Robert’s Rules of Order, Facebook Style

Every invention since the dawn of man has been a two edged sword, a two sided coin, a mixed blessing.  The wheel allows us to go where we want to go, but it’s also a contributing factor in every automobile fatality around the world.  Fire allows us to cook our food and manufacture steel, but also to burn down national forests.  Language allows us to communicate with each other but when we do, we realize that large numbers of our fellow human beings are incredible assholes.

I suppose we all are, sometimes, but the problem with oral communication is that the assholes (or whoever is being the loudest, most obnoxious asshole at that particular moment) will dominate the conversation, thus ensuring that most human conversations are inane, banal and non-productive, and some are downright dangerous.

Non-productive Dialogue

I don’t know who the Robert was who invented Robert’s rules of order, but the man was a genius.  What a simple concept, yet extremely effective.  It has it’s flaws, of course.  People ignore it, or abuse it.  That’s where facebook comes in.

It’s like an automatic Robert’s Rules of Order.  You type what you want, it can be any length.  It’s your keyboard, it’s your turn.  Nobody’s obligated to read it but they might if it’s short and to the point.  They can respond.  Nobody gets interrupted.  Nobody gets shouted down.

Hopefully, optimistically I feel that eventually we could reach a state of actual, productive dialogue, resulting in the solutions to the problems that plague mankind.  So, I wrote this poem about that:

When Robert’s Rules of Order are applied

opposing points of view can be discussed

We may not understand the other side

or like them much, but deal with them we must

Of course, some people prattle on too long

They shout, they scream, they shake their fists in rage

The most verbose are usually most wrong

and yet they tend to dominate the stage

And that is why I love the written word

It’s silent and does not offend the ear

It is, inside your head, distinctly heard

It isn’t loud at all, but still it’s clear

I write down all my thoughts and post the text

and then I wait to hear what you say next