I rise to defend the lurkers and the act of lurking.

There is no rule that one must have a fully developed appreciation for chaos, nor
anthing to be gained by forcing people into chaos beyond the point to which their
apprecation has developed.  Some have no choice but to stand on the shore and watch
others swim in the crashing surf, others have no choice but to confront the surf
and swim against it until rescued or drowned.  Some are sharks.  Perhaps a mermaid
or two.

Do we not all at times find it necessary to listen to buildings?  To smell?  To
quietly take in facts that have no name, but prepare the way for the hypothesis and
the model, the experiment and the solution?  You would discourage that?   Perhaps
not all lurkers are doing that...what if only one is doing that?  Would you risk
the loss of one of us in order to not look reduculus to a pile of those who are not
us?

Let's not discuss banishment.  Let's discuss whether or not the criticism is
legitimate.  I happen to agree that noise to signal ratios is not data I find
valuable...and certainly not how I would measure a Pinhead....but then I'm pretty
comfortable with the idea of sifting through a lot of gravel to find a nugget of
something curious.

-jc



deb bledsoe wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ken Follett <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 4:52 PM
> Subject: BP Lurker Suspension
>
> .....to those
> of us who worry that even in our most mundane and ridiculous roles that
> emoting on BP is doing something not for ourselves, but for each other.
>
> In light of this, and in celebration of three years of delightful chaos, I
> propose that I suspend all lurkers from BP. Please advise.
>
> ][<en Follett
>
> ken, there have been bad times in the biz for me, days when the only semblance
> of a smile to cross my face was brought on by something some pinhead said .....
>
> sometimes I couldn't muster a sentence in reply, but silently thanked the
> writer...
> and when I did post something, it felt like coming home -- my questions have
> always been answered......
>
> the pinheads remind me of a big family at sunday dinner, some people talking and
> waving their hands,
> some folks out in the living room playing the piano and singing,
> some guys out back looking at the new tools unca mike gots in the garage...
> and some people sort of standing around the edges listening, glad to be
> there....
>
> I counter-propose we author a FAQ that is an abbreviated version of the official
> welcome we receive when we subscribe or re-subscribe, and occasionally post it
> to remind ourselves what we're doing -- I don't know about you all, but I'm
> getting old and forgetful and sometimes find myself somewhere with no idea why I
> went there   ;)
>
> by the way, I had no idea BP had only been around three years!
> that means I was in on it rather early on, and didn't have a clue that the group
> wasn't some age-old institution   ;)
> wow...  that's mind-boggling
> especially in light of the serious flame wars and ugliness I've seen on other
> boards and lists....
> way to go delightful chaotic pinheads!!   ;)
>
> deb
>
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