4 October 2005
Fallout

Filed under Olin

Last night, a large number of e-mails were sent to the randomness mailing list. (Of course, if you’re just hearing about this, welcome back from your coma.) These e-mails, a long thread on politics, the seperation of church and state, the ten commandments, and so on, were all pretty tasteless, right from the beginning. At the expense of not getting everyone who should read this to read it, I’ve opted to talk about it here rather than innundate the mailing list with another barrage of e-mails.

A lot of things made last night worse than it should have been: people looking for distractions from work found it in, of all places, their e-mail inboxes. Randomness has long been touted as “the place where all other e-mails go”, but flamewars have no place anywhere, including Randomness. People will disagree. People will taunt you if you disagree with them. With lots of smart, fast-typing people, this effect multiplies. One of the great lines I’ve heard another Oliner say about Oliners is “We’re all a little too smart. Whenever we get into an argument, we’re already thinking about the next thing we’ll say in response to what they’re saying now.” Last night proved this.

What made me so mad? The fact that, for a large part, people didn’t care how much they were abusing the list. Thing the first: If you’re going to respond to an e-mail 30 seconds after somebody else sent it, take the time to delete everything they said. I have it already from their post. Even if you’re directly quoting someone, take that small snip and put it in the body of your message. Most of us have basic time-telling skills. If I don’t understand your post, I’ll assume it’s either 1) total bullshit or 2) referring to a previous e-mail.

Point 2: Think about what you’re saying. Flamewars happen because of the anonymity of the medium you’re using. Would you really tell someone to fuck off if you were looking them face-to-face because you disagreed with what they were saying? Probably not. And, directly related to this, think about the audience you’re trying to reach. There’s no way to win a flamewar. Regardless of how thoughtful, well-put, and well-researched your point is, the other side is pretty stuck on their convictions. They’re not asking for your opinion. 99 times out of 100, their mind is already made up. Don’t waste keystrokes trying to change it.

Third: Personally, I think it’s total crap to tell people to go elsewhere. Don’t tell people to sign up for the politics mailing list. Instead, tell people to send e-mails back and forth with no lists in the subject group. In other words, the “Reply to All” button is sacred. If you can’t tell the difference between “Reply” and “Reply to all”, ask me and I will gladly remove the button from your toolbar.

Fourth: Most important to this particular discussion, remember that Olin is a community built on openness to change, understanding, and respect for others. Not everyone at Olin is Christian; not everyone here believes in God. I, for one, respect your right to believe what you want provided that you never force that belief on me. Don’t insult me by trying.

Maybe you feel this is excessive. Maybe it is. But these are my views on the subject. If you read and agree, pass the message on. If we don’t talk about it, it’s likely to occur in the future. I doubt any of us want that to happen.

 ::  Adam