In a message dated 2/26/1999 7:02:55 AM Mountain Standard Time,
ehunt@ces.clemson.edu writes:
<< am going to a Prejudice Reduction Workshop today.....wonder if I should
include academia vs SB in the discussion? >>
Elaine,
A discussion of "academia vs SB" (including all people who work in businesses
that must make a profit to survive) is a very appropriate topic for a
Predjudice Reduction workshop. Any one who has spent any significant amount
of time in both environments has witnessed the attitude of superiority that
can exist in either environment. Both sides have their role in the progress
of technology and its adaptation to the uses of society . . . but occasionally
some individuals tend to come to the conclusion that their particular role is
inherently superior (and therefore, they must also be superior) to those who
toil in the other role.
Sometimes our own predjudices can cause us to misinterpret the motives of
others. Since I am presently in the entrepreneurial role, I tend to be
sensitized to comments from academia that imply distain for the effors of
business people. I am reminded of my reaction to your recent reply to Brad
Fox's message about the availability of a website his company provides that he
described as providing help to the user who is investigating whether he can
justify the costs of an RP system . . .
At 12:48 PM 2/24/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>>Justification is a great topic for this list. It's very important to examine
>>www.goactua.com. I'd be interested in your feedback.
>
>Kinda reminds me of Carl Deckard's proposal for a system justification
>program.
>All it had to do was output SLS. GOACTUA does the same?
>Subliminal sales at it's best? Gotta change that name to GOTHERMOJET.
>
>I love it.
>
>Elaine
Brad (and others) may occasionally use this forum to describe the services
their company provides and may also occasionally stray across the line of
politeness by describing the weaknesses of someone else's technology rather
than simply describing the strengths of their own services. Ridiculing their
efforts to earn a living and provide information that could help others on
this list could be interpreted as being equally impolite. In those times when
we have differing viewpoints, it seems to me the universally respectful
solution for all of us would be for us to simply provide the reader with
information describing where he can find alternative sources of data that are
presented in a positive way. If I correctly understand the underlying purpose
of the RP-ML, it is to provide the participants with access to a wide variety
of facts and opinions.
Your description of the costs of purchasing, operating, and maintaining RP
systems and the personnel required to run them in an academic environment
offers the businessperson an opportunity to understand and relate to the
problems you face . . . and the consequences that could befall you if your
program ceases to be "profitable" to the academic world. I'm sure there are
many business persons who could provide equally descriptive accounts of those
same costs of operation. Examining all of the factors that influence the
survivability of academic programs and entreprenurial ventures could be
educational and eye opening to individuals of either persuasion, provided they
are offered in a positive, helpful way.
The end of predjudice begins when a person decides that they still have much
to learn and then resolves to accept truth wherever it may be found. Complete
truth can only be found when we are able to honestly and fairly evaluate all
sources of facts, opinions, and experience. Predjudice is built upon the
assumption that we have no need to continue examining all sources of
information or points of view. When that assumption is removed, truth,
understanding, respect and real progress will naturally follow.
Ken Miller
Miller Technologies
395 S. 1100 W.
Farmington, UT 84025
(801) 451-7997
foamcaster@aol.com
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 22:51:05 EEST