I'm confused about this reply can you please elaborate?

So -We believe that education is subject to Brownian motion?- I doubt it. Especially for those that have little to none. At best education in a space like this is a game of telephone.

Plus you are referring not just to internal hierarchy but also industry knowledge to communities that have nothing to do with DIYBio or bio to begin with.

Re: I … ask that you respect the round format and add your comments (if any) to the end of the thread.

I thought I did. I am confused by the format of this site. This will take some getting used to of course. I thought I was replying to Neha’s reply on “vision” section but here it is, pulled out of its context as soon as it was found, to be a standalone thread. Sorry about the confusion.

When do I react and when do I comment?

Vision, Original: All those seeking to improve society through biotechnology are organized to Do-It-Together, educated in the safe hands-on practice of science, and empowered to apply their understanding.

Vision, edit suggested by Neha: All those seeking to improve society through biotechnology are organized to Do It Together using the safe hands-on practice of science, and empowered to apply their understanding.

Re: DIT “I hesitate on including a potentially jargony term into a vision statement.” Thank you. You’ll find a lot of it in this doc.

Re: Consider saying "are organized to do it together using the safe hands-on practice of science" as opposed to "educated in" - in the outreach/community engagement literature, the phrase "educating people" can have a top-down hierarchical connotation.

I think you might have meant schooling. Schooling people is far worse than educating them. Educating people is something people themselves voluntarily pay for. One of the things that used to keep a place like this afloat.

If the governing body chooses to recant themselves from total accountability they have to, at least, train incoming people on what and why some things are being done. People come to a place like this to be educated in the processes. No one is born with this education yet. A lot of the tools BWOB got were donations, that aren’t in perfect working order. Some ability to tolerate hierarchy is necessary no matter the connotation. Until and unless someone (trusted and centralized) walks you through what tools the lab uses and at what settings, consider the incoming people not yet educated, even if they had prior exposure in a formal, DIY, or a community lab. Otherwise education in a space like this is a game of telephone not just between educator and educatee.

Yes I pulled it out because multiple ideas were being discussed in a reply in a way I did not think was helpful for the thread or the comment. I agree it will take some time to get used to this format but I think it will benefit the organization in the end as it will increase transparency. As people are trying to figure things out I will highlight that there is a good help section and I am available to help coach people in the best use. See the help thread for more info.

I now understand the point you are making about Neha idea bout changing the language. I will consider it when revising along her feedback.

I do not understand the last paragraph of this section. If it is relevant to the Mission Vision Values document I suggest you add it as comment in that thread. It would help for our understanding to tie back to the context of that thread. If you would like to work on it in this thread you could edit your post for clarity or write a new comment below.

PS I am also going to start a comment about norms in reaction, replying and commenting in the help thread.

@Yuriy Fazylov Are you OK with me closing this thread or do you see some direction to it? If so please let me know.

Do whatever you feel like.