# Benefits of Discourse - have I missed anything?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849
**Category:** Praise
**Created:** [19 Febrero, 2016 13:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849 "2016-02-19T13:21:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AstonJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AstonJ)
#### Post date: [19 Febrero, 2016 13:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849/1 "2016-02-19T13:21:03Z")
I’ve jotted down some thoughts on the benefits of running a Discourse forum - can anyone think of anything I have missed?
> **[Features & benefits of this forum](https://elixirforum.com/t/features-benefits-of-this-forum/131/1)**
>
> Some of the benefits and features that this forum offers will be immediately apparent, others may not be so obvious. In this thread we’ll cover a few of them - if you spot any yourself or have any favourites you’d like to share, please feel free...
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### Author:  [@ccdw](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ccdw)
#### Post date: [19 Febrero, 2016 13:34 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849/2 "2016-02-19T13:34:47Z")
Nice list!
The biggest things for me are the following:
The ability to cross reference other posts is abs. invaluable.
* * *
And being able to summarise activity like this is a real value add.
* * *
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### Author:  [@clay](https://meta.discourse.org/u/clay)
#### Post date: [19 Febrero, 2016 14:14 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849/3 "2016-02-19T14:14:13Z")
I usually refer people to the following list or use it for bullets when I’m trying to get people to use Discourse:
> **[What is Discourse?](https://www.discourse.org/about)**
>
> Discourse is the 100% open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
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### Author:  [@AstonJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AstonJ)
#### Post date: [19 Febrero, 2016 17:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849/4 "2016-02-19T17:51:46Z")
> [@ccdw](#):
>
> The ability to cross reference other posts is abs. invaluable.
I love that too! [quote=“clay, post:3, topic:39849, full:true”]
I usually refer people to the following list or use it for bullets when I’m trying to get people to use Discourse:
> **[What is Discourse?](https://www.discourse.org/about)**
>
> Discourse is the 100% open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
[/quote]
Thanks! (Tho probably more suited to those who want to run one, rather than be part of one.)
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### Author:  [@PabloC](https://meta.discourse.org/u/PabloC)
#### Post date: [21 Marzo, 2017 14:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/benefits-of-discourse-have-i-missed-anything/39849/5 "2017-03-21T14:56:15Z")
Discourse is a fantastic conversation enabler. And conversations are one of the most interesting mecanism of learning, as Ulrich Boser claims in his research an in his [book](http://amzn.to/2niA06j).
I would like to point this article in The Atlantic which summarizes it.
> **[How to Learn New Things as an Adult](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/how-to-learn-new-things-as-an-adult/519687/?single_page=true)**
>
> A new book explores the psychology of mastering skills and absorbing information
> Really what we want to do is to be able to think in that way, so that it shifts our reasoning abilities. If we want to learn to learn to become a car mechanic, you want to learn the reasoning abilities of a car mechanic. My favorite example of what it means to be expert, are the Car Talk guys. Because it’s such a weird thing, people call them and they have a car problem, but the Car Talk guys can’t actually see the car. Someone will call and be like, “I have this issue with my Buick, and it makes this weird noise,” and they’re able to solve the issue.
> They’re thinking about their own Buicks, their own car problems, to help you solve your car problems. You want to learn the systems, or the analogies, of the relationships between things in a certain field, and how they interact with each other. Then ultimately you gain that knowledge so that you can shift your own thinking, so when you see a new problem you’re better able to solve it.
BTW. Car Talk has a forum, and it’s Discourse, but this is a coincidence I guess.