Posted by hyperfocus on November 8, 2010, at 16:03:33
In reply to Re: Amnesty, posted by Dr. Bob on November 6, 2010, at 3:23:08
>It saddens me, too. But you got me thinking, maybe part of it is that we have in fact become like a family, and like in a family, both love and hurt can have deep roots.
Yes when posters debate blocks and civility and privacy here they're bringing in old unresolved feelings from the past. To me this is the primary reason why blocks and uncivility are becoming more and more frequent. If there was a away to free posters from these past feeling then I think blocks would decrease drastically.>It might be nice to be able to "reboot" one's family. :-)
Well maybe we can't with our own family in real life but in an online community and family there exist opportunities for rebooting. It's sort of a crude metaphor but even the best-maintained computer systems need a reboot from time to time to clear all the bad stuff that's accumulated from continuous use. Everything in human affairs is cyclical and is constantly renewing.>I'd rather the sheep didn't stray in the first place, but how about this: If all of Babble can stay civil for a month, then I'll cut all blocks in half
Cutting blocks in half would be a good start but I think it has to be unconditional - a show of good faith. Maybe you could try it as an experiment and see if it has a positive effect - i.e return of estranged posters and increased posting and decreased uncivility.>I've actually been thinking about something like that myself. How exactly would you see it working?
This is just my opinion but I think that everybody here recognizes people like 10der heart and Dinah and SLS as people who through their words and actions have always nurtured the community here. So maybe before announcing a policy decision or handing down a contentious block you could ask them what they think of the situation before doing something. The power to make decisions resides in you solely but posters could appeal to them to hear their case and make recommendations. At least as a first step posters could feel that other voices besides Dr. Bob alone can influence things here - that knowledge alone can do a huge amount of good.
poster:hyperfocus
thread:964630
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20101014/msgs/969257.html