I post a daily collection of delicious links to my blog and my readers are consistently thanking me for them. I'm not so arrogant that I think my blog is the only one that should be read. I like to share the stage with other news in my blog's area of focus. - Douglas Karr via twhirl
I used to do posts that highlighted the "best of" Google Reader shared items, but eventually figured if people wanted them, the shared feed had RSS. - Louis Gray
I use my Delicious bookmarks both as a placeholder and as a share of interesting links. They also represent who I am.. - Ernie Oporto
To clarify, I was just having a moment of irritation there. Who I am to tell you what to do with your blog? Do as you see fit. However, as a voracious RSS reader, I simply can't subscribe to any blogs that splice...I don't have the time. It just makes me sad because I see some good blogs doing still doing this...I don't want to have to unsub. but as of today, I am definitely making some changes about who stays in the reader. - Sarah Perez
And your threat of "unsubbing" is designed to do.... what? Sorry. But it's amusing when bloggers talk about unsubbing if demand X is not met. Unless you write the people you are unsubbing, they won't even know. And are even far less likely to care. - Allan Jenkins
I get where you're coming from Sarah. I sometimes feel the same way. But I've actually starting looking at what individuals are bookmarking on their blogs. Thomas Vander Wal comes across some nice enterprise 2.0 posts I don't see. - Hutch Carpenter
Pet peeve eh? yep. I got this one too. - Elliott Ng
@Allan - It's not a threat. As I clarified in my comment here, I'm really not trying to demand anything of anyone. I just had a moment of irritation and posted a tweet. So many of my "unread" items says "Links From..." *sigh*. I try to follow a lot of feeds, but it's too much to thoughtfully look though all the links posts. @Elliot pet peeve? Heck yeah! ;) - Sarah Perez
curious how sharing del.icio.us links in a blog is any different than google reader shared links. i think it's up to the publisher - and if you follow publishers through ff, you could just hide del.icio.us or j through them quickly if you ff thru greader. 2 cents. - Steve Long
I actually use my delicious links as separate blog posts into my Tumblr blog. Lots more people read that blog than read my FriendFeed. - mrshl
Inspired by muxtape, each tumbltape is created from the latest songs on a users tumblelog. As new songs are uploaded, we will automatically update your tumbltape playlist. - Jay Cruz
It looks like is going to be like a "series" of commercial type thing. I think. Maybe something like the Geico commercials? I really have no idea though. - Jay Cruz
hm, you might be right, maybe it's the first and they'll get better as it goes along... but still, IMHO this is a very weak start - Jason Kaneshiro
I just want to know if I'm missing something, so far, it seems not - associating it with the TV show would be doing it too much justice. - Jason Kaneshiro
This writing sample analyzer takes a sample of your writing and then calculates the number of sentences, words, and characters in your sample. As it's calculating these statistics it makes estimates as to how many syllables are present in each word. Using these numbers, it then calculates the Flesch Reading Ease, Fog Scale Level, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, which are three of the most common readability algorithms. Simply supply a sample of your writing up to 5,000 characters and then click "Analyze." - Jay Cruz
Wow - cool title for a web browser! : ) - Erhan Erdogan
Erhan, i think that ff is promoting blogging. what's the point in ff? it's commenting. it's easy-ass and people want opinions via comments :) commenting is the core of sharing. it's a debate :) - Kemal Yaylali
I just make a quick edit to the post at the end. I want to make sure people understand the lesson here so it isn't repeated. I think that point may have been lost originally. - David Risley
Nice edit. An enviroment, or culture, of respect is exactly what is needed. But that will not come automatically. It will take time. - Roberto Bonini
David: OK, I guess that you're allowed to use a word that connotes a group of people to slam something but then I'm not allowed to point out how vile that use of that word is to me and others and how, historically, language EXACTLY LIKE that led German society down a nasty path. I was just in Berlin, why don't you come and walk down the path with me and see the historical use of language and how corrosive it can be? Can't we aim for something a little higher here? And a block is a perfect instrument to use. - Robert Scoble
I don't allow my son to use that kind of language in my home. Why should I allow it here? A block is akin to kicking people out of my house who use language I object to. If you had noticed I removed the block after you apologized. Still haven't reinstituted it, but wow. Way to make a mistake, get it pointed out to you, then attack the messenger. - Robert Scoble
I think the issue here is two-fold. One, we should be more careful in atributing blame when we see things like that, taking care to find out the facts FIRST. Two, before saying/writing things like that, we should consider others. Now I'm NOT suggesting anything - people have the right to say whatever they want (that includes Scoble), but there has to be a reasonable limit to how far things go. PC in general goes a wee bit too far IMHO. And I'm not taking any sides here. Just saying - Roberto Bonini
Roberto: sorry, but my mom is German. Her mom stood up to the Nazis and if more had, that society wouldn't have gone downhill. I imagine there are more than a few who are "gay" here who are offended when people use that word to connote negative things, as David did here. That's not language I'll EVER put up with in spaces I interact with. - Robert Scoble
Um, Robert? Get a sense of proportion here. The man apologized and admitted he was wrong. - Diane Ensey
Diane: yes, he did, but then after he did that he proceeded to blog about it and made it a big deal again. I was willing to let it drop. He wasn't. He made a mistake, acknowledged that, then attacked me for being PC. Sorry, but I won't be one to put up with that language. Too many people died for that kind of slippery slope crap. - Robert Scoble
Robert, he apologized. Get over it. And, come on, if more people had stood up to the Nazis, more people would have died. That wasn't a regime that was going to back down from pressure from common folk. You know that. Don't liken David to a Nazi because he made one misstep. - Gregory Pittman via twhirl
nice Godwin's Law reference in the comments.... second those remarks - Jeff Quinton
Scoble: We all see things on FriendFeed which we don't like. Especially with this election season. If we deal with it like adults, it works out. I have admitted it was stupid for me to use that word. I won't be using it again in that way. HOWEVER, trying to compare my tweet to the Nazis is ridiculous. That is dangerous political correctness taken way too far. Yes, I was wrong, but I can't sit here and let Nazi comparisons to me go without response. In this case, the messenger went too far. - David Risley
I find the use of the word "gay" like that to be offensive, however, I think in the grand scheme of things it's a tiny little offense. One which I'm sure I'm guilty of myself using other words. One difference that Scoble may possibly be missing is that while folks who use the word "gay" in a slangy derogatory sense may not be fans of homosexuals, they don't hold them with the same evil contempt that the Nazis held Jews in. - Tad - just Tad
I'm not as worked up but I have to say this response doesn't really do you any favors. You seem to be saying that it's okay to say offensive things to the right audience. We're with the guys, so it's fine to call women skanks? Ghey, even by the citation you provide, has its roots in the homosexual pejorative. So if you're on homophobesRus, and not FF, then you can say ghey and gay? I think the motto is not to use hurtful and/or offensive language regardless of the audience. - AJ Kohn
Everyone screws up. Trends are what matter and David has shown consistent value as a FF member. That said, I also appreciate Robert's ethical stance. It's all good. - Sprague D
On balance, I'd say that more historical damage has been done by people trying to control speech than by people speaking offensively. - Avdi Grimm
The folks who really hate gays (Tim Lahaye's bunch and others) would never use the word "gay" in such a slangy sense. So, using "gay" like that is NOT the same or even remotely similar to the way the Germans felt about the Jews. There's no cult of ideology behind it. It's just a simple, lazy word. The real folks to be afraid of are the religious fundamentalists who have come out and said that homosexuality is a bigger threat to the country than terrorism. - Tad - just Tad
Sprague D: I, too, appreciate Scoble's ethical stance. I really do. Don't anybody take my blog post as me saying that Robert was wrong for hitting me for the use of the word. Its just the way he did it. - David Risley
Avdi - I disagree. I think Scoble is right that words are incredibly powerful. I just think he's worked up in the wrong direction. Offensive speech used by people powerful enough to inject it into "normal" society is incredibly dangerous. That's what the Nazis did with their hatred of Jews. Folks on the internet saying something is "gay" aren't trying to inject any hatred into society. - Tad - just Tad
@Tad: I agree and disagree. Words are incredibly powerful. But while folks on the Internet saying something is 'gay' may not be trying to inject hatred into society, they are essentially passive carriers. They perpetuate a word, knowing or unknowing, that can be hurtful. I think it's often just not truly thinking about what that word means. I see the same thing happen when someone says something is 'retarded'. - AJ Kohn
@Robert - I respect the fact that you were offended by the use of the word, but the comparison to Nazi's is a bit overboard. Remember, the Nazi's had an agenda and skillfully used language to gain control. I doubt that David had any agenda behind his use of the word and at worst can be accused of being insensitive and ignorant of the impact of such words. - Jim McCusker
@Robert - At the same time, I can understand your heightened sensitivity after returning from Germany and the impact on your family. Just trying to have some balance here. - Jim McCusker
I'm no linguist, but I don't think the slang originated from the older meaning (lighthearted and carefree). That's clearly not the intended message when people say something is gay. David's post is good, except that I still don't think he realizes the problem with the slang. On the other hand, freedom of speech is one of our most treasured values and words only hurt if we let them. - Logical Extremes
Jim: you really do need to go to Berlin and study how the Holocaust happened. It wasn't Nazis at first. It started with standard old hateful ideas and speech. I guess I'm not good at communicating this because I was just there. I wasn't talking about the Nazis. They came AFTER the speech was allowed to exist. Another point of view? There's enough slurs and hate speech on the Internet. Want some of that stuff? Go to Digg or YouTube or someplace else. I don't want to see that stuff here. - Robert Scoble
Tad - I definitely agree that treating ignorance with the same level of instant angry vehemence as one treats deliberate offensiveness is what gets people written off as mindless PC-bots. The key to constructive communication, on the internet as well as in real life, is charity: assuming good will until proven otherwise. - Avdi Grimm
The 1938 Media video did make me wonder though if Scoble has blocked Loren for dissing people of mass. Actually, when the video started, Loren reminded me a bit of Freddie Mercury and I thought he was going down a different path... - Logical Extremes
"Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics ... Even if you win, you're still a retard." - martinmedia
Logical: speech against groups hurts and, if accepted by the community, can move down the slippery slope. I'm not going to apologize for harshly standing out against this use of speech. I'd rather be on the right side of this line than the wrong one. In Berlin you can see what happens when too many are on the wrong side. - Robert Scoble
As much as David has the right to use whatever words he wants, Robert has an equal right to not want to see them. - Akiva Moskovitz
For those of us who can't afford a trip to Berlin right now, could you write something up that gives more insight into what you saw and learned while you were there? - Bruce Lewis via fftogo
Totally agreed with Akiva. I think we're all just throwing in our $0.02 which is ok too. - Tad - just Tad
Bruce: what I viewed was the Topography of Terror exhibit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T... -- it detailed the history of the Holocaust. How events progressed from mere hate speech (people calling Jews names, writing slogans on store windows and such) to minor irritant laws to more and more harsh laws which then led to the horrible acts we all should know about. - Robert Scoble
What I learned is that the best time to stop this kind of crap is early, in the speech phase, when it's easy to stop (let's face it, none of us died in this thread). - Robert Scoble
Robert - It's not my intention to get into a history lesson (and yes, I'd love to visit Berlin someday when I have the means). My point is based on the intent of the speaker. You are correct that hate speech was leveraged in Germany, but the intent was already there. 'Gay' didn't originate as a derogatory word and still has multiple meanings. Are you offended when a Brit smokes a 'fag'? Should they stop using that term because American's also use it in the same derogatory manor as 'gay'? - Jim McCusker
Robert - Just saw your comments to Bruce and totally agree. But David's use of the word wasn't intended or directed as hate speech. I don't think anyone reading his slang thought he was referring to homosexuals. This is the twist of logic that I'm not following in your argument. - Jim McCusker
This is a whole lotta nonsense. Hitler's rise to power wasn't the result of poor word choice. And in the contemporary context, the authoritarians are the people who diligently try to police what other people say. - Rob Sterling
Robert, I cringe when I hear people say that things or other people are gay or retarded (or other similar "innocent" epithets). But the response needs to be thoughtful and rational. If the response fails because it is too extreme or because of real biases, and the offending behavior persists, well then it is the reputation of the speaker that is at stake. - Logical Extremes
@Robert: Thanks so much for protecting me from hearing language that someone, somewhere might find mildly offensive. What I find offensive is equating word choice with rounding up over 6 million people and butchering them. This sort of superficial political correctness allows people to attack the messenger, rather than read the message, and allows actual substantive wrongs to be glossed over by tempest in a teapot activism. - Jason Carreira
I have to agree with Jim McCusker's comments. - Roberto Bonini
If you take a look on wikipedia, you'll find a huge list devoted to ethnic slurs and derogatory terms. If you are anything, there's probably an insult for it. If people want to use these words, it's their right. So I do disagree with those wanting to limit free speech. But people also have a right not to listen and for that, we have the hide button :) - Cains
@Scoble "I'd rather be on the right side of this line than the wrong one." Apparently, you lack the understanding that when you are on the far extreme of EITHER side, they become mirror images of each other. READ: Fascism and Communism. I also GREATLY resent the fact that you imply the only way to learn about the Holocaust is to go to Berlin. Just because you had to go to Berlin in order to understand the political and socioeconomic beginnings of the Holocaust does not mean I have to. - Mattie Kenny
Last, I'd like to add that your comments make you sound just as ignorant as David did. David's use of the word "gay" in no way is on the same level of the derogatory terms the people of EUROPE used against Jews and Slavs. Let's not forget how many Poles also died during the Holocaust. Everyone seems to like to forget the Holocaust wasn't just about eradicating Jews. But now I'm off on a tangent. - Mattie Kenny
O.K. Kids. Deep breathes. That's what I say to our baby Hawks when drama begins spoiling the otherwise jovial atmosphere. - Mrsth
context and intent, people! that's what matters - Cee Bee
Hey Alex, you get a load of the anarchists going nuts over there in the comments? Yet another political affiliation that apparently hates me now. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark : I did. I used to have an anarchist in one of my social groups, years ago. He pretty much hated me, not for the least reason for my smiling toothily and reminding him that while his kind favoured steel-toed boots, mine favoured long arms and were known to be gun-nuts, and as such any state of anarchy would likely favour my success over his. They hate to be reminded of such things. - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
I suppose that if you hafta choose a political affiliation that wants to distance themselves from you (for WHATEVER reason :-p), the anarchists are the one to go with. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark : It's not a SAFE choice, but it may be the best one. Except Eric the Half-a-Bee has started calling me an anarcho-fascist, which is just confusing enough to be amusing. - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
See, and you said you never got called cool stuff like proto-fascist neocon media whore. :) - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
@Mark : Hmm, good point. You should pop on BSU some night and call me creative things! - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
As usual, Chris gets the big picture. - Chris Baskind
Chris is a tech superstar that I listen to deeply. He is excited by Google's moves and lays out the poor execution on the Mozilla side of the fence. - Robert Scoble
What I missed in the Chrome comic was a mention of browser add-ons like Firefox's. Surfing the web without Adblock Plus is hard to imagine. - Ole Begemann
or without the delicious add-ons... or the evernote add-on... but at least bookmarklets are (likely?) to still work. - Justin Long
The comic was aimed squarely at devs. There was little mention of what would make end users choose Chrome over IE. - Paul Grav
Best read so far, been waiting for a commentary like this... - Kevin Cearns
Gee, Ole... why wouldn't Google want you running AdBlock Plus? Can't imagine. ;) (Now, I agree, add-ons are cool, but as a publisher, I'm not going to weep over that one...) Anyway, I wouldn't count Firefox out. Obviously, what Google addresses is the performance/reliability side and building around apps. Both FF and Chrome are built around standards, both closely married to JavaScript for what they do next. I think this could be a great rivalry, frankly. - Peter Kirn via twhirl
They talk explicitly about plugins on pages 29-32 of the comic so you should be able to have your AdBlock. I seriously doubt Google cares that much about AdBlockers -- which makes up an extremely small percent of the overall market, and which is probably made up of people who don't click ads anyway. - Chris Messina
Chris: I suspect by plugins they mean Flash etc. and not Firefox-style extensions. But I hope I'm wrong. - Ole Begemann
Will they, wont they. Time will tell. Who do you want to hate today? - Steve Blamey
Interesting article. More choice = better for the users. But I think that you are over-hyping the death of Firefox. As far I can tell. Firefox 3.0 is much better than Firefox 2.0 and Firefox 3.1 will be better than Firefox 3.0. Multi-process, V8 and native Gears support are definitely a step forward but firefox is part of an ecosystem so I would not count them out (A lot of people said that Safari meant the death of firefox and firefox is doing much better today then back them). I look forward to revisiting this post in 18 months and see how the mozilla team/community proved you wrong! - Edwin Khodabakchian
Hmm, well, I didn't claim to foretell the death of Firefox at all. In fact, Firefox will likely continue to gain marketshare and attention (as the web is still expanding). One of my points is that Mozilla missed the opportunity to be the foundation of Chrome -- and will now have to play catch up -- instead of set the agenda for what's next. - Chris Messina
Do you think that was a technical decision or a control decision. From the last couple of interviews I have seen of John Lilly, I think that he has a really clear vision around performance, usability and ecosystem. Performance is coming in 3.1. Usability is driven by some of the concept Labs has been pushing out and ecosystem come from the fact that there are 100s of extensions to firefox and a really vibrant community around firefox. That is a very unique blend. Chrome has made some good progress around performance but there is not much innovation around usability and extensibility. Google has proven with Android acitivities and cross application data sharing that they are capable of innovating...but it will take before those things make it to Chrome so while firefox might have to play catch up in part of the architecture, Chrome will have to play catchup in others. - Edwin Khodabakchian
I am using chrome right now, and I really miss my shareaholic addon as well as my stumbleupon bar. hopefully the developers get crackin for plugins for this browser. - James Campbell
I'm hoping to see some good progress from Mozilla. I do worry a bit about them fish-tailing and not being able to say no to developers (whose needs are often very different from regular folks). We shall see.
@James Campbell:There will be a need for web hooks, no doubt... and places to insert additions or modifications to your browser experience -- I don't really doubt that (some standardization there would be nice too). - Chris Messina
there's nothing wrong with being a nerd / geek / dork! revenge of the nerds ftw! - Mona N.
I refuse to admit that an Apple nerd is the second iteration of the original geek. I'd buy that the geek and the nerd both fork from the same dork tree, though. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Also, say that second sentence five times fast out loud. :) - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
+1 Mark. The internet is seemingly filled with 'geeks' who can't fix their own computers. (I said can't, not won't) - Yuvi
Funny >the geek and the nerd both fork from the same dork tree, though. - Russellreno
Very nice! You could replace the D&D by a deck of Magic the gathering in Geek 1.0 - João Almeida via twhirl
Geek 1.5 ("The Transitional"): 1. Trusty Palm V (in all its form factor glory) in hand, 2. Inserted into casual conversation: "AOL! - Pssf! Not even on dial-up anymore -- once you go to BroadBand, you can't go back! And High-waters, w/ pair of scissors applied, have become DYI shorts that are the new source of fashion ridicule. - Micah Wittman via twhirl
If my ADND gaming group is any indication, the game is still D&D, but character sheets are on the computers. I fully believe I combine the best of both worlds; with a Tablet PC my character sheets are both digital and handwritten. I've got to admit the spreadsheet users have it nice, when it comes to stat penalties and recalculating...uh, I think I should shut up, now. - MiniMage
Um no and i don't really care if they choose a musician :Mad ! - Victor
I certainly hope you are using that word in it's original context, that of happy or good... and if so, I agree, it is a good way! - John Worthington
Anthony, yes, perhaps "ghey" would be the better spelling. - David Risley
If David you are saying that it's kinda "happy" then I agree and if you say it's kinda "homosexual" then I think that's a good thing. Now, if you think that calling things "gay" is equal to something not good then I have to say that your thinking is not good. Need to rethink your world view. - Robert Scoble
It would probably be in your best interest to avoid that terminology in the future David. You are bound to run into conflict with it. - Simian DA (Amber)
Simian: I think David needs to be sent on a trip to Berlin to study Germany's history and where it went wrong. The use of language against other people is horrible. I won't allow it to be used that way here. David is very close to getting a block. - Robert Scoble
This just earned David a block. David, you really need to go back and study Nazi world history. How you can use a perjorative against any group without expecting to see consequences is pretty over the line in my book. - Robert Scoble
Dude. It's the best explanation of a browser I've ever seen. I can't wait to see Ponzi's reaction to it, if she'd like to make it all the way through (though I do believe it'd be easier to digest as a single PDF). - l0ckergn0me
I gotta head out, but guys, seriously, let's not turn this into a political correctness debate. I meant lame, stupid, etc. I was not, in any way, referring to homosexuals. Guess I need to leave the slang out of FriendFeed from now on. - David Risley
David: when you use language that you don't understand the roots of you come across as not only hurtful but stupid. Whenever you say "gay" it comes across here as "homosexual." That's been a word used in United States to ONLY mean that for decades. - Robert Scoble
And yes, if anybody thought I was referring to homosexuals, I apologize. It was in bad taste, in retrospect. - David Risley
It grabs attention much better than black and white script on a page with a bold headline. It's a great way for people to take notice and guess what? It worked. - ::Kristen::
you can justify your ignorant use of such a term, but it only serves to alert me that you're 11 and haven't been taught better. is that the angle you're going for? i still can't believe almost a decade out, people are 1) still using that offensive term and 2) defending said use. - faboo mama
I am so tired of people using "slang" like this and excusing it by claiming "oh, I didn't mean anything bad." It's the same as calling something "retarded," or "ghetto." I don't like any of those words used as a pejorative, even "jokingly." Grow up, people! - Jim Milles via twhirl
I thought it was very hardcore geeky of them. I don't know if it is gay, but I go all gay for google services. :) - Jay Cruz
Bashing comics in a geek forum? Not sure that's the best tactic to get your point across. - Brian Norwood
Regardless, it's obvious why the word "gay" came to be used the way it has by teenagers and others and you used to sound "hip". It meant "queer, different, lame" just as homosexuals are considered the same by that group. It was not as if someone wanted another word for "lame" and gay was just picked out of thin air. You're smarter than that, and I know your smarter than to think writing that word in that way to the extremely educated users on FriendFeed/Twitter wouldn't be problematic. - Brandon Werner
Brian: Yah, I made two huge gaffes in one tweet. Not my day. - David Risley
Brandon, I do agree. The intellectual side of me, of course, knows that. Sometimes my stupid side tweets without thinking about how it can be taken by others. - David Risley
I just read the comic, and for me, it worked. A lot of information was delivered, and with the benefit of interesting drawings, I felt that I got more from this than several pages of a White Paper. - Henry Burger
I was so excited to see more of Scott McCloud's work. He does a great job of explaining why the browser is better in ways that laypeople can understand. I only found it ironic that one of the pioneers of transitioning comics into the digital realm ended up making a 32-page print comic to tout a new browser. Note that I would find it a lot less ironic if I got a hold of one of the print copies. - Kevin Fox
It was an architecture document narrated by Engineers, disguised as a comic. I was thinking as I read it "I should do this with my stuff" :-) - Brandon Werner
"gay" is used frequently in australia interchangebly with gh3y and other variants. hey Scoble, the US's prudish view doesn't reflect the world. - David Petar Novakovic via twhirl
Comic book idea is a stroke of genius. - Mike Reynolds
I thought it was pretty clever too. It's just funny. And different. Anime and Manga have made "comics" quite popular the past few years. - Jaemi kehoe
@David Petar Novakovic (dpn): So, what you're saying is that Scoble getting all up in arms about something being 'ghey' is faggotry of the first order? (Sophistry is fun! Irony is fun! My gay friends pwning me in Call of Duty and snickering in chat that my camping spots on Bloc are ghey is ... not so fun, but funny, and I'm willing to accept that.) - Alexander Williams via NoiseRiver
So I take it the Puritans in this thread prefer that language stop evolving? Frankly I'd rather see gay (and especially ghey) used much more often in a humorous or ironic context. This'll help marginalize the few people remaining on the planet who actually would use it as an implication that someone's sexuality is a valid measure of their societal worth. This whole thread is ghey if you ask me. - Anthony Citrano
"At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries." - Mike Fruchter
Ah, I was wondering why they would announce such a buzz-worthy thing on a US federal holiday and without any actual downloadables. - Paul Reynolds
To me, being smart is a measure of how you well you can analyze/respond in a given situation.
How well can you take all your knowledge and experience and either create or react with the greatest effectiveness. - Shey
Getting smarter involves realizing how much you don't know. - Mark Trapp
Mark: no. The first step to getting smarter, that is, increasing one's fount of knowledge, is to first identify what one doesn't know. If you think you already know something, that something is no longer a target for inquiry. To become smarter about a topic, one can't believe one already knows about that topic. You're not increasing your knowledge by questioning people who disagree with you when you think you know a lot about a subject: you're just putting on a show. True knowledge lies in realizing that one doesn't know anything: thus being able to inquire about everything in earnest. - Mark Trapp
Mark Trapp: see, this is where I think we are using different terminology. To me, "smart" is very skills and capability based. I don't think you can become "smart" about a topic. I think you can become informed, knowledgeable, or even an expert about a topic, but the definitions of "smart" that I read about described cognitive ability, not the acquisition of knowledge. I think people are mutating the meaning of "smart". - Mark Dykeman
Mark: I understood your point, but you're not going to get smarter by merely being confrontational with people: challenging assumptions, debating, or whatever else you want to throw in there. It's not enough to simply "question authority." You also need to be pre-disposed to obtaining knowledge. It's actions plus disposition which allows one to get smarter, not merely actions. That disposition begins with realizing how little one knows. - Mark Trapp
But really, I agree with Mark D. I think of being smart as being intelligent. Does it take intelligence to be able to memorize huge quantities of data and to recognize where the holes are and fill them in? Or is intelligence more about being able respond and interact with your environment in a way that produces a positive outcome? - Shey
Mark, right, but I think it's more substantial or inherent than that. Keeping with my Platocrates theme, there's the idea that the vast majority of people in the world, let's say 80%, are not pre-disposed to gaining knowledge: that is, it's not interesting to them. Those people do not benefit from getting critical analysis tools: it's like giving a mass spectrometer to a 10 year old. The other 20% would: they can use those tools to first identify their predisposition and then move on from there. Using the same analogy, those people would be everyone who went to college and took a class in Physics. Very, very few people really master those tools, say 1% of the 20%. Those are the truly smart people, or, in this analogy, those people who went on to get PhDs in spectroscopy. - Mark Trapp
Its all about definitions. I distinguish smart and intelligent. Intelligent is someone with certain amount of knowledge - say above certain level - not necessarily very agile or capable to manipulate or analyse that knowledge. Smart is someone who might or might not have certain knowledge but is (very) good at manipulating, analysing and using that knowledge in different situations. So a smart person might be better in real life than a person with more knowledge but less brain muscles. - Hayk Hakobyan
