[wlug_org] First draft of WellyLUG rules and guidelines

[Damon Lynch]

On Thu, 2004-05-06 at 12:38, JP wrote:
>  --- Damon Lynch wrote: 
> 
> > No but the problem is that people have conditioned
> > themselves to react
> > in ways that at times can be very unhelpful for the
> > rest of us.  When
> > people get all fired up, what they lose is precisely
> > the freedom to
> > choose how to react.  Instead they are like a rubber
> > ball thrown up
> > against and bouncing off a wall.  These guidelines
> > are meant to increase
> > freedom, not take it away.....
> > 
> 
> I was kind of supporting you Damon, until I read this.
>  That last sentence is pretty weak dude.  Would this
> be the same way in which phone-tapping without a
> warrant makes America more free by stopping terrorism?
> 

Ok I'll spell it out more, but I don't mean to preach.  Conditioning is
the enemy of freedom.  People think they're free but they forget their
conditioning leads them to react in often quite narrow and sometimes
predictable ways.  This has been very noticeable on the list recently. 
Some people were kicking up a huge fuss about what I see as a minor
issue because (as I see it) they were conditioned by past experiences to
act out their fears, not what the reality was or could be.

I was hoping the guidelines would remind people that "hey, sometimes a
little conflict resolution goes a long way".  It's not just about being
polite -- it's about solving problems in a group in a way that does not
trample dissent or paper over differences.

I have noted that some of the strongest reaction against the conflict
resolution components is from people who have been in the thick of
conflicts regarding group formalisation recently, which I find very
interesting indeed.

Damon