Dissertation Over Discourse

A play on words meaning, of course, that DocumentMode is more important than ThreadMode but suggesting also to put SummariesOnTopDiscussionBelow.

: I have done my best to discourage dialog in favor of dissertation which offers a better fit to this medium. -- WardCunningham on WikiHistory

Over the course of time dialog has often been exchanged for "discourse" when referring to this now famous quote. It will be worth the reader's time and effort to read the full quote in context. Because the dictionary definitions of these terms fail to make a clear distinction between the two, the following definitions are humbly offered for purposes of WikiOnWiki discussion:

Dissertation: a unified presentation of ideas, as if from a single mind although joint authorship accepted and encouraged, in which arguments are made, information presented, instructions or advice given, etc., with concomitant assumption of authority over the chosen subject matter. [DocumentMode]
Discourse: a multi-part exchange of ideas, information, advice, admitting questions and answers, in which two or more distinct minds interact in order to explore subject matter jointly, where authority is not an essential ingredient but when present is usually distributed and often conflicting. [ThreadMode]

On WikiWikiWeb, Dissertation is generally more highly valued than Discourse because it is thought to be more readable. Discourse is seen by some as a means to achieve the more preferred end of Dissertation.

Discussion:

By "discourse" did Ward really mean "intercourse", and can we have intercourse on that without a whole lot of giggling?

Yes, they are synonyms, however "discourse" doesn't have sexual implications while "intercourse" does so it is more appropriate.

Not quite synonyms, the "inter" of intercourse signifies the multiple parties involved, which is a key componenet of what everyone thinks is wrong with "ThreadMode". It's the difference between "running around" and "running between", where running is the metaphor for what we do with our mouths and fingers, in this case. As for sexual implications, they should not be strong enough to make the use of the word inappropriate. Even now, the most common usage according to Websters is the non-sexual one.

The relevant definitions from http://www.m-w.com/ are:

discourse: 2 : verbal interchange of ideas; especially : CONVERSATION

and

intercourse: 2 : exchange especially of thoughts or feelings : COMMUNION

Discourse seems more appropriate...

Agreed, I think DissertationOverDiscourse can also be said as Content Over Conversation. And as that imitable master used to say "Now cut out that chatter and get back to making nice DocumentMode PatternLanguage(s) for me to read!" <sound of whip cracking>

Okay, you win. So it'll be no intercourse for Wiki, at least not for its high priests. By the way, while in the dictionary, did you notice the similarity among all these dissertations, discourses and intercourses?

Acknowledgements:

Dissertations may involve usually man-years of work. Since the current wikis are still in their infancy, you cannot expect dissertation-like contributions. -- FridemarPache

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