(1) On "private" or "public" messages:
A colleague of mine here at the City U of HK is doing research on the Chinese
concept of "public" and "private"... I guess different cultures have
different norms regarding what can count as public and what should be
restricted to the private space (e.g., between friends); the xmca-list
would be seen as a public space (in our culture at least)... yet the
boundary between public and private is never clear-cut and is fluid; and
it's even more difficult to tell (at least in some cases) what's
"personal", and what's appropriate for the public space... difficult but I
suppose Jay's suggestion regarding the format or form of our messages can
help the busy reader screen their messages.
(2) on hierarchical cultures and Asian communities:
I fear that I might have given you a stereotypic impression of our
cultures... I suppose it's not just culture but some objective
institutional arrangements, systems, e.g., the political system, the
managerial system, etc.... human nature is sometimes more universal than
we would like to believe... hierarchical relationships, I believe, are not
restricted to Asian cultures...
(3) Hong Kong culture: at the risk of giving you a stereotype: it's highly
commercialized, capitalistic, and money-oriented... traditional norms are
eroding away; but hierarchy remains... perhaps based on "money" one
possesses and one's "position" in the system ... A big SIGH ...
Is this message public or private? personal or object-oriented? you tell
me :-)
angel