Re: [ALSC-Forum] Monday outreach meeting

[Karl Auerbach]

On Tue, 7 Aug 2001, Esther Dyson wrote:

> I don't quite get the last question, but I certainly get the overall
> dissatisfaction.  The committee has the same problem (feature?) ICANN has:
> It can't speak for itself until it has come to consensus

This is what confuses me:  Human language and discourse are far from
perfect; withut any fault of the either the listener or speaker, ideas are
conveyed imperfectly.

Thus, it is a natural part of human dialog for there to be an exchange of
questions and answers as the parties try to discover ambiguities, to
clarify definitions, and to resolve misunderstandings.

When one observes a situation in which one party speaks and the other
party silently listens there is a tendency to believe that the listener is
not actually hearing, much less comprehending and understanding, what is
being said.

It is my opinion that people would be more secure in their positive
feelings about the ALSC if the committee members were to engage in
occassional forays into the e-mail forum in order to ask questions, ask
for clarifications, or even to engage in some constructive dialog to
focus or clarify a promising idea.

		--karl--