Hi Gardeners,
When John, Neal, and Gustavo started the Garden of Forking Paths several years ago, they did so with the intention of fostering an on-going discussion of free will, moral responsibility, and the philosophy of action more generally. At various times throughout its history, the Garden has succeeded in its mission to a great extent. Unfortunately, things have become quite stagnant in the last year or so, and those of us who are concerned with seeing the Garden flourish are not quite sure why the frequency and quality of participation have floundered. Simultaneously, things have got quite busy for John, Neal, and me. In light of these two considerations, we've decided to close the Garden indefinitely. So for the foreseeable future, there will be no new posts, nor any new comments. Rest assured, while the blog is in hiatus, we will be busy trying to determine what things we can do to better ensure that the Garden succeeds in its mission. We'll probably be getting in touch with many of you to see if you have any input on how we can better operate the Garden. But until we have a clear picture of how the Garden can (1) maintain a vibrant community and (2) maintain a high level of philosophical rigor and sophistication, we will be taking a break. If (1) and (2) aren't sustainable, then we will close the Garden for good.
I realize that this is fairly drastic, but for those of you who are really concerned with the health of the blog, I think you'll understand. It is our view (i.e., the view of John, Neal, and me) that we would rather close the Garden than see it in its current state.
I hope that no one is unduly put off by this decision (we're actually very appreciative of the help and support that everyone has offered over the past six years), but no one wants the Garden to succeed more than the three of us, and we are convinced that this is the best way to begin to move forward. I will leave the comments to this (and other threads) open for the next few days, and you can feel free to voice your opinions, offer suggestions, berate me, etc.Thanks,
Justin