A comment was made here earlier, that Facebook allows "real time" interaction.

Of course, we are not all sitting here all the time, replying to 
postings as they come in (perish the thought); but if one wants to do 
that, it doesnt actually take long to write, send, click on the 
authorising email and read the next reply.

But what I find valuable about the organisation of lists like 
HPSCHD-L is that, if several hours or even days after a posting one 
wants to reply, it can be done. The conversation or debate is 
effectively on hold during the period of time in between. A bit like 
playing chess by post. And even though one might expect the intensity 
of the debate to diminish due to the time lapse between 
interventions, it doesnt.

For those of us who lead busy lives (and I am thinking of the 
"officially retired" among us), this is an amazing and valuable 
feature. The list will move on to a new topic when it is ready; there 
is no clock ticking to remind us to reply in a specified time period.

I think the reason for this is that we are a community that listens 
to what others have to say here and that replies courteously to 
others. This is quite unlike other fora, where I have the impression 
that nobody is listening to what others are saying, and none of the 
participants here feels the need to pontificate on every subject that comes up.

 From my perspective, there is a lot to be said for not looking at 
the Internet through a keyhole, aka a mobile phone, even though I do 
find it valuable to do so on occasion. I can only imagine that 
writing coherent and elegant messages with two thumbs is rather 
difficult, and I do not find it a disadvantage to be able to leave 
the house and have some peace and quiet to think and just observe and 
interact with the world in "real time" without any possibility of 
distractions from the Internet.

David

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::