[Reader-list] Proposal for a reader-list protocol

[Prem Chandavarkar]

1.  If you see a post with which you disagree, your disagreement should be
phrased so as to also imply an acknowledgement of the person's right to
speak.

2. If you see a post whose language or attitude you find offensive or
unpalatable, just ignore it.  Over a period of time, that will be the best
filter to sort who is likely to speak constructively on this list.

3. The reader-list is a space for an exchange of ideas.  Therefore, speak in
order to learn, not in order to convince.

4. If your desire is to convince, then please think about whether a
discussion forum is a place you should intrude upon.

5. Attack issues, do not attack people.

6. When you respond to a post, do not just negate it, but engage with it and
build on it in order to throw up a new idea into the public commons that is
the reader-list.

7. When you post a new message on a fresh subject, do so only if you feel
that critique or dissent will be helpful to you.

8. And finally, remember that we interact on this list through language; and
language always has two dimensions - speaking and listening.  Participation
in this list requires a commitment to both dimensions.