------------------------------------------------------------------------ December, John. (1993). Characteristics of Oral Culture in Discourse on the Net. Paper presented at the twelfth annual Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, University, Park, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1993. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c)1993 by John December. All rights reserved. You can print this for personal or academic use. Do not store this paper in any other information retrieval system. URL: http://johndecember.com/john/papers/pscrc93.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract This paper posits the existence of an emerging discourse culture, based in computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems existing on global computer networks. This discourse exhibits many characteristics of an oral culture. Although an oral culture is normally not thought of as relying on print, researchers have found orality exhibited in literate forms. Research in the field of CMC points toward CMC's emotive, expressive, and participatory nature. The fact that CMC is based not only on print but also on learned technical skills makes the oral qualities that it exhibits all the more surprising. This paper presents observations of a computer chat and a computer bulletin board system that illustrate qualities of orality in CMC. The implications of these oral qualities in CMC forums is that, ultimately, new discourse communities are created, with vast political, cultural, and social implications, recreating the immediacy of pre-literate cultures, but adding on space- and time-independence. Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 The Shift from Orality to Literacy 1.2 The Loss of Aural space 1.3 The Mingling of Orality and Literacy 2 The Emergence of Global CMC 2.1 CMC Characteristics 2.2 The Rise of Global Computer Networks 2.3 CMC Systems on Networks 2.4 Studies of CMC Discourse 3 Observations of Computer-Mediated Communication 3.1 Method 3.2 Internet Relay Chat 3.2.1 Subjects Discussed 3.2.2 Sample Internet Relay Chat 3.2.3 Internet Relay Characteristics 3.2.4 Newsgroup Discussion 3.2.5 Oral Qualities 3.3 A Sample USENET Discussion Group 3.4 Results 3.4.1 Subjects Discussed 3.4.2 The "Stupid Dialects" Thread 1 Introduction The shift from a primary oral culture to a literate one in ancient Greece led to a change in language and thought. Ong, Havelock, McLuhan, and others have characterized the resulting change in language and culture as a shift from the active, participatory world of orality to the linear, static world of print. According to McLuhan, the tedium of print culture was unrelieved until the onset of widespread use of radio and television in the twentieth century. Ong characterizes the changes in language and thought growing from the radio and television broadcasts as a secondary orality. This discussion posits the existence of a tertiary form of orality, exhibited in computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. This ter- tiary orality occurs in real-time computer conferencing systems and in asyn- chronous computer bulletin board systems. Although based on text, the dis- course in these computer-mediated forums exhibits many qualities of an oral culture. The existence of this text-based orality may imply that discourse need not be based upon sound in order to have oral characteristics. Rather, this paper shows that oral characteristics grow out of computer-mediated communication which gives participants greater independence over time and space than paper-based text communication. These CMC forums give rise to communities of people who participate with emotion, involvement, and expressiveness. In this paper, I present background information describing the shift from orality to literacy, focusing on the key technologies that fueled this shift. Then I present an outline of current research in the field of CMC which points toward its emotive, expressive, and participatory na- ture. communication. To illustrate these qualities of CMC discourse, I present present observations of a real-time computer conferencing system as well as a computer bulletin board system to demonstrate the oral qual- ities of CMC discourse. 1.1 The Shift from Orality to Literacy Before the invention of writing, human language and thought were shaped shaped only by oral means. The shift from a primary oral culture to a lit- erate one in ancient Greece came about because of the invention of Greek vowels in the 4th century BCE. The significance of the invention of Greek vowels is that they more closely represented the sounds of the spoken lan- guage than the Semitic alphabet upon which the Greek alphabet was based. With the Greek alphabet, texts could be made which matched written speech. This encouraged writing, and the standardization of the Greek alphabet led to widespread literacy (among elite males in Greece), the be- ginnings of a manuscript culture, and the permanent loss of primary orality in western cultures. The manuscript culture, and the limitations inherent in the distri- bution of manuscripts over time and space continued to the fifteenth cen- tury. In the 15th century, Gutenberg invented the printing press and revolu- tionized possibilities for the dissemination of written text. The manuscript culture became a print culture. 1.2 The Loss of Aural space It was the loss of primary orality that led to the loss of what McLuhan called "aural space." Although McLuhan mistakenly places most of the blame for the loss of aural space on Gutenberg rather than the Greeks, McLuhan's concept was that primary orality's world of involvement, participation, and expression was obliterated by print culture. Instead of a world of sound and involvement, the print world lent itself to linear thought, abstraction, and the separation of the knower from the known. 1.3 The Mingling of Orality and Literacy The distinction between orality and literacy is not a simple one. Like McLuhan, Ong (1977, 1982), Havelock (1986), and others have discussed the orality/literacy balance in terms of technological change, alienation from the oral life world, and separation of the knower from the known. These characterizations imply a categorical difference between orality and literacy. Other characterization of the difference between orality and liter- acy shows how the two can blend. Tannen points out that a there is truly a continuum between orality and literacy, based on how much the communicator focuses on involvement or message content (4). In her study, she showed how oral strategies grow out of emphasis on interpersonal involvement between speaker/writer and audience and rely on social context and shared interpersonal context for meaning. Literate strategies for communicating focus on content, using analytic methods emphasizing abstract terms (Tannen 5). Although modern western society is based largely on literacy, the oral and the literate intermingle. Technologies that depend on literacy for their development create opportunities for illiteracy to be less limiting. In popular culture, widespread television viewing and use of video tapes for instruction and information draw people away from text-based entertain- ment and learning. These technologies they enable large numbers of people to skip learning how to read and write and still participate in communi- cation. A decline in the ability to read and write makes oral means of communication_videos, sound recordings_more accessible and powerful. Certainly, entertainment such as television, films, videos, sound recordings, computer games, are far more popular than the reading of novels, plays, or poetry. We are entering a new era when the oral is more valued than literacy (Lakoff 259). Often, writing imitates oral discourse (Lakoff 259). In early twentieth- century fiction, such works as Joyce's Ulysseus display oral characteristics in print. This representation goes beyond just the representation of dialogue and creates a text which is textured with the feeling of aural space. CMC discourse presents another forum in which literacy can inter- mingle with orality. Just as the earlier technologies (the Greek alphabet, the printing press) changed the way people communicated and thought, so too does CMC. Like Joyce's Ulysseus, CMC creates a world, based on text, that exhibits characteristics of a primary oral culture. The difference be- tween CMC and paper-based text communication is not simply analogous to the difference between written versus spoken communication or literacy versus orality. CMC technologies transform thought and culture by engen- dering the creation of communities in which the participants, much like the participants in primarily oral cultures, can participate in emotional, expressive, and involving communication. 2 The Emergence of Global CMC McLuhan's vision of a global village (McLuhan & Fiore 63) and "informa- tion megalopolis" (McLuhan & Fiore 72) have come to exist in electronic form. Certainly, television, radio, and telephone networks have extend globally for much of the twentieth century. However, an information mega- lopolis cannot be adequately based solely on these media. Radio, television, and telephone networks are limited by time, space, and media character- istics. Commercial television and radio, one-way communication technolo- gies, work well for mass communication, but poorly for interpersonal inter- action. People can interact directly with telephone and shortwave radio, but only if participants access the communication channel at the same time (temporal simultaneity). Recorded voice communication (compact disk, tape) alleviates the problem of temporal simultaneity, however these media require that the participants possess the recorded media and compact disk or tape must be transported physically through space. Even unmediated interpersonal communication has its limitations, requiring both temporal and spatial simultaneity of the participants. These means of communica- tion all fall short of the global village of communication that McLuhan envisioned. 2.1 CMC Characteristics CMC systems create a global village because they transcend limitations of time and space. Computer-mediated communication systems such as Electronic Mail (EM), Computer Conferencing (CC), and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) provide participants with different ways to transcend time and space. Participants can interact real time with CC or asynchronously with a BBS. Mass audiences can be reached via CC or BBS. Small groups can interact with CC or EM. Current CMC systems do have the limitation of being largely text-based, although sound and photographs are routinely exchanged. CMC systems will eventually allow for multi-media and even virtual reality message content. CMC systems go beyond other forms of communication by allow- ing participants to choose to whom they communicate more flexibly. CMC systems allow participants to choose their communication partners (from among those who have access to CMC systems and networks) without ge- ographic, physical, or temporal constraints. The follow chart summarizes the_characteristics_of_electronic_technologies: 1 2 * * | Communication_Characteristics_of_Electronic_Technologies | Medium | Audience | Space | Time | ParticipantChoice | TV | mass | signal/cable | simultaneity | channel | Radio | mass | signal/cable | simultaneity | channel | Telephone| individual | signal/cable | simultaneity | individual | EM | individual or mass | network | storagelife | individual | RTCC | individual or mass | network | simultaneity | group | BBS | mass | network | storagelife | group 1 TV is meant in its commonly used form. There is interactive television 2 telelphone is used in its commonly used form. There is teleconferencing 2.2 The Rise of Global Computer Networks CMC systems (EM, CC, BBS) are the interfaces that people use to commu- nicate. Without computer networks, there is no channel for CMC messages to travel. Global communication via computer networks has expanded, resulting in an expansion of CMC discourse and the development of com- munities. Private electronic networks for exchanging data, such as the Elec- tronic Funds Transfer (EFT) system and company-owned computer net- works have existed for several decades. These computer networks were used for very specialized purposes by highly trained technicians. It was the development of early networks for research and education that first brought computer networks into widespread public use. The definition of the TCP/IP protocol as a standard led to widespread use of the Internet in organizations and educational institutions. The growth of the resulting network was rapid, the Internet grew at 20% per month. This widespread public use eventually led to use by less specialized users and uses. Widespread accessibility, so that today, it is estimated that several million people have access to an Internet or BITNET account. Many academic and public institutions are aggressively providing access and training. For example, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute auto- matically provides Internet accounts to all members of its community. 2.3 CMC Systems on Networks One important BBS is the USENET, available on the Internet, but dis- tributed over other (non TCP/IP) networks such as BITNET and FI- DONET. Computer bulletin board systems (BBS) have developed over the years as computer technology has advanced. Long the realm of hackers on local systems, BBS today involve people scattered across the globe. As computer technology as advanced, so too have the widespread use of the USENET system. The USENET is a global computer BBS, reaching more than an estimated millions readers in more than 26 countries. Subjects of discussed on USENET range from hobbies to scientific discussions. 2.4 Studies of CMC Discourse Research in the use of CMC systems have shown that CMC discourse ex- hibits participation, expression, and emotion. Hiltz and Turoff have described how in a bulletin board system (BBS), there tends to be (124): o more equal participation in synchronous discussions o more opinions tend to be asked for and offered o there is a great deal of explicit sociability of an informal sort on these systems Sproull and Keisler compared a two groups of people working to solve a problem. One group worked by using face to face and the other group worked with a networked BBS. Sproull and Keisler found that in the group using a BBS (119): o more ideas were proposed o there was more equal participation, o it took longer to make a decision, o more emotions (flaming) took place. Walther characterizes early research into CMC pointing toward less emotive for task-related activity. However, Walther points out that the lack of emotion in these studies was confined to experimental constraints. Field research points to more emotive qualities. Walther describes how CMC is expressive and relational through accumulated verbal and textual cues. 3 Observations of Computer-Mediated Communication This section describes observations of Computer-Mediated Communication on the Internet. First, some discussion of a lively forum for interaction_ Internet Relay Chat (IRC)_will be presented to show its oral qualities. Then, examples from USENET will be presented. These examples will illustrate the oral qualities of CMC, and how the discourse has emotive, participatory, and expressive qualities. 3.1 Method The purpose of these observations of IRC and USENET newsgroups is to connect the type of interaction on these forums to the qualities of an oral culture as described by Ong and others, as well as to illustrate the expressive nature of CMC. The steps to this investigation are: 1. Examine IRC by recording example subjects discussed an an example session. 2. Find examples illustrating Ong's list of characteristics of orality in USENET articles. 3. Find examples of emotions and involvement in USENET articles. 4. Collect several weeks' articles to the newsgroup soc.college: (a) Enumerate the types of subjects that are discussed in the news- group. (b) Examine a thread of discussion in the newsgroup. In the write-up of all these observations, I have changed the names of the participants. 3.2 Internet Relay Chat A forum for talk on the Internet called Internet Relay Chat (IRC) perhaps best exemplifies an oral culture in CMC. IRC is very much like a text-based Citizen's Band (CB) radio. People discuss many different subjects in real- time in different groups called channels. The IRC interface gives users the means to find out what subjects are being discussed and to join a channel or create a new channel and participate in a discussion. Participants in these chats can be separated by arbitrary distance. To use IRC, a participant: 1. Logs in to an Internet host. 2. Starts the IRC program. 3. Lists the channels available for discussion. 4. Joins a channel. 5. Interacts with other members of the channel by typing on the key- board: (a) IRC commands (preceded by a backslash) control participation ( leave the channel, list users on channel, send a private messages, etc.). (b) Text that the participant types which is not preceded by a back- slash appears on the screens of other members of the channel. 3.2.1 Subjects Discussed The resulting discussions range greatly in subject matter. For example, at Thu Jul 23 13:49:06 EDT 1992, the following list shows some of the 174 channels active at that time. In the list, the channel name is preceded by the #; the number of users follows the channel name. Following the number of users is an optional topic text, set by a member of the channel, to indicate to others what is being discussed. ****#c-64** #p1ump 1 ****#ASIA** #m1acedoBoycottn#asiansijoinahere1instead. everyone's a op ****#chechi** #1Bragiwe can2dance ****#c3p** #sh2aych 1 ****#freeline**1#Tolkien 1 ****#tehran** #3ROC 1 ****#Orc** #MS2T3K /MSG1ORC NOTE*toOsendnabnoteotoaKnightOrcrd the Sattelite of Love.... ****#Forfun** #1vegeda 1 ****#blaklife**1#gif Beep the2channel if ya wanna chat! ****#Largo** #o1ldenburg 3 ****#we** #BEA2R 1 ****#own** #no1thing 2 Tnu li sheket, ad iom moti ****Prv** #Wai2temma 1 ****#hmmm** #w1abbitpracticing1the artjofoHmmingi(hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmn wabbit for a thrusday lunch! *** #bala 2 At that same time, the channels which had a minimum number of three and a maximum number of six participants were: ****#tehran** #3gif 3 ****#Infocom** 5#SecrAnyeadventuretgamers?4 ****#LSD** #0 4 LSD:4My ProblemsChildc(buthshe'swstillamyhfavorite! ****#espanol** 6#NSYSAsadoUArgentino3en Israel, preguntar a AsadoBot ****#talk** #A6RGENTAIbunchNofAIdiots5and Hud. ****#uk** #fau3ern 3 ****#EU-Opers**6#Linux 5 Free 386 unix clone, type /msg linuxbot topics ****#[$B$?$K$7*3* #[$B$D$-[( 4 ****#Nippon** #3physics 4 ****#aussies** 6Prv 5 ****#** #netse5x Lost6Souls ****#friends** 3#services 6 ****#good** Pr3v right-o5 ****#Portal** #3initgame 6 Snacker is going on tour. :) ****#macintosh*4* #AppleIIgs 5 Nate has no life. ****#Crossdres*4* #NA-Ops 3 *** #US-ops 3 The significance of these lists is that they show the range of subjects discussed is great. The subjects discussed represent an active life world. Also, as Sproul & Keisler have observed, participants discuss less socially- acceptable issues (netsex, Crossdres). 3.2.2 Sample Internet Relay Chat In order to record some of the discussion on an IRC channel, I had to join a channel. I joined the #talk channel, which at that time had just two participants. I used an IRC command to adopt a nickname (zoom) for the session. Once I joined this channel, all participants the channel see the message: *** zoom (decemj@vccsouth06.its.rpi.edu) has joined channel #zoom I wanted to be inconspicuous, but if addressed directly, it would be considered rude not to respond. Following is the first part of the transcript. My responses are preceded by the single caret (>) (my nickname doesn't show up on my transcript of the session, but does show up on the other participants' screens). I apparently entered the channel right in the middle of a conversation: Hey howdy, zoom wabbit well i thought that you thought that i meant something else!!! > hi wabbit that was a confusing line i just wrote. i think what i meant and what you meant didn't mean the same thing and +we're all confused now. wabbit yes.. exactly. and now i know what u meant and you know what i +meant! hey Zoom > what kmoore: that's what i meant! hi zoom > hi wabbit ok.. now we are straight.```````````````````````````````( wabbit +and karen) well, thanks bentley Bear: No offense! You had just been quiet we are having MAJOR lag problems 3.2.3 Internet Relay Characteristics The difference from a purely oral form of this (CB radio) is that o IRC provides textual cues not present in CB radio o a name for the channel o an optional subject line for the channel o a notification of when someone enters or leaves a channel o the means to find out who is currently on the channel and what other channels they are on. o a written transcript of the interaction appearing on the screen before the participant, allowing the participant to reread something; this transcript eventually scrolls off the screen, but it could be captured and saved. As shown in the examples above, IRC lends itself to discussion that is not unlike discussion at social gatherings. IRC discussion covers a range of subjects close to concerns of people. Some participants to talk about things that they might not talk about in any other forum because of fewer social context cues. A typical conversation on IRC shows how it is not unlike a face-to-face talk. 3.2.4 Newsgroup Discussion USENET is a global electronic BBS. Participants in USENET post3 articles4 to newsgroups5 Readers can access the posted articles by using a newsreader pro- gram. Many such programs exist. All operate on the basic principle of offering the reader the chance to select a newsgroup and then select articles from that newsgroup to read. Newsgroups on USENET are named according to a hierarchical naming convention. For example, the newsgroup name 'soc.college' indi- cates that this group is part of the 'soc,' or social, newsgroup hierarchy, and that it is concerned with college issues. Soc.college is related to under- graduate interests. Another group, soc.college.grad, is devoted to graduate student interests. Like a physical bulletin board, the articles posted in the newsgroups range widely in their subject matter. A typical article is6 : |Article: 24926 of alt.romance |Newsgroups: alt.romance |Path: rpi!think.com!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!unislc!erc |From: erc@unislc.uucp (Ed Carp) |Subject: Re: Net Relationships |X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4 |References: <36337@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu> |Message-ID: <1992Jul11.052009.5080@unislc.uucp> |Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC |Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1992 05:20:09 GMT |Lines: 21 | |rr@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Robert Rogers) writes: |: Hello everyone I need some help. In about a week I will be finally meeting |: this girl I have been talking to for the last 4 months over the net. We |: have built up a relationship over this distance because we have so much in |: common, and just plain like each other's personalities. However, I am scared |: as hell, so anyone who has had similar experiences that have turned out good |: please tell me about them. I really appreciate it. | |Your fear comes from your expectations. Let go of your expectations - the |expectation that she will like you (and the cooresponding fear that she |won't), and the expectation that you will like her (and the fear that you |won't). Look at the worst thing that can happen. The *absolute worst* that |will happen is that you will like her and she won't like you, right? So what? |So you'll suffer for a few hours in her presence and then will have to get |over the disappointment. So get rid of your expectations - believe me, you'll |be a lot better off, and it'll take a lot of pressure off of her, too. |-- |Ed Carp, N7EKG erc@apple.com <-- preferred email address! |"In wildness is the preservation of the world." - Henry David Thoreau |** Member, Linux port team - uucp division ** :) 801/269-8125 3 post Verb: to place an item onto a bulletin board; Noun: synonym for article 4 article Noun: the text placed in a newsgroup on USENET 5 newsgroup Noun: a named partition of USENET articles relating to a particular subject. 6 In this and in all example USENET articles in this document, the names and elec- tronic addresses of the participants have been changed The first part of the post contains header information: the top line showing the path that the particle took in its distribution routing. Other header information includes the article number, the name of the author (From:), the subject line, and other information. In the examples below, most of this header information is irrelevant to the discussion and will be excluded. The body of the article contains the text that the author wrote. At the bottom of the post, the author repeats his or her name and electronic mail address. This is called a signature. Readers of this post might respond directly to the author via electronic mail, or post a response in the newsgroup itself giving their advice. The examples of USENET articles given in the discussion below show other variations on a USENET article. 3.2.5 Oral Qualities Walter J. Ong in his book Orality and Literacy: The Technolgizing of the Word, describes the qualities of an oral culture. Many of these same char- acteristics can be seen in USENET articles. The following list describes qualities of an oral culture as described by Ong and presents quotes from USENET articles that illustrate these same qualities. This idea of text re- flecting oral qualities is not new. Art such as comic books and novels often reflect oral qualities (by way of organization, word choices, etc). In the following list, I compare Ong's characteristics of an oral society to example articles posted to USENET. 1. Additive Oral speech patterns tend to use parataxis rather than co- ordination or subordination to indicate relationships among clauses. (Ong 37) Clauses connected with "and" illustrate this additive qual- ity. The example that Ong gives is the Douay version of the Bible: In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said: Be light made. And light was made... (emphasisis mine). This use of parataxis (the "and" to connect clauses) rather than words that give a sense of analytic, reasoned subordination is a quality of oral speech. In USENET, a "cascade" is an unreasoned connection of clauses made by multiple authors. Here is an example cascade: rticle: 435 of alt.culture.usenet From: jchan@netlink.cts.com (Jim Chancy) Subject: Re: Please Feed the Spooks Date: 19 Jul 92 16:05:49 GMT >>>>>>>>>>In article <2906@alpha.sdsu.edu> alex@alpha.sdsu.edu (Alex Frosh) writes: >>>>>>>>>>>Er, please excuse my ignorance, but what are "cascades"? >>>>>>>>>>hmmm...I too am lost, has anyone seen my shades ? >>>>>>>>>uh, this is weird, do you think it will fade? >>>>>>>>Has anybody here seen my old friend Darth Vader? >>>>>>>AARRGGH I've cascaded and I can't get up! >>>>>>FLARGH I've abraded and I can't get op! >>>>>BLARGH I've dehydrated and I can't wet chops! >>>>CHARGE! My brigade won't let me stop. >>>BLAM! My gun just greased that cop! >>BRAN! Colon rust ceased that slop! >ZZAP! Just lost a MEGAFLOP! RRIP! Take bonghits with a bop! This cascade started with the innocent question put forth by alex@alpha.sdsu.edu (Alex Frosh) (name changed), who asked "Er, please excuse my ig- norance, but what are `cascades' ?" To this question, the next author added the sentence: "hmmm...I too am lost, has anyone seen my shades?" Following this, other authors continued to add another sen- tence, with no logical, anlytic, or suboordinating connection between the sentences. The carets on the left of the sentences indicate one author quoting the previous authors' articles. The effect is that the meaning of the speech act (the cascade itself ) works by these addi- tions. Alone, these sentences would make no sense. 2. Aggregative Closely related to the idea of being additive, oral speech tends to work by building up levels of details to characterize things, rather than a concise statement about an object (Ong 38). For exam- ple, Ong points out that the former Soviet Union's culture included the phrase "the Glorious Revolution of October 26"_the speakers could not separate the constituent parts of this phrase (revolution, date, quality (glorious)), but preferred to repeat the whole phrase as a stock statement. Thus, the speech act creates crystallized phrases that must be kept intact to preserve the meaning. USENET discourse follows this aggregative quality in several ways. First, the practice of quoting a previous author in USENET arti- cles itself lends to start the process of accumulating stock ideas and phrases. For example: |Article: 3880 of sci.philosophy.meta |From: andy@rentec.com (Andrew Millenter) |Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.meta |Subject: Re: metaphysics..mysticism |Date: 5 Jul 92 23:59:43 GMT | |In article <2906@loki.une.edu.au> rbot@loki.une.edu.au (Mantan Rardan) writes: |>> In article lazan@lehigh.edu (George E. Newely) writes: |>> |>>>Mysticism was defined to be the acceptance of something as unconditionally |>>>true without rational justification (as I remember it anyway). So, by |> |> This definition of Mysticism is far from any truth of what |> Mysticism really is. Mysticism is the "process" which leads one |> to the "Mystical Experience". So, what is "Mystical Experience" ? | |I do not agree. The discipline of the mystic and the mystical experience |are not mysticism. Mysticism is what is gained by this process. I have |given reasons why it is not easy to define the discipline and experience, |mainly because there are many non-mystical things which closely resemble |and can be mistaken for mystical discipline and experience. And what are |we to think about a possibility left open by a definition of mysticism in |terms of discipline and experience from which _nothing_ may be the legitimate |result? | |My point is that if it is necessary to define mysticism without reference |to the _result_ or _outcome_ of mystical experience, else you leave open |the possibility that true mysticism may be no different than its absence. | |> It is that "Unitary Experience" , where one loses the distinction |> of the "Subject" , the "Object" and the "process of Knowing" - |> where one "Realizes" that it is one's own -Self- has become this |> entire universe - i.e. there is nothing beyond the -Self-. | |Not everyone agrees with this. For example, Paul's conversion, Peter's |culinary revelation (Kill and eat), Ezekiel's visions, John's Apocalypse, |Stephen's last words, and Moses' reception of the Law should be classed |as mystical experiences - (as far as I can see) but there is in none of |them a notion that the Self has become the universe. | |Later, |Andrew Millenter The author of this article, Andrew, starts off by quoting Mantan quoting George. The number of carets to the left of each text line indicate who is quoting whom. This significance of this example is that this level of quoting is a method of making meaning through aggregation, through the collecting up of previous utterances. Also, this example shows the participants beginning to form their own stock phrases: "Unitary Experience" and the "process of Knowing." The USENET (and computer hacker) culture has developed many words and phrases that serve as stock expressions (See THE ONLINE JARGON FILE, VERSION 2.9.9, 01 APR 1992). Some examples include: o BTW = By the Way o IMHO = In My Humble Opinion o TM mark = used to mark a phrase that also serves as an stock phrase that calls attention to itself; for example Nice Guy (tm) in soc.singles. 3. Redundant, Copious Because oral discourse must rely on memory, it is often redundant and copious. In speech acts, the listener may be distracted for a moment. The speaker must repeat the speech in order to insure the listener has heard. (Ong 39) In electronic discussions on USENET, it is necessary to repeat pre- vious articles both to remind the reader and to inform other readers what had transpired in the discussion. This is because the articles in USENET expire after a certain time. Here is an example of quoting in which the author needs to remind the readers what has transpired before: |Article: 584 of alt.politics.bush |Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush |From: thomasf@umbc4.umbc.edu (TheBigBopper) |Subject: Re: BUSH |Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 00:17:09 GMT | |In article <1992Jul24.212130.1962@concas.com> jklm@concas.com (James Davies) writes: |>In article <1992Jul23.190757.3485@woon.wustl.edu> mrn1@cec1.wustl.edu (Michael Gatchalian E |scano) writes: |>> As for AIDS, Bush can authorize money and give here and |>> there, but I don't think he has done much on an educational level. |> |>Should he be teaching classes? What is it that you mean, exactly? |> |>> Also, I would like to know what he has done about medical research with |>> international scientists. |> |>Now he should be spending more time in foreign laboratories...hmmm, I think |>you misunderstand the duties of the president a bit... |> |>Seriously, what is Bush himself supposed to be doing about AIDS? Handing |>out needles and condoms? Why isn't authorizing funding sufficient? National initiatives when initiated and fed by the authority of the president get accomplished. If Bush articulated the *goals* of AIDS research and comm- itted the country to accomplishing them and ignored the hatred spewed forth by the right wing fundamentalists of his party we would be further along to finding a cure for this plague. For a start he should commit the NIH clearly to finding a cure for AIDS. IMO, NIH spends too much time devising ways to profit from AIDS tests rather than the pure science required to find a cure. Aids funding, though apparently ample, are not well spent. There are several fiefdoms in NIH and much of the spending is dictated by the political interests of the Republican kooks. The quotes act much like repetitions in oral speech, when a speaker would say, "Bob said that Bill said, `No Way!' " The fact that articles in USENET expire (at a rate slower than the expiration of sound in oral speech) makes this practice necessary. 4. Conservative, Traditionalist: An oral culture must expend great energy to preserve what has been said. Therefore, an oral culture tends to value those who can preserve what has been said, and value the wisdom of wise old sages. In contrast, a literate culture, secure in the knowledge that the past can be preserved, tends to favor some- thing new. (Ong 41) In USENET, the culture of newsgroups must find ways to preserve what has been said, to collect the wisdom that appears in the group and to preserve it for new people who encounter the group. FAQ Lists do just this. FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. A FAQ lists contains information that is commonly asked in the newsgroup. Persons who make up FAQ's are considered "wise old sages" in that group. Here is the top part of an example FAQ: |Article: 2304 of news.answers |Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,news.answers |From: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (evelyn.c.leeper) |Subject: rec.arts.books Frequently Asked Questions |Expires: Sun, 25 Oct 1992 16:28:37 GMT |Archive-name: books/faq | |Last change: |Thu Jul 23 09:10:00 EDT 1992 | |I have added back question #10, since I have gotten lots of requests for it. | |Questions include: | 1) Where can I find book X by author Y? | 2) What is BOOKS IN PRINT? | 3) What is the answer to the Lewis Carroll riddle, "Why is a raven like | a writing desk?" | 4) What Sherlock Holmes novels (stories) are there besides the ones by | Arthur Conan Doyle? | 5) What is Project Gutenberg? | 6) Who wrote the horror story "The Monkey's Paw"? | 7) Where can I find books on audio tape? | 8) What English-language authors learned English as a second language? | 9) What books or plays have been written about scientists? | 10) Is there really an S. Morgenstern, listed as the author of THE | PRINCESS BRIDE and THE SILENT GONDOLIERS? And what is the reunion | scene? | |Dropped question (if you want to answers, send me mail; if enough people |start asking, I'll add them back in) are: | | O3) What is the difference between the male and female editions of | DICTIONARY OF THE KHAZARS by Milorad Pavic? | |[I am also posting lists/descriptions of bookstores in New York and the San |Francisco area in separate postings. --Evelyn Leeper] | | Frequently Asked Questions List | (Quarterly Posting to rec.arts.books) | | | FAQ files like this accumulate more information. Volunteers collect | information and add it to the FAQ file. Like a sage in an oral culture, | these FAQ files are considered valuable sources of information. | | 5. Close to the human lifeworld In a literate culture, analytic cate- | gories can be used to structure knowledge. In an oral culture, learning | is by apprenticeship, there are no "how-to" manuals. (Ong 42) | | In the computer culture, learning is very much in the form of learning | by doing. Few adequate, widely accessible manuals exist for using | USENET. Often, the participants will ask for help in a newsgroup. | The following examples illustrate one such learning experience. |Article: 193 of alt.internet.access.wanted |Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 16:08:44 EDT |From: |Subject: USING INTERNET | |PENN STATE STUDENT FROM SOUTH AFRICA TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO USE INTERNET |AND ELECTRONIC MAIL.I'M SURE ANYONE WHO GOT THIS FAR AS ACCESISING THIS NOTE |CAN HELP.PLEASE HELP ME. |SEND REPLIES TO SXX111@PUSM.PSU.EDU |THANK YOU | | |Article: 194 of alt.internet.access.wanted |Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 03:38:00 GMT |From: gookl@matl.fu-berlin.de (Sten Guckes) |Subject: Re: USING INTERNET |Humor: Hidden in between the lines. Squint to see it. Or add some smilies. :) | | writes: | |>PENN STATE STUDENT FROM SOUTH AFRICA TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO USE INTERNET |>AND ELECTRONIC MAIL.I'M SURE ANYONE WHO GOT THIS FAR AS ACCESISING THIS NOTE |>CAN HELP.PLEASE HELP ME. |>SEND REPLIES TO SXX111@PUSM.PSU.EDU | |Well, let me help you a bit. First of all we're trying to learn that |capitalized letters mean emphasis or shouting. Let me give you an example: | | STOP SHOUTING ! SHUT UP ! ARRRRRGH ! |See ? | |Now, how do you stop shouting ? Well, that's easy (hehe). Just put your |arm off of these Shift keys. - Yes. Just move it off. - Nono. Lift it! |Yes - UP! ... What? You can't ? But - why ?? I's nailed to the keyboard ??? | |(Good grief.) | |Well, in that case, uh, I'm sorry, you see, but, errr, I can't help. |Sorry. | |Who gives these people an account, anyway ? |Sheesh ... |Article: 222 of alt.internet.access.wanted |From: dave@ecl.psu.edu |Date: 22 Jul 92 22:49:08 EDT |Subject: Re: USING INTERNET |> |> Well, let me help you a bit. First of all we're trying to learn that |> capitalized letters mean emphasis or shouting. Let me give you an example: |> |> STOP SHOUTING ! SHUT UP ! ARRRRRGH ! |> |> See ? |> |> Now, how do you stop shouting ? Well, that's easy (hehe). Just put your |> arm off of these Shift keys. - Yes. Just move it off. - Nono. Lift it! |> Yes - UP! ... What? You can't ? But - why ?? I's nailed to the keyboard ??? |> |> (Good grief.) |> |> Well, in that case, uh, I'm sorry, you see, but, errr, I can't help. |> Sorry. |> |> |> Who gives these people an account, anyway ? |> Sheesh ... | |Penn state VM/CMS accounts (like the one who started this thing) are a dime |a dozen (I almost always have one every semester. This one is an exception.) |They use the good old fashioned IBM 3278 terminals (they are being phased |out, though) and they are VERY hard to work with. One of their draw- |backs is getting caps lock on and off at times :( . However, VAX, UNIX, |and Ultrix accounts are only given to those who know how to use the damn |things. (this is a VAX cluster , BTW). | |BTW, if you want to flame the guy, use the flame newsgroups. That is what |they are there for. Besides, it takes a while to become internet |literate anyways :) . 6. Agonistically toned Because knowledge in an oral culture is em- bedded in the human lifeworld, orality "situates knowledge within a context of struggle" (Ong 43). In oral societies, the speaker and the listener coexist within the same point in space and time: when a per- son tells a riddle or brags or makes some statement, the listener is challenged to respond. This is unlike a literate culture which sepa- rates the author from the reader and removes speech from situations in which humans interact and struggle (Ong 44). As in the previous example, it is very common for emotions to run high on USENET. |Article: 49009 of alt.flame |From: kold@dciem.dciem.dnd.ca (Michael Kold) |Newsgroups: alt.flame |Subject: Re: The Politics of USENET |Date: 9 Jul 92 15:52:17 GMT | |In article bufan@near.gis.psu.edu (Bruce A Bufalini) writes: | |More of the usual childish repetitive tripe: | |>You are totally misinformed and defective,... | |Same boring old chant, eh Bruce? Whatsamatta, can't think of anything else |to post? I'm not surprised. | |>If I am boring you, then get the fuck out of alt.flame, Mr. Loser. | |Never. I've been here for more than eight years and it'll take more than a |feateherweight such as yourself to get rid of me. I could just start a |killfile, but I'd rather not waste another byte |-- | Se non e` vero, e` ben trovato | ...{utzoo|mnetor}!dciem!dretor!kold kold@dretor.dciem.dnd.ca 7. Empathetic and participatory: A literate culture learning is ob- jective and distanced. In an oral culture, learning "means achieving close, empathetic, communal identification with the known" (Ong 45). The participants in USENET often gain a close, sense of connection to each other. For example, two participants call a truce in a flame war: |Article: 7329 of comp.object |Newsgroups: comp.object |From: smith@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Ron Smith) |Subject: Re: SHlaer-Mellor OOA Model, Problem with definition of Object |Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 03:37:57 GMT | |bobc@infoage.com (Bob Brown) writes: | |>What set me off was the original poster's quotation attributed to Shlaer-Mellor |>|> Def: An object is an abstraction of a set of real-world |>|> things such that - | |>These issues get *real* messy. What the heck _is_ an object anyway? An |>abstraction? Wouldn't we be much better off if they were concretions; |>tangible things you can pull off a shelf and use, not an abstract ghost |>that you have to code and retest from first principles? | |[stuff deleted] | |By the way, when I saw Bob's recopying of what I said, I was surprised |by how harsh it looked. I wasn't trying to flame anyone. I've found |this thread very enlightening, and I have enjoyed reading Schlaer and |Meller's books in the past. It is just that the best way to learn |something is to ask questions, and I was trying to clearly point out |my point of puzzlement. | |Ron Smith -- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Participants in a USENET group can take on personalities. Here is an example of one participant explaining the existing roles in a newsgroup: |Article: 49087 of alt.flame |Newsgroups: alt.flame |From: mneeley@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mark Nathan) |Subject: Re: Just Curious |Date: Wed, 15 Jul 92 20:32:23 GMT | |bor@ultisol.gsfc.nasa.gov (MAC) writes: |>seth@world.std.com (Dennis A Reilly) writes: |>>Can anyone tell me what this newsgroup is for? It doesn't seem |>>that there's any particular purpose for it. |>>dave |> |>[Sam's lame imitation of CARASSO deleted] | |alt.flame is supposed to be the forum for "alternative, literate, |pithy, succinct screaming." However, most of the regulars use it |for other purposes. Here's a handy-dandy guide. | |------------------------------Clip-n-save-------------------------- | |Poster Purpose |~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ |Jon Gladstone Win friends & influence people |Samy Schwartz Receive net.adulation, and alias for | alt.fan.warlord |Sam Bur Alias for alt.cascade, and pulling crusty | Followup To: alt.test jokes |Dennis Claymore (dac) Posting Big Ugly Ascii Fonts |John Werth One-liners |Bruce Brown Replacing Kerry "Broken Record" Renolds |Kevin Darcy Truth, freedom, mom, baseball, hot dogs | apple pie, liberty, justice, etc. |Steve Keelen Exposing Kevin's hypocrisy, egotism, | lying, squirming, etc. Provide adulation | for Sammy. |Annie Montgomery | See Keelen |Sharon Garvin | |Dennis Coleman (Lefty) Champion af alt.net and people who have | creditors breathing down their necks. |Sandy Couldgulf Jon's girlfriend, and champion of all | foul-mouthed feminists. |Mark Nathan Provide flame-bait. Post poetry and | lyrics. Make alt.flame a kinder, | gentler place. Sing Jon's praises. 8. Situational Rather than the abstract view of things a literate cul- ture often takes, "oral cultures tend to use concepts in situational, operational frames of reference that are minimally abstract in (Ong 49). For example, Anne Amory Parry showed how the Greek epithet amym~on does not have the abstract meaning "blameless," an abstrac- tion mapped to the word by a literate culture. Rather amym~on trans- lated more literally means "beautiful-in-the-way-a-warrior-ready-to- fight-is-beautiful" (Ong 49). While not a perfect equivalent, USENET participants sometimes do this same sort of stringing together words. Ong's characteristics of orality show how an oral culture is closer to be "living in the moment" than a literate society. However, these charac- teristics of an oral society should not be taken to imply that an oral culture is less advanced or intelligent than a literate culture. Participants can get a feeling of recognition of shared experiences. In this example, Same emapthasizes with Melanie on the difficulty of wait- ing to follow up on romantic leads. |Article: 88133 of soc.singles |From: thracken@convex.com (Sam Thracken) |Subject: Re: A marketing problem? |Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1992 02:50:57 GMT | |In <1992Jul6.222727.2590@csl.sri.com> mns@conto.com (Melanie Smylnycy) writes: | |>As for following up on leads: the longer you agonize, the harder it is. | |Boy, is that ever true! I remember a couple of the really legendary |bits of dithering I've done in the past and laugh like crazy. I still |procrastinate a little more than I really need to, but that part is |getting a lot easier. | |Sam T |-- |Sam Thracken, thracken@convex.com |Heaven knows / No frontiers |And I've seen heaven in your eyes - Jimmy McCarthy |Article: 24962 of alt.romance |From: kenm@messi.uku.fi (Kenny Maki) |Subject: I AM DONE WITH THEM! |Date: 12 Jul 92 19:53:46 GMT | | |That's it! I am now more mad than ever. I am tired of doing my part! |I'll leave them (damn chicks) for good! | |I've had ,my share (hopefully) of relationships, promises, lovers... | |Isn't there anything rational inwomen? Is there? Does anyone know? | |I just think it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a good intelligent life with women. |They are just no_good. I am tired of these silly and ancient male - |female roles which the women don't even realize they have! "I am a |modern woman, with no instincts!" And all such bull! |"Chivalry is no needed..." Yeah, sure!!! | |Oh God, what have I done thee...? | |As is said. It is impossible to live with them, it's impossible to live |without! Yeah, I know *I* am bewitched too, like all the males on this There can also be subtle satire in a post: |Article: 3961 of sci.philosophy.meta |From: borisc@husc10.harvard.edu (Boris Celeny) |Subject: The Second Annual Summer Logic Seminar |Date: 11 Jul 92 17:13:22 GMT | |Announcing the second annual amateur summer logic seminar. We meet weekly |at the Harvard University Science Center to discuss the eternal questions, |as well as the assigned reading and problems. This year's topics are |centered around Cohen's book on set theory and the Continuum Hypothesis; |additional material will be used as required. The participants will be |asked to make short weekly presentations; problem sets will be assigned; a |modicum of droning persistence is expected from all. Additional topics |will be covered, as selected by the democratic consensus, and approved by |the benevolent dictatorial leadership. We welcome everyone, regardless of |age, looks, gender, occupation, race, nationality, political orientation, |religious affiliation, sexual and dietary preferences, and the level of |preparation; on the other hand, all candidates will be tested for metabolic |status and tolerance for phallogocentrism. If you have a pulse, and are |not liable to lose it when confronted with a categorical syllogism, you are |welcome to join. No fees will be charged; no compromising pictures will be |taken; no salesmen will visit your home. This is a one-time, limited |offer; act now. More details by email. | | |Boris Celeny Harvard |728 Massachusetts Avenue, Apt. 17 doesn't |Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 think |(617) 555-8151 so |borisc@husc.harvard.edu 3.3 A Sample USENET Discussion Group In order to characterize the nature of discussion on USENET, I have also studied a series of articles posted to the group SC.college between May 7, 1992 and May 21, 1992. The purpose of this study of articles was to find out what type of subjects were discussed and to look in detail at some of the discussion threads. To collect information about subjects discussed, I saved the articles in the time period under study to a file. To collect simple statistics from this file, I used UNIX commands and a computer program I wrote to find out information on the articles in the file. A thread is a sequence of articles relating to one subject. An author will post an article with, say, subject being set to S. Readers, seeing this article, can post a response to the original article. The subject lines of their post will be automatically set to "Re: S." In this way, a reader can follow along a thread of discussion. To collect information about a thread of discussion, I picked a thread that started during the time period with more than 12 articles posted on it. 3.4 Results As a result of my look at the USENET discussion, I found: o The subjects discussed were close to the life world of college students. o The threads of discussions displayed many characteristics of of an oral discussion, in which participants expressively added their own points of view to the subject. 3.4.1 Subjects Discussed In the newsgroup soc.college, from 7 May 92 17:04:04 GMT to 21 May 92 19:03:56 GMT, there were: o 370 articles posted7 o 113 different subjects discussed (considering subject lines Re: Subject and Subject the same subject) The top 20 subjects (in number of articles posted) were: ________________________________________________7 Received at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute USENET site. Because of variations in distribution options for the articles and routing differences, other sites around the world would not have necessarily received the same articles. The top 20 subjects (in number of articles posted) were Number of Articles Subject 29 Spiked punch 27 Fraternities 25 Stupid Dialects 18 "Harvard of the Southwest" (was Famous People) 14 BRAD'S AD! "THE HOLOCAUST CONTROVERSY: The Case For Open Debate 13 THE "STATE" OF IDAHO: THE CASE FOR OPEN DEBATE 13 FAMOUS PEOPLE: WHO'S BEEN TO YOUR SCHOOL??? 12 Pledging (was Oaths) 10 URGENT URGENT HELP NEEDED WITH STUDENT TAKEOVER 9 College Costs - A reply 8 Protest in your campus??? 7 FALSUS IN UNO, FALSUS IN OMNIBUS... The "Human Soap" Holocaust 7 English Majors 6 TicketBastard.. LET'S DO SOMETHING! 6 Rodney King and Verdict result 6 Animal House: Savior? 5 Jason Kim??? 5 Help with a scavenger hunt! PLEASE READ ME 5 Famous People 5 College Costs - A sad state of affairs This list of most popular subjects in this newsgroup at this time (close to the end of many schoolyears), shows an interest in typical college activities: drinking, fraternities, the fame of one's school, college costs, and other activities. Subjects with significance beyond the college world are discussed, such as the Holocaust and Rodney King. 3.4.2 The "Stupid Dialects" Thread To be able to characterize the type of discussion that goes on, I chose the "Stupid Dialects" thread because it started during this time period and it had more than 12 responses to it. This thread began with this article: |Article: 10646 of soc.college |From: dan@ellis.uchicago.edu (Dan) |Subject: Stupid Dialects |Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations |Date: Thu, 14 May 1992 02:19:20 GMT | |I'm from the Northeast, and this is my first year out here in the midwest. |Overall, I think that Chicago is a pretty cool place. However, I still |have one reservation...What the hell is pop? Who decided to call it that? |What a stupid name! It's soda, or it's coke, but it ain't pop. That's my |opinion. | |Are there any other stupid words that people in your part of the country seem |infatuated with saying? | |Dan "Gimme a Coke!" Tran | | |-- |"We lost a lotta good people down there." (Geordi LeForge) | |Dan Tran |(dan@ellis.uchicago.edu) The resulting pattern of responses was as follows. In the table, I number the articles from 1 to 25 for discussion. Article Date Author Author's Organization\ 1 Thu, 14 May 1992 02:19:20 t@ellis.uchicago.edu University of Chicago Com 2 14 May 92 14:10:36 GMT w@cbnewsf.cb.att.com AT T 3 14 May 92 15:10:57 GMT g@skybridge.SCL.CWRU Smith Undergrad Lab, CWRU 4 14 May 92 09:46:49 CDT k@cray.com CRAY 5 Thu, 14 May 1992 15:25:17 o@ellis.uchicago.edu Morris Fishbein Center fo 6 14 May 92 16:38:53 GMT a@Xenon.Stanford.EDU CS Department, Stanford U 7 Thu, 14 May 1992 16:41:20 w@cbnewsf.cb.att.com AT T 8 14 May 92 17:18:33 GMT c@andrew.cmu.edu Carnegie Mellon Univ 9 Fri, 15 May 1992 01:07:09 r@bifur.unh.edu Utterly Amazing Inc. 10 Fri, 15 May 1992 05:29:30 a@gbroagfran.MIT.EDU Massachusetts Institute 11 15 May 92 11:10:26 -0700 a@yvax.byu.edu Brigham Young University 12 Sat, 16 May 1992 00:28:06 e@NeXTwork.Rose-Hul Rose-Hulman Institute of 13 16 May 92 23:37:53 GMT c@cpitt.edu University of Pittsburgh 14 17 May 92 21:32:40 GMT h@asgaard.acc.stolaf Contrabassoonists Anonymo 15 17 May 92 19:27:10 GMT m@meteor.wisc.edu University of Wisconsin 16 Tue, 19 May 1992 12:33:24 9@lab.cc.wmich.edu Western Michigan Univ 17 Tue, 19 May 1992 17:30:48 a@cmu.edu Carnegie Mellon Univ 18 20 May 92 03:00:29 GMT a@Xenon.Stanford.EDU CS Department, Stanford U 19 20 May 92 03:40:57 GMT t@uhura.cc.rochest University of Rochester 20 20 May 92 03:44:45 GMT t@uhura.cc.rochest University of Rochester 21 20 May 92 06:40:01 GMT u@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu UCSB 22 20 May 92 17:33:40 GMT h@asgaard.acc.stolaf Contrabassoonists Anonymo 23 Wed, 20 May 92 21:30:55 G s@mozzarella Indiana University 24 Thu, 21 May 92 04:13:18 G j@leland.Stanford.E DSG, Stanford University, 25 Thu, 21 May 1992 11:05:38 a@cmu.edu Carnegie Mellon Univ The articles after the first expand on the original theme. In article 1: |I grew up in Chicago. I've never called it "pop". It's a stupid word. |I agree, it's either soda, coke,pepsi, 7up whatever. Pop is a stupid |use of onomotopia(sp?) for the carbonation, i think. In article 2: | Well, I grew up next door to Chicago and we call it 'pop' usually |although, unlike East Coasters we aren't anal-retentive about what we call |a carbonated beverage. :-) (Seriously, Midwesterners just shrug when you |call it 'soda' and say "Whatever. You want one or not?". East Coasters |feel the need to make a political statement about it. :-) [Like my |boyfriend, for example. :)]) | Having been trapped in a Dairy Queen for a summer, I can *tell* |you what a 'soda' is. It's ice cream, syrup and soda water. Mix well. |Top with whipped cream and a cherry. The word 'soda' comes from those days |when that's what they *made* at soda-counters. :-) Carbonated beverages |like Pepsi and that-coke-swill have always been in a different category to |me... But the treads moves beyond just the original question, much like a cocktail party conversation. Eventually, the participants become more expressive and add more details than the original subject, but expanding on the original question with respect to words. In article 13: |Yep. Thezr ar Pittsbrgh wirds awlright. 'Cept I say Saaahlside, Es'slibbery, |Squirrrrlllll Hill, yunz, gumm-mbans, an' daaahntaaahn. | | |I awlllsah say saaahrkraaaht (sauerkraut), haaahs (house), maaahs (mouse), |fahrrr (fire), farr (far), tahrrr (tower), tahrrr (tire), |fahrrrtahrrr, raydyah-tahrr (where KDKA broadcasts from), Lahng-ngaylnd |(long Island), caahl (cow), haahl (how), Haahllyah doin'? (How are you |doing?), I'm going ngout. (I'm going out.) and many othrs. | | |We aawllwiz say "pop". Soda to me is a s'lution of sod'yum bicarbonate. |Naahl yah donnwanna drink THAT, naahl do yah? But "pop", naahl that's |good stuff tuh drink. | | |I nevrr hirrd "putz" 'cept my Dad say-yit. He used it tuh mean, "to be |makin' a half-hearted effort at wirrkin', but not realy wirrkin'" He would |aawllwiz use it in the phrase "to putz araaahnnnd" | | |I like the wirrd "POP" !!! I like it a laaht. | | |I don' think anny o9f this sis dumb. It's neat. | | |Come visit me ovrrrr at Pitt. I'llll teachah tuh taahk like us. Eventually the discussion changes slightly, to cover underlying assump- tions about geography. In article 25: |Anyway (time now for a stupid regional debate): |Here in Pittsburgh, where everyone is an expert in geography, I have |been told rather explicately that PA is not in New England, but not |quite mid-West. Ohio is mid-west, and the west is that 'small area of |the country west of the Mississippi.' | |Quite personally, having lived in Edmonton and Salt Lake for most of |my life, I tend to think that west means places like Colorado, Utah, |Nevada. Ohio is pretty east for me... I think PA should be classified |as New England (definately East Coast), and most of the area deemed |'The Plains' are the same as the 'Midwest.' The result of this thread is that lively discussions and threads such as this happen on USENET all the time. People participate and add to a conversation in a way not unlike an oral conversation, in which they add details, broaden or change the subject, and add expressive additions of their own to the discussion. Works Cited Havelock, Eric A., The Muse Learns to Write: Reflections on Orality and Lit- eracy from Antiquity to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. Hiltz, Starr Roxanne and Murray Turoff. The Networked Nation: Human Communication via Computer. Reading, Massachusettes: Addison-Wesley, 1978. Lakoff, Robin Tolmach, "Some of my favorite writers are literate: the min- gling of oral and lite rate strategies in written communication," Spoken and Written Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy. Ed. Deborah Tan- nen. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1982. Ong, Walter J. Interfaces of the Word: Studies in the Evolution of Consciousness and Culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technolgizing of the Word. London and New York: Methuen, 1982. McLuhan, Marshall. The Gutenberg Galaxy: the Making of Typographic Man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965. McLuhan Marshall, and Quentin Fiore. The Medium is the Massage. New York: Bantam Books, 1967. Plato. Phaedrus. Trans. W. C. Helmbold and W. G. Rabinowitz. New York: Macmillan, 1956. Sproull, Lee and Kiesler, Sara, "Computers, Networks and Work," Scientific American 265 (September 1991): 116-123. Tannen, Deborah, "The oral/literate continuum in discourse." Spoken and Writ- ten Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy. Ed. Deborah Tannen. Nor- wood, NJ: Ablex, 1982. Walther, Joseph B., "Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction: A Relational Perspective," Communication Research 19 (February 1992): 52-90.