Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 47.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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        Date: 2024-06-23 06:09:34+00:00
        From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
        Subject: signatures (for general discussion)

In the last few years adding a mini-CV to one's e-mail signature seems
to have become a common practice. Sometimes such mini-CVs compete in
length with the main body of the message. Especially when a number of
messages are compiled into a single message, as a reader I find the
result of lengthy signatures tedious to wade through, indeed distracting
me from what I'd imagine is the whole point being made by the
contributions.

This is not to say that 'my latest book/article' announcements or
'here's what my research group is doing' messages are unwelcome. Indeed,
more reports on what people here are doing and have done, with authors'
commentary and reflections, would be most welcome. The whole point of
Humanist, at least mine. There's far too little of this sort of thing.
Academic articles in the usual style omit the struggle, the actual work,
in the interest of presenting the appearance of bullet-proof results.
Since computing is, to my mind at least, all about the process, the
experimental history of getting somewhere worth the trouble, the
seamless achievement seems especially odd here.

Humanist began in no small measure out of frustration that messages were
being sent out with little to no regard for genuine communication, which
relies on the care taken in writing the message with the reader in mind.
That's my justification for being fussy.

I'm wondering if anyone here can talk me out of the request for
economical, indeed laconic e-mail signatures? Please have a go.

And with that in mind, let me leave you with this rather bold statement,
meant as a provocation to argument: that in e-mail signatures the
significance of what the author has to say is inversely proportional to
the length of the signature. (I base this partly on the fact that the
person to whose messages I pay most attention has no e-mail signature at
all. Mathematicians present may find my verbal equation objectionable :-).

All the best,
WM


--
Willard McCarty,
Professor emeritus, King's College London;
Editor, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews;  Humanist
www.mccarty.org.uk


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