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  • From: B Chan <bh-chan AT hotmail.com>
  • To: "b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] FW: Is the b-hebrew list slipping?
  • Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 04:33:11 +0300

Quite apart from the current controversy, another perspective?
 
Maybe the list is attracting less participation because of the format. Mailing lists are on the decline, while forums and tweets are more in fashion. An example of a forum: http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum
 
 
Betty Chan

Date: Fri, 10 May 2013 17:58:47 -0700
From: kwrandolph AT gmail.com
To: uhurwitz AT yahoo.com
CC: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Is the b-hebrew list slipping?

Uri:

I can see the desires of the moderators who want to allow other voices to be heard, voices that may be excluded from other fora because they are politically incorrect. Yet, at the same time they want this to be a scholarly interchange. That’s a tough balance to maintain.

Unfortunately, perhaps, that means that we as individuals need to learn to police ourselves. One of those is to recognize who is incorrigible and then resist the temptation to correct them when they make off-the-wall statements.

On Friday, May 10, 2013, Uri Hurwitz wrote:
    The writer of the following enjoys displaying his ignorance, and  has done this for years in this list:

    "...Aramaic appears to me to be but bastard Hebrew, and the genetic 
relationship between Hebrew and Arabic is a mystery, and so any 
search for a common ancestral language is, in my opinion, futile. I 
dismiss "Akkadian" and "Ugaritic" as they are but tentative 
languages, and of which I know nothing (and I don't think they are 
worth the effort to "study".)

  Isaac Fried, Boston University ".

  
    He is not the only one on this list.

   The worst consequence is that such nonsense drives away serious scholars in the field who in the past used to contribute here.

   Further, quite a few members are dissipating energy responding to the drivel, although it is best to  ignore it. I'm speaking from experience.

I take it a step further—I don’t even read their postings, so spare myself even of thinking about how wrong they are. That also spares me of the thoughts of trying to correct them. 

   Sadly, this list is slipping.

Too many strong egos, wanting to be correct? And to correct? How long would they stay if no one but the moderators answered them, and the moderators only to shut down threads where they are the only contributer?

   Uri Hurwitz


Karl W. Randolph. 

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