Historical The Quest List Post 64

From: SKH Quest Center
Subject: [The Quest List] SKH on little interaction from members
Date: 2000-01-12 23:26:00

> ...traffic has been so low on the list that I'm sure
> many people forgot that it even existed.

I find it interesting that the list produces so little interchange, while I
had to withdraw from "other" lists because the daily e-mail traffic, even in
digest form, was just too much to deal with.

What is the difference?

First of all, I feel that people attracted to our Quest Center approach are
results-oriented "doer" types. We are so busy training and "doing" that we
do not seem to have much time for long well-thought discourses from the
keyboard. I know this to be true because I have asked several of my friends
about this directly.
"Don't you have anything to say?"
"Yes," they reply, "but I just don't have the time to get involved in
proving anything over the internet."

Secondly, other lists have served very well as a mechanism for unknown
"wannabe authorities" to make names for themselves. Back in the '70s and
'80s when I was building a name for myself, I had to impress editors,
publishers, review boards, and such before my words were allowed into print.
I had to prove that I was the "real deal". Today, anybody with a modem, an
ax to grind, and too much time on his/her hands can become an "instant
authority" thanks to the internet. Few of my friends seem to have the ego
need to be a BBS bigshot. I think it has something to do with the size of
our dojos. When you have hundreds of high-quality people and several
employees coming in every day to appreciate what you have to offer, "ego
needs" kind of take care of themselves and then disappear. A truly
successful person really has no need to be reassured that he or she is doing
well. However, if you have only a few students - even though you claim to be
teaching the "pure art" that other teachers' students "ought to study" - you
may have an ego worry that needs to prove yourself "right" in spite of how
little interest there is in what you are teaching. Internet lists then are a
great vehicle for promoting little fish into imitation big sharks.

Thirdly, my friends are powerful persons of character. And when you are a
powerful person of character, you rarely have nasty spiteful things to say
about other people who are not in your presence. That does not mean that we
have to "like" everyone else - it just means that there is no benefit to be
gained from saying spiteful things about someone far away. Any real warrior
would call it slimy cowardice at its worst if a person were to write into a
list and bad-mouth another person from a safe distance. And - truth be
told - a BBS or "list" without spite and controversy is like the Enquirer
without scandal - it does not seem to draw much attention.

Stephen K. Hayes
SKH Quest Center
6263 Far Hills Avenue at Whipp Road
Dayton, Ohio 45459
skjh[ at ]daytonquestcenter.com
www.skhquest.com
(937) 436-9990

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