The Dao Bums 3 Foundations: Eclectic, Egalitarian, Civil

[thelerner]

TheDaoBums' Three Foundations: Eclectic, Egalitarian, Civil.

TDBs' Cultural Context and Founding Principles  ver.2020-Jul-16
The purpose of this document is to concisely state the most fundamental framework principles that give TDBs it's distinctive shape.  This is not "all the rules, permutations, etc",  just the steel beams.

TDBs exists in the general field of "The Search for Truth".
The Usual organized formats (schools) for The Search tend to have:
    1. focus exclusively within a school
    2. hierachical learning structure, hierachical ability to speak
TheDàoBums' founding principles form a deliberate cultural counter-point:
    1. run independently of any school, which allows a more eclectic atmosphere
    2. conversational learning, egalitarian ability for members to speak
TDBs' social format is "cafeteria", not "classroom".  It's part of TDBs' premise that, broadly in culture, these two formats are necessary, distinct yet complementary.

TheDàoBums has a strong egalitarian ethic in that it's whole purpose is to provide a civil very open context for member conversations.  However, its governance structure is mostly top down; it's not a democracy.
- admins - own / run the board
- moderators - enforce rules
- members - converse 

TDBs' Conversational Context:
1. At TDBs member participation in conversation is non-hierarchical.  Meaning, members have equal ability to talk regardless of level of knowledge, achievement, or status / credentials of any kind.  TDBs has an underlying ethic of valuing the communication of each person.

 

2. TDBs most basic rules about conversation are around civility.

• While TDBs provides room for, encourages, lively, often vigorous and sometimes rough and tumble, debate ... that is balanced by protecting decency and sensitivity towards each other in such a variety of instances that no set of specific rules could ever adequately cover.
• A moderator's basic role is to moderate members' incivility toward each other in conversation.  
• Members support this process by 'reporting' offending posts

A fictional example of how 1&2 shake out:
If there's a TDBs debate about music between Mozart vs a beginning piano player, and it becomes heated enough that reports are generated for moderator consideration then, still, "level of knowledge, achievement, or status" are not basis for moderation.  Civility is, applied equally to each member.

It's up to each member, not moderators, to sort out the truth (and other questions of quality) for themselves in conversation.  Moderators just keep the conversation civil within reasonable limits.  For issues of staff bias, members can contact the current admin.

The staff (admins, moderators) also deserve and have protection against incivility and against abuse of staff resources.  Staff protection is enforced at the discretion of the admin, lead moderator/s, and by consensus of the moderation team.  The admin also has broad discretion to protect the civility and resources of any aspect within TDBs e-community.

 

signed,

- Trunk, author & past admin

- Sean, owner & admin of TheDàoBumsabcabcabcabcabc