Mirror Post # 6: Dialogue and Wikis

First off, I thought we had a very interesting class discussion pertaining to dialogue last evening. I was really most interested in learning about Tacit Assumptions, those being the things we may be thinking about, but are not always voiced. I think those happen a lot for me. On a daily basis I think about things that I am unaware that I am thinking about and they usually fly through your head at a million miles a second. "What if I or maybe we should" seem to be how these phrases start. Another popular is "if only."

With that being said, how does one voice those assumptions without int erupting the dialogue. I think the point of the lesson is to first acknowledge them and in a polite manner figure our how to incorporate them. I believe "Chris" would ask that you phrase those assumptions in a manner conducive to saving the dialogue. Like fore example, maybe say, "have you considered." Block tells us when dealing with resistance it is important that you acknowledge the resistance, but in a more positive manner in which it is being presented.

This past weekend, I had an interesting discussion with an old friend about wikis. His comment was, "wikipedia is the devil." My question to him was how so. It is an excellent tool to disseminate knowledge in a collaborative manner. His argument was that anyone can go in and upload whatever they please. Be that as it may, there are a lot of fools in cyber space, but the responsibility for being good stewards of information must be that of those who wish to preserve it. After going around for a few minutes we reached a decision and perhaps and assumption that at some point a third party needs to verify information that goes into a wikis.