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<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta name=Title content="Email is Evil"><meta name=Keywords content=""><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=macintosh"><meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel=File-List href="email_is_evil_files/filelist.xml"><title>Email is Evil</title><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:LastAuthor>Scu .</o:LastAuthor> <o:Revision>2</o:Revision> <o:Created>2005-02-21T17:14:00Z</o:Created> <o:LastSaved>2005-02-21T17:22:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:Pages>2</o:Pages> <o:Words>1130</o:Words> <o:Characters>6445</o:Characters> <o:Company>Santa Clara University</o:Company> <o:Lines>53</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>12</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>7914</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>10.260</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;}p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Verdana;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */@list l0 {mso-list-id:308677588; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-434727906 984073 1639433 1770505 984073 1639433 1770505 984073 1639433 1770505;}@list l0:level1 {mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;}@list l0:level2 {mso-level-number-format:alpha-lower; mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;}ol {margin-bottom:0in;}ul {margin-bottom:0in;}--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1027"/></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='tab-interval:.5in'><div class=Section1><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><b><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><b>Email is Evil<span style='mso-tab-count:5'> </span></b></span><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><ahref="http://scumis.scu.edu/~srdas/">Redirect to my main web page</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><b><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Let me apologize in advance if my email(s) have wastedyour time. If so, you have every right to be offended. I am trying very hardnot to burden you with electronic clutter. So from now on, all emailcorrespondence with me is likely to be highly probabilistic. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>I made just one New Year resolution this January. Idecided to slowly eradicate my use of email to the extent possible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText>Since then, I have kept my counsel and assiduouslyrefrained from sending an email unless it was absolutely necessary. I have beensending many emails to myself, reminders of various things to do, and so far,this seems to be the best use of email - as a portable to do list. I can accessit from anywhere. But for communicating, I use it very little. I have beenpicking up the phone and calling a lot more, and its much more efficient. </p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Here are some reasons why I got fed up of email: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Itis a huge distraction. Every time an email comes in, it interrupts my train ofthought. This is not good for my kind of work, for research requires immersion,and getting into the zone. Email makes this impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailfools you into a false sense of productivity. Many of us work 8-hour days andspend 2-3 hours tending email. That is a horrific waste of time, yet, we allfeel even more productive on the days we spent more than the average time onemail. Remember the old days when we actually worked all 8 hours? And did nothave the luxury to take 3 hours off for email? Since I reduced my emailinteraction, I have been much more productive. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailbrings in a lot of freeloaders. I get at least one email a week from a studenton some other campus asking me some long, detailed and convoluted question,expecting me to respond in detail, so that my answer may be cut and pasted toform a major portion of a term paper. No one would do anything like this if itwere not free. Even though I know that no professor would respond to anunethical request such as this, it still results in disturbing one's mood andleading to loss of productivity. Thus what is a free interaction from oneviewpoint, turns out to be very costly from the other. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>4.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Thelength of an email is inversely proportional to its value. This I think comesfrom the fact that the people with the most time to waste, will do so. Thosewho are busy and pressed for time, tend also to respect others' time as well. Ifind it best when I get a short 3-4 line email focused on what is needed.Anything more seems better done on the phone. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>5.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Whatgoes around comes around: I have noticed that the more email I send, the more Ireceive. There are weeks when I just have not felt like sending email, and theinflow also seems to trickle to a smaller flow. So, if everyone only used emailwhen absolutely essential, we would all be better off. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>6.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Nothinggoes wrong if email is responded to at the pace of snail mail. Try it, you willsee. In fact, I find that the quality of my email correspondence has gone up asI have begun to reply when I felt more like attending to it, rather than doingso instantly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>7.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailis not an integral part of my job. A research career has this huge plus - thereis no real time need to respond to email. I can well understand people likelawyers, accountants, businessmen, corporate managers needing email to gettheir jobs done; they need perpetual connectivity. Well, thankfully, I do not.At teaching time, sure, students will email with questions, but immediate responseonly seems to get another, and does not foster learning or problem resolution.There seems to be some happy medium response time within which, left to his orher own devices, students will find the solution themselves. And this leads todeeper learning. It is very tempting to reply at once, especially since youfeel gratified at having a good turnaround time, but it does not always helpthe learning process. So many times, I have been unable to respond in time,pressed by other demands, and in the interim, I get another email from the samestudent asking me to disregard the previous email for he/she has sorted out thequandary. Yet, there is a loss of student time, two wasted emails. To be fair,students are very respectful of my time, and maybe, should be more respectfulof their own!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>8.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailruins your writing style. It has a perverse code of its own. It would make anEnglish schoolteacher cringe. It makes people bad readers and bad writers. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>9.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailsteals vital downtime. Before, when we had a quiet moment we savored it.Remember transiting in airports, reading quietly, staring out the window? Nowthose days are gone. Now everyone in transit is rushing to check his or heremails. No wonder everyone is so stressed out; they do not get that much neededdowntime anymore. "Oh, I have 5 minutes to spare, let me check my email -I feel so cool and accomplished." ItÕs the new treadmill. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>10.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>ItÕsbecome an excuse to avoid hard work. A recent study reported in the New YorkTimes showed that people use email as an excuse to avoid hard tasks. If one ishaving a hard time concentrating on a focused task, a natural instinct is -"let me check my email" - so, please stop that, you know you canalways find an email that will take you away from your main task. Is it anywonder that we get less done nowadays?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>11.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Imake mistakes in my email correspondence all the time. I am not sure why thisis. One, it might be that in my hurry to clear the mail from my in box, I just"deal with it" and make an error in my impatience. Two, it may bethat I know I can always send a correction just as quickly as I did themistake. Three, it may just be that the medium fosters poor clarity of thought.Of these, my money is on the last one. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:28.0pt list .5in left 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><![if !supportLists]><spanstyle='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>12.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Emailis hard-to-jettison baggage. It keeps coming back. There are too many peoplewho simply love replying with a couple of words, but attaching all the previousthirty or so emails. This back and forth correspondence has gone on long enoughso that we remember all the past correspondence anyway. But no, we need to sendit around yet one more time! There needs to be some discipline here. Yet Googleis not institutionalizing the problem with its filing of"conversations" - who are they trying to fool? Is email aconversation? If so, then I have been talking to some people for months. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>I now only read my email when I have to open it to send animportant message to someone. Even reminder emails to myself do not need me toopen my email. Since I am a Mac/Linux user, I can send myself an email from thecommand line without opening my email client. Because I know, once I open themailbox, even Pandora could not have designed the trap better. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Actually, none of this is new. There are many others who,engaged in creative pursuits, have realized how detrimental email is. DonaldKnuth has stopped using email altogether. See his web page for a honestadmission of the time sink he needed to extricate himself from:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>(http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Neal Stephenson writes of the ill that follows from theuse of electronic interruptions. He quotes Linda Stone, who has coined this asthe problem of "continuous partial attention" which makes giving anyone thing the full attention it deserves near impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>So, use email as one would use snail mail - only whennecessary, and only when you know it will not be a waste of someone else'stime. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>My biggest fear is that email is making the worldsuperficially smaller, and draining all quality out of interpersonalcommunication. Now, instead of calling and really talking to someone, we shootoff an email and assuage our guilt by convincing ourselves we had a meaningfulinteraction. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>I think I would rather not participate in this charade.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>