[Upd-discuss] Keep Your Eye On The Prize!

[Michael Hart]

Keep Your Eye On The Goal

This message is in reponse to several discussions I have had
over the past few months with people who have reminded me it
is very important to:

"Keep Your Eye On The Ball"

"Keep Your Eye On The Prize"

"Keep Your Eys On The Goal"


In this particular instance the goal is to bring information
to people:  just about as much information to as many people
as we possibly can.


Several people have challenged that goal as being too wide a
goal for us, that we need to have our goals more focused, in
a narrower spectrum, to accomplish more specific items, with
little or no effort spent on items outside proposed agendas.

If this is NOT our goal then perhaps I have misunderstood or
BEEN misunderstood, perhaps for years, or even for decades--
or perhaps there are those who prefer to adjust the agendas,
my pretending to misunderstand, or even through providing us
with misinformation or disinformation.

The important part here is to keep your eye on the price and
to remind yourself every so often that the goal of this work
is to make more information freely availale to more people.


Having said that, let me insure that I not be misunderstood:
I am not advocating such a tightly focused point of view the
other points of view cannot be said, or, if said, not heard.
Discussion is just fine as long as it doesn't take the place
of action.  When words are substituted for actions, or used,
heaven forbid, to gum up the works of those who are! acting,
then words have become unproductive.

Words are also unproductive when they focus on themselves as
in discussions of semantic differential, legal mumbo jumbos,
or other forms of discussion that appear to be used more for
muddying up the waters than for clarifying the issue.

So, if possible, let us try to have an open and honest talk,
keeping in mind the purpose in which we are talking, and try
to make our discussion something that causes some good acts.



Michael S. Hart
Founder
Project Gutenberg