[Paddlewise] Grok Duel

This rudder/no rudder business just goes on and on and I would like to
propose something- a "Grok Duel" -  that might help everyone concerned. It
comes from Edward MacNeal, a regular contributor to ETC: The Journal of the
International Society for General Semantics.

The name comes from Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and means
to "to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the
process being observed ....etc."

MacNeal felt that most arguments and misunderstandings stemmed from the
parties not understanding each other's positions. He developed the "Grok
Duel" as an aid in understanding.

These rules govern  Grok Dueling;

1. Each party takes turns trying to state the other's position to the
satisfaction of the other party. Parties may only use positive statements
supporting an argument.

2. An unsatisfied party must state at least one particular in which the
statement fails.

3. The first party to make a satisfactory statement wins. If the second
party then replies with a satisfactory statement, the second party also
wins.

The opposing sides of this discussion can pick someone to represent them and
send him or her their arguments supporting the opposing position, They, in
turn, will post the arguments on paddlewise (this will cut down on list
traffic).  No one else will post to the list on the topic.  Jackie will have
to use one of her subtle chastisements to stop rogue posters.

We could use "Pros and Cons of Rudders and Moveable Skegs  VS No Rudder or
Moveable Skeg  on Sea Kayaks" as a topic. Because this will include a lot of
people maybe the first post should include a list of those on each side.
When over, Jackie could post the lists on the Paddlewise web site explaining
how we created it.

I have wanted to test this technique of MacNeal's on the Internet  for some
time as I believe that the Internet actually inhibits understanding because
of its "sound bite nature" and a tendency towards wanting to "win" arguments
or make "points".

For those interested the article describing Grok Dueling appears in ETC:
Volume Fifty-Six Number Two, Summer 1999.

If this experiment works I will write to Mr.. MacNeal who may even use
Paddlewise as an example of improved understanding in a future article. If
we agree to use this technique we should set a start date for I may ask
MacNeal to monitor the discussion if he has E-Mail or thinks it worthwhile.

Cheers,
John Winters
Redwing Designs
Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769



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