Cataloguing the Different Ways the Mind Associates Itself with the Outliner Presented Screen

Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Sep 13, 2012 at 06:38 AM

Since joining this forum many years ago, the only forum I have been a regular and long-term contributor at, I have been aware that anything I write will be put down in ubiquity and permanence (whatever this means in our rapidly changing world), and that it might be read by anyone, interpreted and misinterpreted, or simply ignored. I had never put my full name in a public forum before that, but somehow I felt that this place was right for it. Remember, this was long before Facebook, which then became a catalyst for personal identification in the web—for good or for bad.

I have written elsewhere that English is not my mother tongue, but I’m not saying this as an excuse. Just to note that I am unable to see the nuances others may be able to uncover in sentences of a few words. They may be there, or they may not. A future outliner historian might bring along a linguistic anthropologist and have a field day.

However, I believe that I am more than capable of identifying intentions. And I believe that the forum is, too; and that the uncoordinated but aligned reaction of several people here to the recent ‘verbose war’ says something (good) about this community’s joint culture. In fact, it is quite clear for me now that the reason I am here has little to do with software, and all to do with the pleasure of well-intended and respectful interaction with people I may never even meet in person.

I remain grateful for this, nowadays more than ever. The world is changing, and it is our stance towards the changes that will shape the future. To quote a recent Google+ post “There are real threats - 3m high threats - and we should stick together in the face of them, faithful to our ideals, but not naive”.

And to be clear: I believe it is attitudes and behaviours which pose the threats, not people. Speaking for myself, I want Foolness and Fredy in this community. I just don’t want them to dictate its terms.