From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Fri Jul 18 2003 - 19:54:23 MDT
...in a moment of IMHO arrogance.
There is a definite lack of the sense of purpose and accomplishment in this
community forum that reflects what is actually going on in the sphere of
small groups and individuals that make it up. Many of us a) work our asses
off on extropic goals and b) are not entirely vocal about it (who has the
time to trumpet these days?).
Three months of listening to this list wouldn't give you i) the impression
that much of anything is actually going on, ii) how to help with the things
that are going on, iii) a fuller sense of the threaded pathways to near-term
and long term goals.
I mean, sure, you can run off and read stuff. Having read it, however, you
don't then have the knowledge to connect that reading to this community.
There's an enormous chasm for newcomers and even people who've been here a
while to leap. This, I think, is why you don't see this community driving
anything.
In the spirit of getting things done, here is the low-cost organizational
solution to this particular problem:
1) Someone becomes Grand Keeper of Extropian Secrets. Democratic process and
whatnot not really required; duties are not onerous. Should be someone
responsible and reliable.
2) The GFES gets a mission statement/miniFAQ/resource list written. Two
pages should do it. This is posted to the list once a month. I refer to you
to the CR list at www.calorierestriction.org for a truly excellent example
of this sort of thing. The purpose of this thing is a) to help the newcomers
find context, b) to help the oldtimers remember the context.
3) The GFES finds out what people are doing. I mean *doing*. Like I run
www.longevitymeme.org. There are at least twenty or so other transhumanist
webmasters I know of who can be said to be *doing* things. Mike has the Free
State Project, there are WTA cells all over the place, people organizing
conferences, two or three nanotech advocacy groups, some of us are even
figuring out the internals of the human body or building better rockets. I
mean, there's a lot going on.
The list of *doing* gets formalized and posted once a month. With contact
information, brief project descriptions, and How To Help paragraphs. As it
progresses and shows value, the GFES stops having to prod people, because
they come to the GFES with their updates.
---- Now, speaking as the voice of experience in managing online communities, this sort of stuff works. Really works. If you want an online community to get on the same page, get on with things and be constructive, this is the sort of start you have to make. Reason http://www.exratio.com/
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