Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 22:58:18 -0600 From: Stephen Whitehill Reply-To: johnny at charm.net To: johnny at charm.net Subject: Re: good or bad [Someone] wrote: >Marie's comments have caused me to want to voice a >thought which I have had for some time, the question >of whether this list is, on balance, good for bad for >those who encounter it (not only for those who stay on >for long periods of time), and, equally important, >good or bad for the college. This list is an open forum for the expression of just about anything the listers want to express with the only restriction being against threats of violence. This list is not an official activity of the College, and just as a reporter might venture into the coffee shop and hear something that does not reflect well upon the College, we might venture upon this list and hear something that does not reflect well upon the College. The issue of whether this list is good or bad for the College is irrelevant. We are out of the College, launched into the world as free and thinking beings, and what you get here may be far from the penumbral authority of the College. Deal with it or unsubscribe. >I wonder how many have encountered the list and been so put off by the >nature of the "dialogue" that they quietly resign with >feelings ranging from boredom to disgust. We are not here to entertain you but to engage you in dialogue. Yes, the dialogue can be uncomfortable, riddled with political incorrectness, and even insulting. On the other hand, if you would engage the world on a dialectical basis, this is the way of the world and if you want to participate, you have to follow the Socratic exhortation that we will be better and far braver persons for having engaged in it. The quality of the list, like the quality of seminars, depends upon your participation. The list will not improve if you offer nothing to it but bitching about its deficiencies. >The reason I raise the college >issue is that it is conceivable that people come here >wanting to make some contact with old St Johns and >having vague benign feelings about the place and then, >upon spending time here, start feeling more negative >about St Johns when they encounter the statistically >unrepresentative sample of alumni who post here. That >would be "bad" for the college I would imagine. As I said, this is not a "College" list but an "unofficial" forum which has nothing to do with generating good PR for the College. Many of us are upset with things that are said on this list, would rather that they weren't said, we get insulted, we are alienated, we get pissed as hell. On the other hand, we are a community bonded by the ability to disagree on reasonable foundations and yet remain friends and remain subscribed to the list. I've had many bitter disagreements with nearly everyone on this list, but that does not change the fact that we are bonded by a significant common experience and this bond is supervenient of the dialogue. The ability to disagree bitterly on an issue, even to the point of slinging insults, and yet enjoy each other's company when we are face to face represents to me the ideals of a dialectical community, and so instead of reflecting poorly upon the College of our common experience, it celebrates and ratifies it principles. To sum up with a long standing New Mexico joke: Your problem with the list sounds like a personal problem. Deal with it or unsubscribe. Stephen Whitehill