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Posted By: Joann

Well geez Daniel. I guess I picked the wrong word and accidentally got you all ruffled up. Of course I did not mean mythical in the sense of being literally non-existent. I meant mythical in the sense of being elusive, difficult to pin down, and known more by anecdotal comments than any actual information.

Certainly I don't think anyone here, at any point in the thread, was suggesting that there are literally no watchers with any valuable knowledge. I mean ... really ... is there any way to interpret any comment anywhere as saying that there is no knowledge except what is already here? Really?

As best I can tell, the comments were that it is difficult to define and predict the extent of the knowledge and potential contribution that we are all missing.

In the future I will take great pains to make sure I pick the exact right technical word so as to avoid such confusion.

The discussion is about finding the right balance between more generic topics that are accessible to more people, and more hardcore technical topics that will assure the participation of those with great knowledge.

That's a valid topic for discussion every once in awhile, has been in the past and likely will be in the future. I think the board will always have conversations that attempt to define equilibrium and productive content and conduct. It's actually probably a pretty healthy exercise.

But it's hard to have this kind of conversation without some people feeling like it attempts to exclude them, or will make the board less relevant to them, or whatever. It seems to me like it has been conducted in this thread with a good deal of thought and presentation of different viewpoints.

Joann