Re: "Private Foundation-List" Petition for referendum

["Jason D. Clinton" <me jasonclinton com>]

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 12:08 PM, Murray Cumming <murrayc murrayc com> wrote:

On Tue, 2009-12-15 at 09:50 -0600, Jason D. Clinton wrote:

> This is about signal-to-noise ratio, not
> about keeping secrets.

So why not just moderate the list?

Because part of increasing signal-to-noise is giving those in a discussion a reasonable expectation that they do not have to advocate their position in public. When one is in a quiet, side-conversation amongst a few people, there's a lower probability that people will reply just so that they have the last word in a conversation. And there's a lower probability that people will feel that their good name is being drug through the mud because someone doesn't agree with their ideas.

In short: it changes the tone for the better.