Comments on: What Is The Value Of “Conversation”? http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/ Exploring The Intersections Of Technology and Society Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:12:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: bentrem http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-23966 bentrem Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:07:19 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-23966 "<i>Is conversation as important to business as Web 2.0 wants you to believe it is? </i>"<br>I can't imagine a commercialized/monetized "conversation" being any more meaningful than what you might get out of Eliza. (The AI genius who invented it/her died recently; I regret not having his name on the tip of my tongue.)<br><br>Let's face it, a site that's profit-focused will slant every transaction/interaction/exchange to that end, if only getting you to click on an AdSense or eBay or Amazon link. It's completely contrived ... the worst of degraded community formally optimized and systematized. #borg #matrix #oligarchs<br><br>On the other hand: real conversation, I mean the sort of exchange you might have in the dark of a lazy night by a campfire after an active day ... the sort of narratives that are lyrically meaningful, poetically revealing ... that's the sort of exchange that folk use to learn about themselves as much as one another ... for my money *snort* that's the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of being sentient.<br><br>What I'm attempting with "participatory deliberation" (google that term, go ahead, do!) is to formalize the declarative stuff so it cannot be swamped by flames and such, which (I hope) will make the subjective narrative clearer. So, for example, we could exchange hard-edged data about, say, day-care and latch-key kids, the nuts and bolts of policy decisions, along-side the fuzzy/mushy bits ... like how a single parent being torn apart can be left feedling abandoned ... the beating heart of our civics ... politics as though people matter.<br><br>So ...<br>... there!<br><br>:-) “Is conversation as important to business as Web 2.0 wants you to believe it is? “
I can't imagine a commercialized/monetized “conversation” being any more meaningful than what you might get out of Eliza. (The AI genius who invented it/her died recently; I regret not having his name on the tip of my tongue.)

Let's face it, a site that's profit-focused will slant every transaction/interaction/exchange to that end, if only getting you to click on an AdSense or eBay or Amazon link. It's completely contrived … the worst of degraded community formally optimized and systematized. #borg #matrix #oligarchs

On the other hand: real conversation, I mean the sort of exchange you might have in the dark of a lazy night by a campfire after an active day … the sort of narratives that are lyrically meaningful, poetically revealing … that's the sort of exchange that folk use to learn about themselves as much as one another … for my money *snort* that's the ne plus ultra of being sentient.

What I'm attempting with “participatory deliberation” (google that term, go ahead, do!) is to formalize the declarative stuff so it cannot be swamped by flames and such, which (I hope) will make the subjective narrative clearer. So, for example, we could exchange hard-edged data about, say, day-care and latch-key kids, the nuts and bolts of policy decisions, along-side the fuzzy/mushy bits … like how a single parent being torn apart can be left feedling abandoned … the beating heart of our civics … politics as though people matter.

So …
… there!

:-)

]]> By: Tim http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-23965 Tim Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:28:12 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-23965 Yes. I beleive we are at the beginning of such a shfit--only it's hard to see something when your in it. Typically, we don't recognize paradigm shifts until after we've gone through them. But I see what's happening to the news industry as a result of info democracy and new media toolsets, and I can't help but think this is exactly how it must have been a fews years after the orinting press arrived on the scene. Of course it took many more years before the real impact of that event was felt and acknowledged. Yes. I beleive we are at the beginning of such a shfit–only it's hard to see something when your in it. Typically, we don't recognize paradigm shifts until after we've gone through them. But I see what's happening to the news industry as a result of info democracy and new media toolsets, and I can't help but think this is exactly how it must have been a fews years after the orinting press arrived on the scene. Of course it took many more years before the real impact of that event was felt and acknowledged.

]]> By: sbspalding http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-23964 sbspalding Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:07:46 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-23964 That's a great point. I guess a more specific question would be whether these "new tools" are really a paradigm shift, and if so why? Open question. That's a great point. I guess a more specific question would be whether these “new tools” are really a paradigm shift, and if so why? Open question.

]]> By: Tim http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-23963 Tim Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:15:04 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-23963 "It's all just life with new tools."<br><br>Come on. Books were published and read long before the invention of the printing press, but it was the printing press that changed the world forever. The "tool" IS the thing, and often times is the catalyst for a paradigm shift. “It's all just life with new tools.”

Come on. Books were published and read long before the invention of the printing press, but it was the printing press that changed the world forever. The “tool” IS the thing, and often times is the catalyst for a paradigm shift.

]]> By: Matt http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-23962 Matt Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:36:30 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-23962 Conversation is a catalyst for innovation. New ideas are spread all the time and the new web just makes it easier for ideas to travel. Conversation is a catalyst for innovation. New ideas are spread all the time and the new web just makes it easier for ideas to travel.

]]> By: What Is The Value Of “Conversation”? | Blog Your Blog http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-15468 What Is The Value Of “Conversation”? | Blog Your Blog Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:01:35 +0000 http://howtosplitanatom.com/questions/what-is-the-value-of-conversation/#comment-15468 [...] mediabistro.com: FishbowlNY wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt I recently had several fine discussions on Twitter about the value of conversation. In this case, I mean Conversation with a capital C. The type of Conversations that boosters of the Web 2.0 mythos say is changing the way that society is being run. While I do agree that new tools are making it easier and more valuable for consumers and businesses to start a dialog, I have always had a hard time buying into the entire backstory that is being woven around conversation. With this in mind I ask [...] [...] mediabistro.com: FishbowlNY wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt I recently had several fine discussions on Twitter about the value of conversation. In this case, I mean Conversation with a capital C. The type of Conversations that boosters of the Web 2.0 mythos say is changing the way that society is being run. While I do agree that new tools are making it easier and more valuable for consumers and businesses to start a dialog, I have always had a hard time buying into the entire backstory that is being woven around conversation. With this in mind I ask [...]

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