Yes we’re talking about the same solution. However, academic institutions usually also have many options for elective courses, which still have prerequisites. That seems like a closer analogy that required courses for a major. Universities also have lectures/seminars/colloquiums that are nominally open to anyone, but that doesn’t mean anyone will be able to actively participate in practice, though usually they’ll be welcome as long as they’re making an effort to learn and aren’t disruptive.
I agree very few people will take up the suggestion to read 2000 pages. That shouldn’t usually be the standard, but sometimes, it really should. If I showed up to a conference of classicists and started asking who Zeus was I’d expect to either be shown the door or told to go study the basics first. Hopefully in a way that suggests everyone there really would like to see me learn, then come back and participate more. At the very least, people who earnestly are here to learn and want to participate should also be learning not to expect short inferential distances, such that suggestions to read specific background material are reasonable, and hopefully welcome.
But yeah, putting assumed prerequisites at the top is the extent of my practical suggestions here. Combined with basic politeness if you decide to engage with commenters who clearly didn’t do the reading, without feeling like you need to explain everything right then and there.
I would also add: if you only have a single 101 space, that’s probably a mistake, too. Universities, and societies, have all different kinds of 101 spaces for all kinds of purposes.
Yes we’re talking about the same solution. However, academic institutions usually also have many options for elective courses, which still have prerequisites. That seems like a closer analogy that required courses for a major. Universities also have lectures/seminars/colloquiums that are nominally open to anyone, but that doesn’t mean anyone will be able to actively participate in practice, though usually they’ll be welcome as long as they’re making an effort to learn and aren’t disruptive.
I agree very few people will take up the suggestion to read 2000 pages. That shouldn’t usually be the standard, but sometimes, it really should. If I showed up to a conference of classicists and started asking who Zeus was I’d expect to either be shown the door or told to go study the basics first. Hopefully in a way that suggests everyone there really would like to see me learn, then come back and participate more. At the very least, people who earnestly are here to learn and want to participate should also be learning not to expect short inferential distances, such that suggestions to read specific background material are reasonable, and hopefully welcome.
But yeah, putting assumed prerequisites at the top is the extent of my practical suggestions here. Combined with basic politeness if you decide to engage with commenters who clearly didn’t do the reading, without feeling like you need to explain everything right then and there.
I would also add: if you only have a single 101 space, that’s probably a mistake, too. Universities, and societies, have all different kinds of 101 spaces for all kinds of purposes.