Hi,

I am thinking about why I think humans are not an economic but rather
a network species. We are not Homo economicus but Homo neticus.

One example that has given me this thought is that sysops for the most
part set up BBSs for non economic reasons. My observation since the
mid 1980s is that the original and current motivation of sysops is to
do something for the users. The sysops put up interesting files for
the users out of a sense of community and sharing. And that sense is
some how the real essence of our species. I think most humans are
motivated by a need and value of contributing to making things better
for other people when it is possible to do that. So being a sysop was
one way of being a fuller human.

i wonder if anyone's would comment on this and share examples of what
motivated you to be a sysop or to use a BBS.

Thanks.

Jay (jrh@ais.org)
PS: My son Michael was Wiz Kid and Sentinel on FIDO and other BBSs in
the Detroit Michigan in the 1980s.

--- Synchronet 3.19b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

jrh wrote:

i wonder if anyone's would comment on this and share examples of what motivated you to be a sysop or to use a BBS.

I think that you covered some decent points about (what I'm going to
call) the "producers" / "contributers". Unfortunately that says little
for the "consumers" / "leaches" that don't give any thing in return.

I know that I put systems up because they provide a resource I want
(access to FidoNet / Usenet / SMTP / etc.) and allow others to benefit
from what I have in place for my self. Sure, there are a few things
that are of little impact or importance to me, but more importance to
others. (I.e. I had no use for UUCP on my news server, but I installed, configured, and supported it to help a fellow news peer.)



Grant. . . .
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113

On May 3, 3:57ápm, jrh <jrhjrh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

I am thinking about why I think humans are not an economic but rather
a network species. We are not Homo economicus but Homo neticus.

One example that has given me this thought is that sysops for the most
part set up BBSs for non economic reasons. My observation since the
mid 1980s is that the original and current motivation of ásysops is to
do something for the users. The sysops put up interesting files for
the users out of a sense of community and sharing. And that sense is
some how the real essence of our species. I think most humans are
motivated by a need and value of contributing to making things better
for other people when it is possible to do that. So being a sysop was
one way of being a fuller human.

i wonder if anyone's would comment on this and share examples of what motivated you to be a sysop or to use a BBS.

Thanks.

well there were several differences during bbsing, i was mostly part
of what some call 'the third wave';
the last big era of popularity before bbsing fizzled.
why am i doing it now? nostalgia. it serves it's purposes for me i
learn new things with these websites and projects i develop.
there is little or no bbs community left, and it was getting like
that in the old dialup days. we were all bbsers but we were in it for ourselves, and that mentality has not changed.
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113