Distill

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[markwalsh]

Collate.

Aiki-Web is great…at most things. To me it's really useful for:

Getting Aikido related news.
Finding out about seminars.
Discussing Aikido related issues, with knowledgeable people from all over the world.
Getting specific bits of info (E.g. Is there a dojo in Leeds?).
Viewing journals, book reviews, pictures, etc.

Thanks to Jun for all the hard work that must go into this. :)

However, the conversational nature of the forums creates certain problems. It has been commented that threads often degenerate into gossip, slander and a whole bunch of non-aiki behavior. While this is sometimes fun, it does make getting information from the threads very difficult and time consuming. Some threads take hours to read and you have to filter out a lot of rubbish. Also it is hard to know where to look for information on a subject. E.g. If I searched "Ki", I would get 149 threads. Bit too much info for a beginner!
What I suggest is collating some of the data on particular subjects to create an overview encompassing different viewpoints, and distilling the vast amount of knowledge available on Aiki-Web.
How: People knowledgeable on particular subjects could work there way though the threads over a few months and clarify the information and opinions into a manageable size (e.g. 1000 words). Small teams of people representing different viewpoints could work privately to show the state of the union.

Q and A

1. Wouldn't this be hard to organise? Yes, but worthwhile and not impossible.
2. Wouldn't people would argue and not be able to come to a consensus? Quite possibly but I'm not suggesting they agree on a subject, only that different viewpoints are collected into a manageable form. The distilled subject could always be used to start a new thread if people want to discuss it, and they could be updated annually so as not to create an orthodoxy.
3. Who would pick the distillers? Good question? Perhaps Jun? Or a panel of respected senior members? What do people think is best?

I hope this idea does not come across as arrogant. I think we have a wonderful opportunity to create something useful.

:ai:
Mark

[Bronson]

To paraphrase my boss at work: Good idea, you're in charge you do it.

Bronson

[markwalsh]

Fair point. Quite happy to put in some serious hours on this one. My work is seasonal so over the Winter I often have time. It would still have to be a community project though. The whole idea is to use everyone's experience.

[shihonage]

Your idea is based on the assumption that you can find other individuals who take the Internet forums (Aikiweb being a subset of that category) as seriously as you do.
You require to have several such individuals as "distillers".
Who knows, maybe you'll find them.