Participation: It is desirable that the discussion has as many participants as possible. For that reason, they should not be dominated by just a few participants. Side conversations tend to be distracting and should be avoided. — Alkis Piskas
I came across a very interesting reference on the subject and, since Discussions are the heart of this place, I believe this is a good place for submitting it. — Alkis Piskas
Thanks a lot, Javi!What a good thread, Alkis! I do not understand why you didn't have any reply at all. — javi2541997
You are right.I think it is not only good for keeping this site with quality threads but also for the moderators in general, because - sometimes - they lack of having arguments on discern which thread deserves to be on the main page, in The Lounge or even removed. — javi2541997
I believe that too. People like more to discuss with "friends", independently of how interesting and useful a topic and its description by the PO is.[Re Participation] Well, this point never gets taken seriously. I think each thread would have more or less participation depending on the author, not the content itself. — javi2541997
But it's not a thread. It's an article and that's why I have posted it in the 'Article Submissions' section.
Yet one would expect at least a simple acknowledgent ... — Alkis Piskas
This is why I prefer to use the INBOX for personal exchanges. From the amount of chit-chats I see in here, I believe most people here never use it. — Alkis Piskas
I believe that too. People like more to discuss with "friends", independently of how interesting and useful a topic and its description by the PO is. — Alkis Piskas
It is desirable that the discussion has as many participants as possible. — Alkis Piskas
When you’re teaching always assume there is a silent student in the class who knows more than you do.
...wherever the argument,like a wind, tends, thither must we go. (Republic 394d)
To remain silent may be an important form of participation. One in which one thinks about what has been said rather than thinking about what to say. — Fooloso4
activity depends on the number of replies — javi2541997
it can end up in absolute forgetfulness, passing one page and another, and then disappearing in the endless information stock of this forum. — javi2541997
I bet that if one of the famous and common "philosophers" of this site ... — javi2541997
Right, but what is the connection between activity and importance? It is easy to post something that will generate a lot of response, but this can be a poor measure of the significance of the thread. — Fooloso4
I was not aware that there are any. But famous or not, I agree that some members grab attention and others go unnoticed or are deliberately ignored. Those who are ignored certainly play some role in this. — Fooloso4
Added: I am speaking in general terms, not about the author of this thread, with whom I have had some interesting discussions. — Fooloso4
a diversity of ideas and opinions and stimulate new ways of looking at issues among the participants — Alkis Piskas
well-supported — Alkis Piskas
Well, I must not complain. Yesterday I received an acknowledgement from T Clark. (But only after you have rocked the boat! :smile:)Yet one would expect at least a simple acknowledgent ...
— Alkis Piskas — javi2541997
As I realized yesterday, when I was looking for that article, one has to open the "Artrcles Submitted" section to see it! And I don't think this is what people use to do ...I don't remember seeing your post on the main page — javi2541997
This may be true, but it is about guidelines as you yourself say. The post though was an article and not guidlenes, for which BTW only the TPF administrators can post. It is an article about "elements that are considered important in a discussion and distinguish a good discussion from a poor one". as I said.First, it should be noted that the guidelines were written for teachers leading classroom discussion. I think the following claim is questionable for both classroom discussion and forum discussion: — Fooloso4
Because one participant is better than none. And two participants are better than one! :smile:[Re "It is desirable that the discussion has as many participants as possible."] Why is this desirable? — Fooloso4
OK, OK. Again, these are not guidelines or rules of conduct that one must abide to. One can get from that whatever inspires or gets remidended of him/her. In other words, it's not a subject to be discussed about. If that were the case, I would have posted it in the regular Discussions section.There are several questionable assumptions underlying this, including: — Fooloso4
Right. But I belive the key element here is "conscience" rather than "self-knowledge".In my opinion it is better to have enough self-knowledge to know when to stop talking and listen. — Fooloso4
Sure, there may be. But you can;t do anything about it, can you? And even if you could, it wouldn't have changed anything, would it?When you’re teaching always assume there is a silent student in the class who knows more than you do. — Fooloso4
They might be. I'm not willing to analyze this. As I just said to Fooloso4, these are suggestions, ideas, criteria regarding a good discussion. Each person may have their own. The question is if they work and are effective, at least for the majority of people. And I believe the ones I presented --which are not mine-- are applicable and quite effective and I believe acceptable by most people.The problem is that points 1, 2 and 3 are in conflict with points 4, 5, and 6. — Isaac
That's true. I have indicated a couple of times to my interlocutor that we have deviated from the topic, but they believed that what we were talking was "on track" as you say. But this doesn't mean that there mustn't be a kind of rule that reminds to stay on track, does it? :smile:So keeping a discussion on track according to one set of views on those first matters tends to work against that latter. — Isaac
I don't know where are you applying the element of logic to here, but it made me realize something that I wish to add to this topic: These "rules" --if you want-- are in fact so evident for most intelligent people, that they can be actually considered as just "reminders". :smile:Looking at data and drawing a rational conclusion from it is simply not that difficult — Isaac
It is an article about "elements that are considered important in a discussion and distinguish a good discussion from a poor one". — Alkis Piskas
A goal of a discussion if to have everyone involved and participating in the discussion.
these are not guidelines or rules of conduct that one must abide to. — Alkis Piskas
... there are several elements in the process of discussion which serve to distinguish a good discussion from a poor one
Sure, there may be. But you can;t do anything about it, can you? — Alkis Piskas
The question is how applicable/workable and effective these rules or elements are in practice. — Alkis Piskas
The article says "It is desirable that the discussion has as many participants as possible", not everyone. That would be impossible, anyway. Then is an indicative element. It shows a direction, a desirability. Opposite to it is "as less as possible". Which of course is undesirable.A goal of a discussion if to have everyone involved and participating in the discussion. This is a common but questionable assumption in the philosophy of education, a vestige of a factory model. A way of measuring productivity. — Fooloso4
It is applicable to any discussion forum according its structure,size, rules, etc.How well does this translate to a philosophy forum? — Fooloso4
No one can require from anyone to change their ideas, beliefs, assumptions or any personal trait in order to participate construtively to a productive discussion. False assumptions, defective reasoning or lack of knowledge are in the game. One needs only to follow and apply the elements --or as many of them and as well as possible-- that make a discussion smooth, productive and constructive.You can change your assumptions and attitude, which might change what you say and how you say it. — Fooloso4
How well does this translate to a philosophy forum? For one, there is no requirement for someone to pretend to be interested in a thread or to say something in order to count as participating. In addition, there is no expectation that members know enough about a topic to have something to say. — Fooloso4
The article says "It is desirable that the discussion has as many participants as possible", not everyone. — Alkis Piskas
One needs only to follow and apply the elements — Alkis Piskas
I think there could be two groups of members: one group where the people don't take part in discussions because they don't have enough data in the discussion itself (5 % or 10 % of the overall) and those who don't answer because you are not friends with (90 % or 95 %) — javi2541997
To remain silent may be an important form of participation. One in which one thinks about what has been said rather than thinking about what to say. — Fooloso4
But then I noticed that almost no one is following those guidelines, and the OPs that do follow them receive much fewer replies. This doesn't mean that the "research" model for OPs is suboptimal, but that model probably produces more pondering and silent listening, which in turn produces ambiguous silence. — Leontiskos
I think there could be two groups of members: one group where the people don't take part in discussions because they don't have enough data in the discussion itself (5 % or 10 % of the overall) and those who don't answer because you are not friends with (90 % or 95 %)
— javi2541997
I don't think that the decision to respond or not divides in this way. Since the same topics come up over and over again, some members don't want to rehash it. And some topics are simply not of interest or too much work will be involved trying to disentangle things. In some cases it is not a matter of being friends but of having a good idea of where a member stands and how they will respond. — Fooloso4
But then I noticed that almost no one is following those guidelines, and the OPs that do follow them receive much fewer replies. — Leontiskos
Nonetheless, other users, - more famous or original than me - posted similar threads but they got hundreds of replies. Why did this happen? — javi2541997
Sometimes it seems as if it is not the OP that generates the interest so much, but the first 2 or 3 responses. — Tom Storm
I disagree with Focus and Participation. — I like sushi
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