On civilised discourse

I found these rules of engagement on Judith Curry's blog and liked them.  I thought rather than link to them I'd import them here. (Judith says on her blog that she's happy with this under Creative Commons license terms: Attribution-ShareAlike)

"Strategies for making effective posts:

• Respond to the argument, not to the person.  What another participant stated on another blog in another context should not be used to discredit or otherwise challenge the participant.  Changing your mind in response to new evidence and arguments is valued here.
• Only respond to comments that you feel are deserving of your attention, and ignore the rest.  By being ignored, commenters who are not deemed interesting by others will give up and go elsewhere.
• Don’t take criticisms personally, don’t rise to “bait” or attempts at “gotchas.” Make the points YOU want to make.
• If you make a mistake, acknowledge it.  Email me if you would like a “take back”, which is strikethrough of your comment that absolves you from any further expectation of defense or discussion of the comment.
• Be patient with people having less technical expertise or background than yourself."

I've used strikethrough above for a bit that can't be implemented on the MOOC.

She also has some don'ts. I thought this was the most useful:

• No ad hominem attacks, slurs or personal insults.  Do not attribute motives to another participant (my bold).

I have to say that the discussions on this course have, so far, been exemplary.