> I'm thinking
> > >of something along the lines of a 'three strikes and
> you're out' (with
> > >which - judging by his e-mails - David Klein presumeably
> approves) rule
> > >for our mailbase: i.e. more than three messages in say
> forty-eight hours
> > >on the same subject and you're suspended for a month.
> Such a rule would
> > >have made my in-box look positively organised over the
> last few weeks
I love that idea, but it is not very practical.
One reason is that I don't have the administrative talent to apply such
rules. And I hate to think what flurry of messages would be occasioned by
my attempts to apply such rules.
I do regularly remove names when I get notification that messages to that
name are not being delivered. But if that proves to be a computer error
the indvidual rejoins. List 'owners' have no power to stop people joining
without making it a closed list.
I suddenly envy the Chairman or Speaker who can control by selecting
speakers.
I don't find very widespread support for any expulsion, and as list 'owner'
I would be very reluctant to make what would only be a gesture. I think
the matters raised have to be dealt with as matters of statistics.
The discussion seems to have parallels with eugenics. And as many will
know many big names in statistics were associated with the eugenics movement
including Galton, Pearson, and R.A.Fisher. British society and
statisticians have rejected eugenics in the 20th century, though not the
methods, i.e. regression, that were developed to support eugenic theory.
[Note that there is a chapter on this by Mackenzie on this matter in the
Radstats 'Statistics and Society' book published last year.]
Radstats members have largely focused on the factors that produce
inequalities in society. I think we should be confident enough in the uses
we make of statistics and evaluations of these statistics to be able to deal
easily with those who assert that evidence of social inequalities indicates
genetic differences.
Ray Thomas, Social Sciences, Open University
Tel: 01908 679081 Fax 01908 550401
Email: [log in to unmask]
35 Passmore, Milton Keynes MK6 3DY
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