Re: Dissent and multiple viewpoints

[Josip Rodin <joy@entuzijast.net>]

On Fri, Jan 26, 2007 at 03:26:19PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>         Have we really forgotten what it is like to jointly work on
>  something when every one is not a rah-erah cheerleader? Where we can
>  have people contributing who, not being fully convinced, provide the
>  loyal opposition viewpoint, without being dismissively labelled as
>  whiners?
> 
>         In a large project it is easy to carve off small groups of
>  very like minded people, and doing so might even be nicer, since
>  there is no differences of opinion; but then we have strong
>  differences emerge between largely unrelated groups of people who are
>  well along doing things at odds with each other.
> 
>         I think the ability to pull together on something even when
>  one is mildly skeptical of the outcome would be invaluable to the
>  strong proponents, since these skeptics provide an alternate
>  viewpoint and also help provide a modicum of check and balance to
>  irrational exuberance that might otherwise result.

>         Dismissing co-operative people as whiners and and
>  obstructionists if their views are not absolutely in line with the
>  proponents loses the projects which display such characteristics of
>  potentially useful contributions.

Seconded. :) I figured I'd also write something illustrative to avoid making
this an AOL message, but that would just detract from the point.

-- 
     2. That which causes joy or happiness.