[governance] The greatest threat in the world today to peace....

[Norbert Bollow]

David Cake <dave at difference.com.au> wrote:

> Norbert, you seem to be arguing that the IGC list has a definition of
> off-topic, but that the list itself should have no role in enforcing
> or discussing the application of that rule, as any discussion of its
> potential application is subject to the rule itself?

There is a tendency on this list for people who express certain kinds of
viewpoints to get shouted down. "Off-topic" is one of the complaints
that can be used for that purpose. This kind of social process is part
of what has created such an often-hostile environment on this list that
many people are very reluctant or even afraid of posting anything on
this list. I say this on the basis of having tried, during the Bali
IGF, to speak in person with as many as I could of the IGC's “silent
majority”.

The IGC charter puts enforcing the posting rules firmly and squarely
into the hands of the elected coordinators, and when some other members
of the list try to take things into their own hands by posting
complaints about certain postings being off-topic, that kind of action
is IMO itself a clear violation of the posting rules. (On the other
hand, I'd say that discussing the posting rules, their interpretation,
or proposals to change them, is within the range of allowed topics
for this list... although not necessarily a very fruitful activity.)

> Not quite Catch 22, but a similar form of rule reflexivity that
> deserves its own number perhaps.

One possible approach to address this issue is to have a separate list
on which such meta-discussions are explicitly on-topic. That will
minimize the degree to which such meta-discussions disrupt the
substantive discussions which the main list was created for.

Greetings,
Norbert
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