A note of apology

CSGnet Archive CSG2004
1

Message
[From David M. Goldstein (2004.02.12.2323 EST)]

Dear CSG Listmates,

I apologize for participating in this exchange with Dr. Bill Williams. I can’t believe how unfriendly and unproductive the emails have become, including mine.

I will not respond to any more emails about the topic. The list is being distracted from the activity of focusing on PCT.

I have no intention of doing or saying anything further about his language or way of communicating on this list, or in any other format.

It is entirely up to him how he wishes to communicate and present himself in a public forum.

I hope we all can move on to the business of the CSG list and “Let It Be.”

David

David M. Goldstein, Ph.D.

2

[From Bill Powers (2004.02.13.0621 MST)]

David M. Goldstein (2004.02.12.2323 EST)

···

–

I apologize for participating in this exchange with Dr. Bill Williams. I
can’t believe how unfriendly and unproductive the emails have become,
including mine.

I will not respond to any more emails about the
topic. The list is being distracted from the activity of focusing on
PCT

I know how you feel. I have simply shut off the flow from four addresses
to my own mailbox. It’s tempting to peek, but after 99 disappointments in
a row, looking at one more is not going to change the odds significantly.
Like you, I hate the things that I write (and think) in response to such
garbage, and to avoid the temptation I have arranged not even to see it
any more (spam blocker). If everyone who feels the same way did this, it
would probably go away.

This feels like a defeat, but the sense of relief outweighs
that.

Best,

Bill P.

.

I have no intention of doing or saying anything
further about his language or way of communicating on this list, or in
any other format.

It is entirely up to him how he wishes to
communicate and present himself in a public forum.

I hope we all can move on to the business of
the CSG list and “Let It Be.”

David

David M. Goldstein, Ph.D.

3

[From Rick Marken (2004.02.13.0950)]

David M. Goldstein (2004.02.12.2323 EST) --

I apologize for participating in this exchange with Dr. Bill Williams. I can't
believe how unfriendly and unproductive the emails have become, including
mine.

I will not respond to any more emails about the topic. The list is being
distracted from the activity of focusing on PCT

I agree. And I think the only way to stay focused on PCT is to keep PCT as
the focus of our posts.

I agree with Bill Powers that the best way to deal with the garbage that is
being posted to CSGNet lately is to ignore it. But it's difficult to ignore
it (not reply to it) if you read it. After all, we are control systems and
we act to resist disturbances.

So you really have nothing to apologize for, David. You are just a normal
control system, like those who are creating all those garbage disturbances.
They create the disturbances because we disturb them with our replies, or,
as in my case, just with our being.

So I agree that the only hope for getting the garbage to go away from CSGNet
is to ignore it and focus on PCT. I think it is easiest to do this by spam
blocking but I don't know how to do this for posts coming from the
listserver. I'll look into it. But perhaps Bill Powers would be willing to
explain how he did it.

Anyway, remember that, like the periods of ugliness that have infested
CSGNet in the past, this too shall pass. I think the benefits of CSGNet, in
terms of the great ideas and insights that appear here regularly, far
outweigh the costs, in terms of personal attack garbage. We just have to do
on CSGNEt what we do at home: put the wheat in the cupboard and the chaff in
the pail.

Best regards

Rick

···

--
Richard S. Marken
MindReadings.com
Home: 310 474 0313
Cell: 310 729 1400

4

[From Bill Powers (2004.02.13.1246 MST)]

Rick Marken (2004.02.13.0950)--

blocking but I don't know how to do this for posts coming from the
listserver. I'll look into it. But perhaps Bill Powers would be willing to
explain how he did it.

I did it with my email provider, Earthlink. They have a free spam blocking
service, and you can put the email address of a person on a special block
list. This not only blocks direct posts. but also posts from CSTnet (to my
surprise).

You can also set up Eudora to shunt posts from certain sources into a
"trash" mailbox that gets deleted according to options you can set (for
example, when leaving Eudora), or into a "junk" mailbox that you can handle
manually. I don't know how other ISPs or email programs work.

Of course a person with more will power might just spot certain posts and
delete them without reading them. For a while I thought I would do it that
way, but no, I had to look. It's ridiculous to have this little parasite in
my brain that has to peek, and then react, but until I find the right
shrink I'll just have to make do with indirect methods.

Best,

Bill P.

5

[From Rick Marken (2004.02.13.1520)]

Bill Powers (2004.02.13.1246 MST)]

Rick Marken (2004.02.13.0950)--

blocking but I don't know how to do this for posts coming from the
listserver. I'll look into it. But perhaps Bill Powers would be willing to
explain how he did it.

I did it with my email provider, Earthlink. They have a free spam blocking
service, and you can put the email address of a person on a special block
list. This not only blocks direct posts. but also posts from CSTnet (to my
surprise).

I figured out how to do it!! What a great feeling. I hope it works.

Of course a person with more will power might just spot certain posts and
delete them without reading them. For a while I thought I would do it that
way, but no, I had to look. It's ridiculous to have this little parasite in
my brain that has to peek, and then react, but until I find the right
shrink I'll just have to make do with indirect methods.

Yes. I have the same parasite and it has cost me. You don't even want to
know how bad this stuff has gotten. I'll be very happy if the spam filter
approach works.

Best

Rick

···

--
Richard S. Marken
MindReadings.com
Home: 310 474 0313
Cell: 310 729 1400