Thursday, October 14, 2004
Paralysis
The Presidential campaign in the US got me thinking about conditions in which there is little chance of building relationships across a divide. In this case there are ABBs (Anybody But Bush) and pro-Bush zealots screaming at one another without pretense of objectivity. Passion rules, and common sense doesn't.
There are many such instances throughout the world and people dying because of unbridgeable gaps in places like Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Chechnya. The question is how does one get started building a relationship in situations like this? That is why I have written and posted this essay for your consideration on online-pr.com. I wish I could be optimistic, but realistically, it approaches an impossible mission.
The challenge, it seems to me, as the world heads toward network-centric relationships is how to forge consensus when individuals and groups use the network to sow dissension rather than reasoned argument. The recent paper I posted on network-centric relationships on online-pr.com does not tackle this issue, and it needs to be investigated. A network invites flaming rather than discussion. People feel safe behind semi-anonymity of the written word. Thus, the very tie that joins us sets us apart -- a peculiar outcome that communicators need to accept and deal with.
There are many such instances throughout the world and people dying because of unbridgeable gaps in places like Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Chechnya. The question is how does one get started building a relationship in situations like this? That is why I have written and posted this essay for your consideration on online-pr.com. I wish I could be optimistic, but realistically, it approaches an impossible mission.
The challenge, it seems to me, as the world heads toward network-centric relationships is how to forge consensus when individuals and groups use the network to sow dissension rather than reasoned argument. The recent paper I posted on network-centric relationships on online-pr.com does not tackle this issue, and it needs to be investigated. A network invites flaming rather than discussion. People feel safe behind semi-anonymity of the written word. Thus, the very tie that joins us sets us apart -- a peculiar outcome that communicators need to accept and deal with.
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