[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] The Information Interchange Profession (was: XML As Fall Guy)
Consider the medical profession. Doctors serve the interests of their patients, except when those concerns are overridden by concern for everyone's health. The greater good trumps the lesser, and doctors accept responsibility and have the authority for making such calls. We Trust Them To Do The Right Thing, and that's what makes medicine a profession. Consider the legal profession. Lawyers serve the interests of their clients, except when those concerns are overridden by concern for the Rule of Law. The greater good trumps the lesser, and lawyers accept responsibility, and have the authority, for making such calls. We Trust Them To Do The Right Thing, and that's what makes the practice of law a profession. Consider the accounting profession. Accountants serve the interests of their clients, except when those concerns are overridden by the interests of everyone who participates in the economy. The greater good trumps the lesser, and accountants accept responsibility, and have the authority, for making such calls. We Trust Them To Do The Right Thing, and that's what makes accounting a profession. Consider any other profession. Its goal is always impossibly lofty and idealistic, and it always plays a critical role in the maintenance of civilization. Its practitioners always accept awesome responsibilities. For many reasons, We Trust Them To Do The Right Thing. That's the key feature of every profession. Now let's consider the Information Interchange profession. What civilization-maintenance role should its practitioners be entrusted with, and why? And let us also consider that no existing profession achieved its current stature in one step. There were multiple steps: (1) *Individuals* decided that they were, uh, "called" to be professionals who act in the interests of civilization and individuals, in that order. (2) They thought carefully about what that meant, and they explained why they should be trusted to play the role. Basically, they explained how all the rest of civilization's actors can predict their behavior, COME WHAT MAY. (3) Finally, they institutionalized the profession. The profession became a custom of civilization. It became customary. Personally, I have felt this calling, and I have considered myself an Information Interchange Professional for many years. I know that many readers of this list have similar convictions. Is now a good time to explain how our behavior can be predicted, and how that behavior can become a customary pillar of civilization? Steve Newcomb
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