Hi Again Zibi :)

> I don't know if I have much to tell here, I have no formal
> background in humanities - I just read book by Rene Girard and got
> fascinated by his thinking (then I read everything interesting on
> his theories I could find on the Internet). If we belive his main
> thesis - 'mimetic conflict' is inevitable in each community (it
> grows from 'mimetic desire' - that, in lay terms, is just envy) -
> and it can destroy the community completely - so techniques how to
> cope with it are of vital importance. It is a general theory - so
> it should be applicable for online communities as well.

How to cope with envy in an online community? Let's see...

I think the main way is, setting the *right* incentives. In other
words, honor, respect, reputation should be attained or acquired for
the right reasons (ie: sharing expertise, answering questions, being
competent and personable, being available to help, engaging in
troubleshooting/brainstorming with peers, to name a few).

Often, I see colleagues (ie other facilitators) praising experts just
because of their name or credential, regardless of whether their
behaviour toward others is appropriate or not... that is to say, the
expert is praised even when he or she pontificates and/or wants to be
obeyed more than understood by virtue of "what s/he has done and
written".

I've seen people claiming that they were critical thinkers because
after all they had a PhD (rather than explaining the reasons behind
their methodology) LOL On the other hand, I've also seen people
throwing mud at experts JUST because those experts did have a PhD and
the one throwing mud hadn't :))

Similarly I've witnessed other colleagues allowing members of a
community to diss at others because they didn't show the same learning
style/preference for a given media, or because they weren't present at
a given event or conference!

Envy *definitely* plays a role in group interactions of *any* kind...
only or face to face! Online, signatures are used as indicators of
status, more or less like clothes, cars and make-up. If you pay
attention to a debate in a professional group, you will see that it
starts with the poster signing with just his/her first name, then as
the argument goes on, the last names of the contenders are added in
their rebuttals, till they feel compelled to add their educational
qualifications, and sometimes even the name of the department where
the sender teaches!!! Some just put the punchline "name surname,
title" just to point out how you (generic) better shut up before
getting hurt LOL

I find group facilitation fascinating, especially online, because I
have fun observing how social cues are conveyed and perceived... and
the fun of observing it is even deeper, given that many think that
their motivations can't be conveyed through "words only", thereby
becoming even more transparent :) I've even seen smileys being used to
"show one's teeth" so to speak, who's the boss!

As much as we like to think we are individual, our brain is hard-wired
with the hominid mentality (not necessarily a bad thing, but a
humbling reflection, yes), so we DO compete for resources...!

What - at times - makes me vomit though is the amount of pretty
excuses we (generic) fabricate in the attempt to sound holier,
enlightened and uninterested... at minimum, we are in search of peer
recognition :)

Ah, I hope I weren't too tedious! I'll read something more about
Girard... he does sound bloody interesting!

Rosanna Tarsiero