Re: Improving the Extropians list

Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Wed, 16 Jun 1999 06:44:35 -0700

On Tuesday, June 15, 1999 9:01 PM Max More <max@maxmore.com> wrote:

>Rather than complain about the quality of the list (which certainly varies
>over time, whatever your standards or interests), why not offer
>constructive suggestions?

I have! Several months ago!:)

>So, again, let's hear some creative suggestions, taking into account ExI's
>limited resources. Comments on the above possibilities or entirely
>different ideas welcomed!

I will restate my previous suggestions.

  1. There should be a limit of three posts per day per subscriber.
  2. There should be a limit of 5K on all message sizes.

To avoid someone getting around either of these I also suggest 3) getting rid of the robot subscribe to the list. This way, one person can't subscribe multiple times. Subscriptions to the list can be approved.

Given that none of the first two rules impose a direct limit on contents, this should not censor the list. People can, if they want to yeild up longer posts, either put their stuff on a web page or ask interested members of the list to email them privately.

All of these rules will, in a way, create a self-organizing system, thereby being an example of extropy in action.:) Reducing the number and size of posts will most likely make members more frugal and create incentives for more economical means of communication. Hopefully, this will increase the quality of the list.

Cheers!

Daniel Ust