(September 02, 2008) Good conversations have give and take. It’s hard to do that when there’s a lot of shouting. It’s hard to do that when manners get left at the door.
“An ad hominem argument consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim.” (Wikipedia)
A filibuster is a tactic for disrupting conversation (or the legislative process) by rambling on and on and on. A filibuster works by taking all of the air out of the conversation.
A bozo filter (or “kill file”) is a tool that allows the reader of an online conversation to completely ignore the posts of a list of people. “Her filibuster was so obnoxious that I added her to my bozo filter.” “His ad hominems were so extreme that I added him to my kill file.”
The bozo filter makes freedom of speech possible in online communications. Freedom of speech requires the freedom to ignore, the freedom to not have to listen. Diversity flourishes best when individual choice is the foundation of the conversation.
This weekend’s strong responses to a filibuster made me dream about having a bozo filter for my online communities. With a bozo filter, conversation moves forward smoothly because it can route around the interruption. Bozo filters are a good technical implementation of the philosophy that makes the internet work.
It might be best to think of the conversation that went haywire as an example of a flaw in the technology.
