I became acutely aware at this conference that e-mail chain letters function much like contemporary legends and jokes do. Send them to five or 25 of your best friends and receive others in return. People simply do not engage their critical faculties when there are personal testimonials involved, no matter what the medium. But unlike e-mail chain letters, oral legends and jokes don't use up shared resources. Though electronic resources are often used in playand there's nothing wrong with thatInternet play should be tempered by restraint for the good of all.
Electronic resources are, after all, finite.
Perhaps there's a lesson in that.