BP Serious or Social?

Several backchannel and in-person comments have been made to me regarding the
BS quotient on BP relative to *serious* technical information with an idea
that I might have some power.

My power here is a shamanic illusion -- I, as an individual, have no control
over the ratio. My personal inclination is that I love the BS and the
technical sharing both.

BP is no more than the accumulated effect of the correspondents bouncing off
each other. Anyone who wishes to change the nature of the dialogue on BP need
only be proactive to make their contribution by not lurking.

My vision is that only very bright and intelligent people subscribe to BP. In
all cases I have aimed for attracting correspondents that are highly
intelligent, professional, experienced, compassionate, and humor bearing
individuals -- not all of them wearing the sign of authorized HISTORIC
PRESERVATION. If you can laugh about your business then you must enjoy it and
be very good at it.

Keep this in mind: all people are broken. It is only by supporting each other
that we can hold ourselves together.

When people gather together they tend to do what they are going to do and it
is almost always something different than what anyone at first imagined. If
someone does not take the responsibility to keep opening their mouth and
speaking then the tendency seems to be for everyone to stop talking.

Guiding an e-mail list is not a controlled process, it is one in which an
individual either takes an active role to cultivate dialogue, or takes no
role at all. If you do not speak out then the list will not have your
character to shape itself around.

In order to cultivate a technical list you have to be able to cultivate a
technical dialogue... I am not suited to do this. I am suited for stories,
management, strategy, and networking. I would certainly like to see more
technical discussion on BP, but it will only occur insofar as the
correspondents present technical problems on the list.

My intent in making a noisy fool of myself on BP is that it creates a space
where others can feel comfortable to make noisy fools of themselves. I'm not
always sure if this is working very well and I spend a lot of time worrying
about it.

My desire is to cultivate an atmosphere whereby we come to know each other as
people first, such that when real information is needed that as individuals
we are equally willing to contribute from our expertise.

Despite the high level of bullshit that occurs on BP, I see that when a real
question is asked that real information is exchanged. I am grateful for the
help that I have often received.

Swapping of real information is an important exchange considering that on BP
we have no other currency between us than the veracity of our shared
experience.

;-)) ][<en