Wundee Taxonomy

Date: 17 July 1999
 

Gregory Neil Bastow  wrote:
> Does anyone know what it is about numbers in this group?
> Everyone that doesn't post tests or spam posts numbers. a most curious
> phenomenon.
>
> -Greg Mildenhall

Here's a basic "evolutionary scale" of posters, starting from the
least advanced to the most advanced. I believe it will help explain
the phenomenon.

1) people whose posts are completely blank.
   These are equivalent to sponges and other creatures which have
   not yet evolved a sound-making apparatus.

2) people who post random strings of letters or numbers.
   This is the class of posters that you just noted; they are about
   equivalent to animals such as cats and horses, which can create
   sounds but cannot use them to communicate.

3) people who post HTML; "This is a multi-part message in MIME
   format."
   These are equivalent to human toddlers, who can use sounds to
   communicate in rudimentary fashion, but have not yet figured
   out how it works.

4) people who post some variation on "t*st" or "please ignore".
   These are equivalent to a large segment of the human beings whom
   one meets in everyday life, who can use sounds to communicate
   but cannot use them to communicate anything interesting.

5) people who posts ads, "visit my website"s, and pyramid schemes.
   These are equivalent to much of the college-educated segment of
   our population, who have learned how to use sounds as a tool
   with which to commit evil, but aren't very good at it.

6) Wundeers.
   These are equivalent to that small portion of the population
   which has learned how to use sounds as a tool with which to
   commit evil, and who ARE good at it.

Joel T.