Luke emailed about my (and Jason's) web of trust ideas:
Good point. One the one hand, I usually don't take time to read many of the comments in SlashDot because of the high number of raving lunatics -- um, I mean, noises-to-signals -- even though there are often interesting (and educational) comments (and not just from those I totally agree with). I would love to have it filtered somehow. On the other, you never want to close down your sphere of influence to those who just think like you.
It sounds intriguing; however, I've learned more from people whom I
disagreed with or whom I otherwise didn't like. They've forced my to
question myself, my ideas, my positions, and I've grown from that.
If I read books or listened to people who thought like me, shared the
same opinions, values, ideals, I don't think I would grow or learn as
much.
Good point. One the one hand, I usually don't take time to read many of the comments in SlashDot because of the high number of raving lunatics -- um, I mean, noises-to-signals -- even though there are often interesting (and educational) comments (and not just from those I totally agree with). I would love to have it filtered somehow. On the other, you never want to close down your sphere of influence to those who just think like you.