I seem to have puzzled Jim Michmerhuizen when I wrote:
>
>> The second issue is: How do we indicate silence in the conversation? Is
>> there some sign we can create to indicate unspeaking presence? This is,
>> in my opinion, one of the obstacles to dialogue in an electronic
>> environment.
Jim asks:
>Why is this an issue? One of the glories, to me, of internet conversation
>is that the *silence* is already there, always, surrounding me now even as
>I write this. It is impossible for me to interrupt anyone else, and
>impossible that anyone else could interrupt me.
>
>So I can't think of what, in an email dialogue here, would be analogous to
>the silence of, say, Michael McMasters' gong.
>
>The only analogy that comes readily to mind is that a thread will
>sometimes die down for a couple of days -- its contributors undergo a
>spontaneous and collective "silence".
>
>But I can't figure out whether that's what you're referring to. Help me.
>
Jim, when you say:
>One of the glories, to me, of internet conversation
>>is that the *silence* is already there, always, surrounding me now even as
>>I write this.
I can see you in my mind's eye, seated at the keyboard, reading my posting
and composing a response. I SEE you because you speak of it, but
otherwise, one of the "glories" AND one of the "curses" of internet
conversation is that we cannot see each other. So, if I do not respond
you have no way of knowing if I am paying attention at all. Usually, this
does not matter. For a long time YOU said nothing on this list, and I
wondered - even "aloud" - if you were still out there. I only know Tobin
is not because he TOLD me so, and for all I know he may be lurking out
there anyway.
In the stream of this ongoing conversation, that hardly matters. But in a
conscious dialogue - in my opinion - it matters a great deal if people are
present and if they are attentive. But they may be silent. If I can't
see them, how can I know whether silence is rumination or absence?
Interruption is not the issue; active silence is. There may be no way to
overcome this, but I needed to put the issue on the table.
--Jack Hirschfeld Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore? jack@his.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>