[Tagging] An after-burner meta-discussion

[stevea]

There's a lot of hot air that gets blown around here and simply "goes nowhere."  It is sparks and fuel and sometimes disagreement and rancor and at times I've seen this turn into consensus (by true dedication, sometimes by surprisingly few people, even one or two at a time).  Rarely, does it turn into consensus.  Most of the time it is like "gas venting into space" or a burnt flare of methane from an oilfield.  I don't know how much of that function of "flare-off" is natural, healthy, part of what simply happens, part of chaff from the wheat, part of what ends up as cull on the floor or sawdust in the wind.  I don't know.

Sometimes, we find ourselves talking about how consensus is generated, how we build more harmony.  This is ridiculously, highly elusive at times, even most of the time.  But, like choosing the best seeds from the harvest must sometimes be done, or how if you are willing to burn triple-time fuel, you can boost the jets to double-speed using their exhaust as hot air with more fuel, you might want to do this.  Something like that.

Are there gold nuggets to extract from these discussions?  Almost certainly.  We've done it before, we "capture the magic" that might otherwise be lost as multiple, different, difficult threads of conversations here, with wide, diverse opinions that deservedly should "go someplace harmonious."  But it is often like a faucet left to spray all over the floor.  I don't like "wasted resources."  However, if it is too much effort to turn an earnest attempt at better focusing "hot air being needlessly vented off to space...a waste..." into gold from the dross, well, let's not do that.  Maybe a tagging discussion list is simply (largely) a valve for blowing off hot air that goes nowhere and that is the natural order of things.

But if there are any nuggets to be found, hey, if somebody can invent an after-burner and make it work somehow, someday we might find ourselves needing to be in a big hurry and we turn on those afterburners and find ourselves going fast, just like we ought to be going.  It's about "channeling consensus," something I earnestly offer my best to do.  (So, this).  If you don't like the topic or find the conversation unwelcome or maybe "this is too hard," well, that's OK, tune elsewhere, please.  This is difficult.

I honestly won't be surprised at crickets chirping (about this new thread).  Though, all discussion is welcome.