[dundee] Taylug Weekly Articles 8 - POMS

[Rick Moynihan]

On 06/02/2008, Gary Short <gary at garyshort.org> wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
> > From: Arron M Finnon <afinnon at googlemail.com>
> > Sent: 06 February 2008 13:44
> > To: dundee at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > Subject: [dundee] Taylug Weekly Articles 8 - POMS
> >
> > It just seems that whatever is said on the subject brings more
> > controversy and circled debate.
>
> Yeah, circled debate = stalemate, which is why I tried to draw a line under it, but to no avail, LOL.

My apologies here for continuing to fuel the fire, however I'm not
sure that the debate is circled, as new arguments and supporting
premises are being offered on both side.  For example the ground seems
to have shifted slightly towards arguing over the ethics of
experimenting with the educational systems of developing nations.

> > Just in case i didn't make this clear.  This is not a personal attack on
> > anyone, i'll not be saying that again, but if we add all the hours we've
> > all spent on debating if the OLPC is right or wrong and used that time
> > in a positive way, we all could be proud of it.

Admittedly the debate was unnecessarily polarised to begin with, but I
think we have seen some good arguments on both sides, and agreement on
several points.  I see little reason not to engage in the debate
however, particularly if both sides can derive insight from the
argument.  I dispute the notion that argument isn't a constructive
activity; though I take the point that participating in a joint
project might be a more productive activity :-)

I am however also happy to draw a line under the argument if it's
considered taboo or boring :-)

R.