Re: internet should be an ideal way of communicating

[Richard Moore <rkm(at)quaylargo.com>]

Bernard Clayson wrote:

> > The internet should be an ideal way of communicating
> > ...... but the usual
> > human reaction is to react instead of
> > consider.

Hi Bernard,

Thanks for the dialog.

Consider the role of a facilitator in a face-to-face session. Rosa Zubizarreta has described the primary role as being a 'designated listener' - 'holding the space' so that everyone is heard, maintaining a shared thread of dialog, a shared focus. Without such facilitation, we just have a 'normal' meeting,  where people 'react instead of consider'.

It seems to me that most Internet dialog is just that - a meeting without facilitation. If this observation makes sense, then it would be desirable to figure out how a facilitator might do their job in an online setting. For openers, such a facilitator would need to be someone that everyone trusted to be both sensitive and neutral.

rkm