I am even further behind on e-mail than usual, owing to my having
thoughtlessly posted back to back columns on two topics people feel strongly
about—Creationism & child-raising. The only way to preserve the integrity
of my e-mail philosophy (which is: read everything except (a) rude e-mails,
and (b) e-mails that extend below the bottom of my screen–which, by the
way, is a 21-inch) is to reduce my response coefficient “R”–the proportion
of e-mails I reply to. R is normally around ten percent–I try to respond
to all (i) questions I know the answer to, when I feel that answer is not
easily available on the web, (ii) polite requests and invitations, (iii)
extravagant flattery. Even some of these are having to fall by the wayside
if I am to have any kind of life, though. R is currently running below 5
percent. I am sorry. Thank you, thank you for writing in.