, I was amazed at how little it has changed, and
>how easily I can predict the responses of some of the long-time members. It
>can be an excellent resource--however, I have decided NOT to feel
inadequate
>any more when my experience does not reflect that of many of the other
>members of the list.

I've only been on this list for about two and a half years, but long enough
<g> that you could probably predict my responses to some topics (ahem). The
value of this list to me (and I consider it one of the most valuable
resources I have access to, as a lone technical writer) is two-fold: access
to a large number of well-informed and intelligent people who are willing
and able to answer questions (data exchange) and the opportunity to engage
in
genuine dialogue. I appreciate greatly Eric and Deborah's efforts to keep
the list clear of off-topic idle talk and casual speech (even when my wrist
is the one that gets slapped!). Verbal tyranny (which unfortunately
sometimes appears more impressive than genuine dialogue) is a drawback, but
on a mailing list, verbal tyrants can far more easily be ignored - and
should be. One joy of genuine dialogue is that it leads to unpredictable,
unknown, and therefore more interesting conclusions.

(The terms idle talk, casual speech, verbal tyranny, and genuine dialogue
are borrowed from an article I read on the Vocabula Review recently: "The
Art of Conversation", by Tim Buck
<http://www.vocabula.com/VRNOV01Buck.htm>.)

Jane Carnall
Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and mine alone. Apologies
for the long additional sig: it is added automatically and outwith my
control.





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