Funny you should think so -- I think I would argue that we need to stop
ignoring such factors in theoretical descriptions of activity. I'm not
positing "all such behaviors can be attributed..." but that *some* aspects of
activity require looking at ecological/economic constraints as part of a richer
picture.
"Cost" for Mandelbrot is not to be conflated with cost in monetary exchange.
Cost is in terms of how much effort it takes to create a message. Put this
way, we could interpret that graph to infer that it takes less effort for Mike
to put out a message than me, for example.
As I mentioned, I do take into account the cost of reading messages in my
analysis, and Mandelbrot's model being very simple, there are of course
significant differences between it and the complexity of the real mailing list.
Development can proceed however, from this starting point. This is the
dialectic of modeling.
bb
--- Phil Graham <phil.graham@mailbox.uq.edu.au> wrote:
> At 08:12 PM 12/08/2001 -0700, BB wrote:
> >Bringing the xmca writer rankings in line with Mandelbrot's derivation
> >requires
> >thinking that it costs less for the top writers than for those higher in
> >numerical rank to write a message. In other words, it "costs less" for mike
> to
> >write than Paul, and in turn Paul, than Diane, etc.
>
> Hmmmm. I can't help being uncomfortable with a requirement to assume that
> all such behaviours can be attributed to a cost/loss motivation which
> implies an econometric perspective on what we do here and in other such
> splaces.
>
> We would, by extention, have to assume that:
>
> 1- Either Mike's time or posts (or both) are "cheaper" than, say, Diane's
> or Kathie's or mine or whoever's
> 2- That low-cost is motivation, not (eg) high- or low-involvement in the
> issue (there are squillions of other possible reasons)
> 3 -That other factors, such as shyness, *prevent* people from posting.
> 4 - That there is no "cost" in reading
> 5 - that some people's time (i.e. life in the last) is worth more than
> others'
> 6 - That posting here is a negative (a cost) rather than a positive (e.g.)
> an enriching process for learning, or a prestige- or esteem-building
> exercise --- etc --- ad infinitum
>
> Regards,
> Phil
>
=====
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 01 2001 - 01:02:07 PDT