There is a saying in some circles 'positionality inhibits effectveness.' If someone gets one whiff of info on you, they can 'position' you into a pigeonhole and then judge you from one piece of info. Consider this, my friends: many users of the internet do not have the ability to determine who is saying what in an archived post. So, if you get in a thread saying for example, that you support the the current regime in Washington and someone heatedly responds to that statement with, perhaps, violent or obscene suggestions, you just may find yourself associated with views that are the opposite of what yours truly are. Worse, like happened with me, you will be in the Kaufka-esque position of never knowing how or when these judgements were made so you have no opportunity to correct 'the record.Just to chime in, that is an issue for me. I don't like that people (say prospective employers) can search the web for my name and find my posts to BDNOW. I hate to have to deny my interests, but I am a scientist right now so BD is not my professional public face.
Really, folks, do you think if you run for town counsel that people are not going to pound your name into google and come up with a bd now post that you may have made last decade and then arrive at conclusions about the entire you based on that hit? Does an effective knowledge of astrology, for example, instill confidence in townspeople in the US in their selection of a council man? Not in my town, that's for sure.
The positionality thing is about the closest you can become to re-creating yourself into a one-dimensional being.
Thanks, Chris. I wish you the best of success in your chosen field. I recommend that you listen to DEVO's SECRET AGENT MAN at least twice a week before you catch the 'EL.' -Allan
