Re: Goodbye TECHWR-L

[Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Despite the fact that I agree with Arlen P. Walker's excellent advice, as
reposted by Jane Carnall, that those choosing to leave TECHWR-L should do so as
quietly as possible, I think Andrew Plato was the exception. Perhaps the
exception that proves the rule, but the exception nonetheless.

Rather than extol Andrew's virtues--and he has some--or declaim against his
vices--and he had some of those, too--I think this is a good opportunity for
all of us to think about what this list is about, and how we can make our
postings more generally useful to the whole list.

When I first joined this list, I too was so sure of my opinions about
everything from Documentation Methodology to Project Methodology to Fonts, and
I freely shared my opinions in the belief that the world, and particularly
TECHWR-L, would be a better place if people just did as I did and saw the world
as I saw it. Not only did I give my opinions, but I also entered into the
debates and vigorously defended the RIGHT against the forces of ignorance and
evil.

That soon grew tiresome, both to me and, I suspect, to many others on the list.

So I rethought what I was doing on this list, what my purpose and goals with
respect to this list were. I decided that if it was an exchange of ideas, then
I could put my ideas out there and let them be debated, but I didn't need to
engage in the debate, especially when it degenerated (as it too often does,
folks).

Second, I decided that there were a lot of things I didn't really know or that
were subject to various interpretations, and that I didn't have to care about
every opinion that was either solicited or given. Personal preference is just
that, personal preference. Frankly, it doesn't MATTER what font you use, how
much white space you allocate to the visual presentation, whether you use Tool
X or Tool Y, whether you touch-type or hunt-and-peck. What matters is whether
your client/customer/user/reader/boss finds enough merit in the results you
produce to keep paying you. In my ideal world, you would all do it MY way, so
what do I care that the world isn't ideal and most of you poor, misguided souls
don't do it my way and are doomed to wander in the wilderness?

So, I decided to post, when I felt I could help someone. I don't really enter
into the debates, even when I have posted to a thread. Agree with me; disagree
with me; ignore me. It's all the same to me. I'm not going to waste my time
defending what is, in all probability, a personal preference or a personal
solution to a problem. If you have a different preference or a different
solution, more power to you. If, when I read your expression of your views, I
find that I like what you're doing or how you see it better than I like my own
take, I'll probably adopt it. Thanks for the insight and all that. If I don't
like what you've written, I no longer feel compelled to say anything about it,
especially if I don't have a better solution to offer.

Most of what we argue about is NOT objective truth. Andrew was as full of it as
anyone. He was also as smart as anyone. I'm sorry his ego got in the way of his
ideas at times, because his ideas and perspective were worth reading. However,
once he posted on a topic, generally, rational discussion of that topic soon
ceased. Worse, he would then jump in with all sorts of wild statements in
defense of the rightness of his position and the wrongness of every other
position. He contributed to his own list burn-out. Like too many regular
posters on this list, he had to be right.

Well, I've rambled on far too long, but I don't feel like cutting and editing
this. I have real work to do.

=====
Tom Murrell
mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/index.html
Page Last Updated 03/14/02
--If the U.S. is such a horrible country, why is is we get asked to solve everyone else's problems?--(me)

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