[HPFGU-OTChatter] No responses on the main list (Was: Wizarding Education )

[Shaun Hately]

On 20 Jul 2004 at 23:11, justcarol67 wrote:

> As for why I didn't respond to your long post, it's because (as I
> noted in my response to Catlady), I have a much simpler view of the
> selection process, and I've encountered too many instances of JKR's
> difficulty with math to expect her to keep the numbers consistent.

Actually, that's *not* the post I was referring to. (-8

I'm not surprised that one didn't attract that much comment - 
although it did some - as it was mostly written for my own benefit, 
to think through some ideas - I tend to think better when I use 
numbers.

The post I'm referring to was a very large, heavily referenced 
essay looking at Hogwarts in the context of the British Public 
Schools.

I think part of the problem is how large the list is getting - not 
that I have a solution to that problem - but because probably 
everybody is having to skim messages, a huge amount that people are 
writing probably isn't even being read by most of the list.
 
I don't have any type of solution to that problem - but if I'd 
posted that message a year ago, I'm almost certain I'd have had a 
lot more comment - back when the list had about 5000 members, it 
seemed to me that most things got read. Now it doesn't.

> 
> My solution: Do what the people in Orwell's "1984" were expected to
> do--keep two contradictory ideas in my head at the same time. So
> Hogwarts has 280 students (an equal number for each house) when JKR
> wants it to and approximately 1,000 students when that's more convenient.
> 
> Same thing with the ages of Bill and Charlie Weasley. They're four and 
> two years older than Percy respectively even though those numbers
> can't be reconciled with Gryffindor not having won the Quidditch Cup
> for seven years in SS/PS.
> 
> I'm pretty sure that JKR has spent considerably more time thinking
> about the characters and the basic plot than about details like the
> selection process at Hogwarts.
> 
> So it's not that I don't appreciate the time and thought that went
> into your long post. I just put my own time and thought into other
> topics--like the POV in the books or analysis of events and
> characters. I think that many posters are in a similar position at the
> moment.

Yes, but I suppose my point is best illustrated by the fact that it 
seems likely you didn't even notice my large post, because you're 
commenting here about an entirely different post.

The post I'm referring to was the largest post sent to HPFGU since 
September last year (as far back as my current HPFGU mailbox goes. 
It represents approximately a month of fairly solid research, and 
was heavily referenced.

And it looks like you didn't even notice it existed (-8

Now, that's hardly your fault - if anything is causing that, it's 
the volume of the list caused by the lists success.

But, to be frank, if I write anything similar again, it's unlikely 
I'll bother to post it to HPFGU because it seems to be a waste of 
time. When I joined HPFGU, it wouldn't have been. I'd have been 
fairly confident it was being read - even if nobody commented. 

I'm not saying HPFGU isn't working - because it is, I've got a 
great deal out of other discussions - but when I joined HPFGU, it 
seemed to be a place where detailed, in depth discussions, and 
detailed posts were pretty welcomed. It just doesn't seem that way 
to me anymore.

Short posts tend to get read. Long posts now get ignored.

Being concise is fine when you're dealing with simple issues, or 
when you don't mind spreading out a detailed discussion across lots 
of posts, but sometimes you can't say something in a short way.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia