There have been many times in the last few years when I have strongly considered unsubscribing from the list. I have seen many great list members leave, and many poor members stay. I have watched as the same subject has been debated over and over again within the span of months. I have seen posts that have continued far longer than they should have, and many which should never have been started in the first place.
One thing keeps me here.
No matter how many meaningless posts have been made to this list, there have been many which are ultimately beneficial to my well-being and haved shaped my future and perspectives on life. For that, I would sift through irreverancies and irrelevancies hundreds of MBs thick. If one post from a like-minded poster can potentially challenge my mind and lead me to check my premises, I'll stay. Alternately, if I can make a post to a forum which lets me do the same, I'll stay.
True, the signal to noise ratio has tended to lean more to the right in the past year or so, but for the quality of that signal, I'll stay.
Would I like to see more signal? Of course I would. I'd love to see high profile thinkers return to the list; I'd love to watch debates that have a tangible bearing on all attainable things extropic. But there is a reason why this list is open: one shouldn't have to possess any kind of credentials to interact with the most knowledgable on the list, and even the most inexperienced of "newbies" have provoked intriguing discussions now and again.
So for the sake of the signal, and the potential to create new and exciting ideas, I hope this list stays as it is. Creating additional specialized lists may help to a certain extent, but there should always be one forum to return to...a place for the knowledgable and the not-so- knowledgable to speak their minds --and I hope this remains it.