- From: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>
- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 14:18:25 -0700
- To: "Charles F. Munat" <chas@munat.com>
- Cc: "WAI Guidelines WG" <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
The big problem with flame wars is that so much time is wasted on straw men and personal attacks. I love flames, and I love blasting stupid ideas. But when it goes from "blasting stupid ideas" to "deciding what the other person has said and then blasting it, and that person too," it becomes unproductive. The danger with flame wars is that certain types of flames -- personal attacks and straw men -- signify that the participants are _no longer listening to each other_ and thus can make no noticeable progress forward. When that happens, all is lost. (And this is why I removed my *plonk* on Joe, even.) Arguments, even heated ones, where people are responding to what the other people have said, are great and are often the only way things can be resolved. I agree with comments about not wanting to avoid an argument because it offends 'delicate sensibilities' of certain readers. But I do think there is a danger, when you start labeling, when you start bashing, when you start setting up straw men -- because that means the argument is no longer productive and has now become just a mess. I don't care if we argue or not -- in fact I expect some degree of argument -- I just hope that we're all productive about it. --Kynn -- Kynn Bartlett <kynn@reef.com> Technical Developer Liaison Reef North America Accessibility - W3C - Integrator Network ________________________________________ BUSINESS IS DYNAMIC. TAKE CONTROL. ________________________________________ http://www.reef.com
Received on Wednesday, 22 August 2001 17:46:13 UTC