Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Seven minute pause.....?

This is topic Seven minute pause.....? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by W.P. Morgenstien (Member # 231) on :

So why do you suppose this forum is so dead lately?

Do you suppose it has anything to do with that pause that has been proven to take place in any given conversation on the average of every seven minutes?

Just what causes these things, do you think?

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

Conversations are highly non-random event chains (at least when I'm involved

). A pause is generally a marker of response to one of several situations. Embarrasment, contemplation, suspicion, and other like stimuli 'give pause', as the saying goes.

A forum is far more random, as there is not a contiuous contact amongst all the parties and there are multiple topics as well. A confluence of several people not responding for several days is just a coincidence, except when a common event is the proximate cause for everyone (like the time that the Belief System topic went offline so no one responded to it for a while, or a national holiday like Christmas).

Anyway, what I'm saying is that nothing causes a coincidence, whereas other things are not coincidence. Hmmm...that isn't as pithy as I was hoping for, but....

Posted by ducky (Member # 279) on :

Are you saying that you are a control freak? I always suspected it!

I think we all got tired and maybe bored with the same subjects for so long. We just need an infusion of new topics.

Since Survivor likes non-random conversations I think we should expect him to start a few new threads. I for one am to tired to think well enough to start anything right now.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

No, what I'm saying is that a pause in the forum is different from a pause in a conversation. A pause in a forum is a genuine random event most of the time. A pause in a conversation is almost never random.

Posted by Einer (Member # 273) on :

In other words, lots of us have homework or jobs or other things that keep us off at different times, and sometimes these times coincide with other peoples' times, and that's what causes those die-offs in conversation. I'm also apt to stay away from the subjects that have gotten "too many" posts to catch up on. I usually add me two cents (hmm...Canadian to American exchange rate...oooh...one cent!) into a subject and scram anyway.

There are also some topics that I just don't touch for other reasons (not like I'm offended or anything, I just 1) haven't dealt with it or b) never thought about it and really don't think I want to).

Other times, I just don't want to check Hatrack for a few days because I feel really rushed to do so, and I can't make the best of my opportunities, so I don't bother making a half-assed post, excuse my not-too-offensive-but-potentially-offensive-word-choice.

Well...that's my exchange-rated cent, so...that's all!