While discussing the need to balance convenience for the list
administrator with convenience for a user, Jim Michmerhuizen said:
"Threads are an intermediate level of structure. I like them. The name
of a thread is determined, usually, by its initiator. Threads are
_concrete_ in a way that mere conceptual systems can never be. When we
have a hundred simultaneous threads - _that's_ when to call in the
keywords."
One aspect of the thread issue is: When I am responding to a particular
posting, but I am digressing in the subject matter, should I maintain the
thread or start a new one? On this list I have never started a new thread
while in reply mode, because I thought this would make life a little
inconvenient for Rick and some users.
Since some recent change - no doubt undertaken to improve utility of the
list - messages which once were from the list are now coming into my mail
box as from the individual who is posting the message. For me, this means
typing in to: learning-org etc. whenever I want to reply. It's an
inconvenience I take on gladly for the general convenience.
I guess what I'm getting at is that this list is so rich because Rick has
managed to help us all own it, and I'm sure many of us *consciously* put
up with petty annoyances for the general good. In my opinion, this helps
the tenor of the conversation.
But, getting back to the thread issue, I'm not sure whether adhering to a
thread while the subject drifts is better or worse than proliferating
threads. I believe the underlying answer is to be found in a study, as
Rick suggests, of the Limits of Growth archetype.
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Host's Note: Jack, I think the change must have been on your end. The
headers in our messages haven't changed, I don't think. On changing the
subject line -- Please keep it exactly the same (use cut and paste if
need be) if you're continuing a thread, change it if you're branching
significantly. How to tell? You be the judge. I change the subject lines
sometimes when I think a new branch is being started. --Rick
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-- Jack Hirschfeld jack@his.comWould you like to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar and be better off than you are? Or would you rather be a mule?