From: Betty Ragan ragan@sdc.org
Why? "Thread hijacking" is a complaint I've seen other places as well, and it's just not something I really understand, so this is a completely serious question.
To me, it is a very serious issue of Lyst etiquette. Maybe you've never been on the receiving end of it, because if you had you would know how infuriating it can get. You're really getting into the swing of the argument, checking your references, dredging through your brain for every last bit of evidence you can haul up to back your case, and then someone pounces in with a bit of completely inane trivia that sends the whole thread spiralling off in a new and wholly superficial direction. A bit like some prankster moving the cue ball just as you're lining up to pot the black. It is rude, it is selfish, it is inconsiderate, and if you don't like being treated that way, you shouldn't go doing the same to others.
People, please get it into your heads that for some of us these 'intellectual' debates are FUN. We really do enjoy them. We actually *like* getting worked up over abstruse points of argument, not to mention deepening and broadening our understanding of the issues arising from the debate. If it gets too 'heavy' for you, *please stay out*. Have your own kind of fun in your own playhouse, and leave us to enjoy ourselves in our own. The Lyst is big enough to accomodate all sides. Toes will inadvertently be stepped on, inevitably, but that's not the same as stomping on an intellectual foot with hob-nailed trivial boots.
I have nothing against silliness, inanity, smuttiness, frivolity, witterings, burblings and all the rest of it per se. They can be very entertaining to read and obviously they are fun for those people who, quite legitimately, indulge in such things. But we don't hijack your threads, so why should you do it to ours?
And if you're own idea of fun happens to be deliberately pissing people off for own shallow self-gratification, then all I can say is you're a right sad bastard and the Lyst would be better off without you. People like that are rarely welcome anywhere, and with good reason. But I don't seriously think that applies to anyone here, despite Penny's Declaration of Intent.
IMO one of the great things about e-mail as a communications medium is its non-linear nature. If person A is talking about subject 1, and person B wants to develop that into a discussion of subject 2, and person C wants to jump in and make a point about subject 3... Well, it's entirely possible to have *both* conversations going on at the same time, and if person A isn't interested in subject 3, he can ignore it an concentrate on subject 2, or go back to subject 1. It's quite different from sitting around in the pub talking, in that respect. So I honestly, truly, don't understand why people get annoyed about it (well, except when the subject lines don't get changed, which I fully understand can be annoying). Somebody explain why it bothers people, please, so I know what I should avoid doing...
Full marks, Betty, I think you've hit on a solution. If someone wants to take a serious thread in a silly direction, all they have to do is take the trouble to change the header. So when I see "Re [B7L]: Travis' knob (was Definition of Fascism)" then I can treat it as an entirely different thread, and contribute or ignore as I see fit.
Is that really too much to ask?
Neil