I am completely astonished at what has transpired between Juerg Steiger
and <JAVABEAN4@aol.com>. First, I am one who was not at all offended at
<JAVABEAN4@aol.com>'s request for help and information. If someone would
rather stay anonymous, that is his/her's personal choice and right and
does not violate any "handbook of rules for posting" or "common sense".
Frankly, listing one's name, age, occupation, marital status, etc. means
absolutely nothing and is completely trivial to strangers. If you really
want to know someone, than call them up or meet them in person. If
replying to a question, then the only pertinent information is their
e-mail address!
There are no universal written rules for posting to a listserver and
therefore someone who unintentionally posts a message which is not to
another *individual's* taste should not be condemned. Mr. Steiger's
attempt at edifying <JAVABEAN4@aol.com> was indeed condescending and
lacked any sensitivity. As to references to "common sense", I defy anyone
to construct a rigorous mathematical formalization complete with proof
defining "common sense". If it cannot be done, than it has no place in any
scientific thought, since it is usually the non-intuitive processes that
so astound and educate us.
This listserver is great because we have a wide array of persons from
different backgrounds and different cultures and I welcome all those whose
native language is not English and who attempt to write the best English
that they can.
I will not respond on this subject further unless messages are sent to me
personally at 'burkhard@aries.scs.uiuc.edu', in which case I welcome them
and look forward to them. Let's keep this listserver friendly and
"open-minded".
Paul Burkhardt
Theoretical Chemical Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign