Recent trends and "new" rule for posting

Whistle
1

In the thread entitled “OT: Food for Thought”,
TelegramSam wrote:

Um, new rule for the forum: no religiously charged posts.

While I agree with the sentiment behind the suggestion, I’m not sure we’ll benefit from that sort of specificity – I know I won’t! – so instead, I introduce The Rule, which not coincidentally is also The Rule of the chat network on which the Chiff and Fipple Chat occurs:

Reasonable Person Principle applies.

The Reasonable Person Principle is Carnegie Mellon’s rule for its computing systems. Much of their explanation of it is irrelevant to us, so I’ll just copy over the important part from the <a href=“http://www.ce.cmu.edu/~compcomm/policy/reasonable_person.html”

original version:

  • Everyone will be reasonable.
  • Everyone expects everyone else to be reasonable.
  • No one is special.
  • Do not be offended if someone suggests you are not being reasonable.

Reasonable people think about their use of these facilities, and the needs of others, and adjust their behavior to meet the goals of a common good for the community, i.e., expressing what you want to say, but accepting and accommodating the needs of others.

I put “new” in quotes in the title of this topic because this isn’t a new rule; it’s the standard I’ve encouraged everyone to adhere to when they’re posting since the board started in its current incarnation. So nothing has changed, except that you all now know you have a responsibility to the community to keep those four words, “reasonable person principle applies”, in mind when you’re writing your post, and to ask yourself “Is this reasonable?” before you hit “Submit”, and to answer yourself honestly and, when necessary, make appropriate modifications or hit “Cancel Post” instead.

While there’s been an uncharacteristic amount of sturm und drang here recently, I think everyone here is capable of that sort of self-evaluation, and that applying the Reasonable Person Principle will help make the forums as enjoyable as possible for as many people as we can.

Thanks for your help.

    -Rich
2

EVERYONE is special. Nursery school 101.

:slight_smile:

3

Thank you for the reminder! It’s much appreciated.

Kari

4

Crap, I’m screwed: According to most people in these parts, I’m the most unreasonable person here. Do we have any sort of grandfather clause I can fall back on?

Loren

5

On 2002-03-13 23:38, Loren wrote:
Crap, I’m screwed: According to most people in these parts, I’m the most unreasonable person here. Do we have any sort of grandfather clause I can fall back on?

Loren

Loren, you’re not unreasonable. You are just the most tactless, opinionated, trollish, hell-fire stubborn, wrong-headed person on the board. Or is that off the board? :smiley: LOL.

6

I agree with Bloomfield.

7

Claudine, I was teasing Loren, you know. I hope you agree with that, too. :smiley:

8

Loren Welcome back - again. (I assume you are back this time) :slight_smile:

I’ve never heard of a grandfather clause, only a grandfather clock and a sanity clause (ala, Marx brothers). My best sugggestion is that we all go for the sanity clause (yes..“there IS no san’ty clause!”) and sit under the grandfather clock until time and unreasonableness passes.

I’m fascinated to see this thread actually. It restores my faith in the notion of ‘double standards’.

Standards

Steve



(edited for typo’s)






[ This Message was edited by: StevePower on 2002-03-14 12:38 ]

9

Heck, Loren, you’re no more unreasonable than most of us, just less reticent about it G

Great post, Rich. Some minor side rules that one can apply when replying to a thread are A: just because you disagree with a point, don’t automatically assume it was aimed at you; B: even if it was aimed at you by name, don’t assume it was an attack on “YOU”. We’re all just typefaces and nicknames here, for the most part, although I have met or spoken to a very few of our community in person. In my most sincere opinion, few of us know one another well enough to launch a personal attack on the core being. That stuff may be all fine and dandy in chat rooms and game boards, but here we’re grownups (and I specifically include Sam and Sara, and every other teen who has posted here under the term ‘grownups’).

Or, as my grandma always put it; if you can’t say something nice, maybe its better if you don’t say anything.

10

I want to thank Rich and Dale for their patience and good common sense approach to moderating this conference. It can’t be an easy job.

As the originator of the now famous ‘religious/spiritual’ post, I did start to feel at one point last night that I had made a mistake in posting it, and that not only would Rich shut it down but he would beat me to death with my Low D at our next session.

However as things turned out, he stayed out of it and let things sort themselves out…and I think a really good discussion - and a few good jokes - ensued.

As an aside: I think it’s ironic that the post in question ended up being one of the top posts for responses on the board to date! Anyhow it does say something for the community as a group - a great bunch of people brought together by our love of the wee whistle.

11

WhistlingGypsy wrote:

not only would Rich shut it down but he would beat me to death with my Low D at our next session.

I guess you won’t know until Monday. :wink:
Do you know if the session at Paddy Boland’s is still on this Sunday?

    -Rich
12

No it’s not…too many yahoo’s out on St. Paddy’s to have a decent session.

13

Why, of course you are special. Just like everyone else!