Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!pacbell.com!lll-winken!telecom-request From: 0003209613@mcimail.com (Sandy Kyrish) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: The Press and Numbers Message-ID: Date: 21 Mar 91 23:39:00 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 24 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 224, Message 8 of 10 As soon as I posted my last message, I knew I'd catch it from somebody, but I honestly didn't expect it to be Higdon -- whom I had heretofore thought of as a "voice of reason" type. Instead, I feel real disappointed that he hastily and angrily misinterpreted what I was saying. Yes, John, technical/technological errors need to be corrected. What doesn't need to happen is for technologists to deride, snicker, and snort at the non-technologists who make the errors. We don't help our cause one bit by appearing arrogant or snide. Yes, John, misinterpretation and bad knowledge about telecommunications wreaks havoc. But *technologists* are the only people who can correctly disseminate information about technology. If we cut ourselves off from "the great unwashed" and prefer instead to hang out in our technically literate groups, we will not properly transfer information about what's right and what's not. And I do not shun accuracy. I pursue it rigorously as a doctoral student and professional researcher. My area, John, is teaching non-technical people about technology, and helping people choose appropriate technologies. So I like to think I'm doing my part to spread the accurate news.