QOTO + SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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Oxford defines the scientific method as a process of
• systematic observation, and
• measurements, and
• experiments
This process also involves the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
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QOTO defines itself as having something to do with science, so even the most clumsy attempt to use the scientific method should have been perceived as familiar-- easily recognized -- in a QOTO post, right?
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Wrong. That's not what happened when I tried to ask three questions about what I mistakenly construed as a simple subject.
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It took time, effort and thought to draft and post specific, non-controversial, and "scientific" questions about three of the four sections of the Mastodon Covenant.
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This experiment engendered nothing good, only lessons learned the hard way -- see for example https://qoto.org/web/statuses/103195910442277853
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Significant fractions of the
posts are word-for-word
identical ... which at best
is unnecessary repetition
and at worst looks like
you are deliberately
spamming the timeline with
copypasta.
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Yes indeed, I was deliberate in trying to make "significant fractions of the posts ... word-for-word identical."
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If the point of feedback was to discourage me from doing anything like this in a QOTO context going forward, then it worked in a way. I am discouraged. This is bad for me, but it's also bad, perhaps worse for QOTO going forward.
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RESTATEMENT: I formulated a hypothesis that the Mastodon Covenant identifies useful, credible factors for evaluating what QOTO is and how it compares with other Mastodon instances. I tested the hypothesis, and the resulting data set caused me to modify my thinking.
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We learn by doing. I did learn something when I questioned @freemo@goto.org. And also, I did learn when @khird@quoto.org volunteered to help me in the process of teaching myself
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?