Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!uunet!wang!fitz
From: fitz@wang.UUCP (Tom Fitzgerald)
Newsgroups: news.groups
Subject: Re: late votes for *.AQUARIA
Message-ID: <759@wang.UUCP>
Date: 27 Dec 89 00:07:52 GMT
References: <3181@cpoint.UUCP> <70VMJ@splut.conmicro.com> <37433@apple.Apple.COM> <23700@gryphon.COM>
Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA
Lines: 49

richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) writes:
>But what do you think should happen, Chuq, if rec.aquaria gets
>all the (easy|beginner|quick) questions and sci.aquaria provides
>a forum for month long discussions on redox potentials, chlorophyll
>absorbtion spectra and other subjects that certainly bored and confused
>me when I was a beginninig aquarist ?

(I know I'm not Chuq, but this one's easy even for me.)  Here's what
"should" happen, barring any fundamental change in human nature:

Phase 1:

The beginners post their questions to rec.aquaria and the experts, in
a friendly fashion, help them out.  Deep wizardly discussions occur in
sci.aquaria.

Phase 2:

The experts, getting tired of answering the same questions over and over
again, and seeing that they're spending too much time reading news,
unsubscribe to rec.aquaria and continue their discussions in sci.aquaria.
The amateurs keep posting questions to rec.aquaria, but none of the
experts are there to answer.  The few helpful responses are posted by
other beginners, who turn out to be often wrong, resulting in many dead
fish.

Phase 3:

The beginners buy more fish and realize that the experts are all
over in sci.aquaria, so post their questions there.  The experts still
don't want to answer beginners' questions, and flame the beginners for
posting in the wrong newsgroup.

Phase 4:

Sci.aquaria now contains a large quantity of beginners' questions ad
flames.  Those experts without lots of spare time unsubscribe to
sci.aquaria because of the volume, and when they do post, say "Please
e-mail responses because I don't follow this group".  In response, they
get flamed.  Those beginners who still post to rec.aquaria get more
dead fish.

Phases 3 and 4 repeat indefinitely.  The only way out is to create a single
fishy group, or to moderate sci.aquaria.

---
Tom Fitzgerald   fitz@wang.com          It's a mistake to believe that
Wang Labs        ...!uunet!wang!fitz    the die is cast.  In reality, it
Lowell MA, USA   1-508-967-5278         is injection-molded.