Historical The Quest List Post 68

From: John C. Price
Subject: [The Quest List] Re: SKH on little interaction from members
Date: 2000-01-13 13:11:00

> >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.
>
> With all due respect, I have to argue this point. The above is true
> in a way, and the bad side of the internet. The other side of the
> coin, however is that the internet has allowed many of us to learn far
> more than we could have otherwise--therefore, the "instant authorities"
> are usually rather closely scrutinized, and don't last long. It keeps
> most of them modest. :)

What?!? <crumple, crumple> And I was told that I make a *good* "know it all"
...

> >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.
>
> LOL---ah, I can think of several who this could apply to. Of
> course, many of them wind up leaving for supposedly greener pastures,
> or to start their own thing. Ah well, 'tis human nature.

I think part of this also has to do with the expectations of behavior that
chris set up in advance. There is a very professional level of dialogue
expected, and we all (try to) live up to that expectation. In this era of
lowered expectations, it's good to see.

<ramble>
Like, for instance when I asked an OT question (because I couldn't figure
out where else to ask), it was dealt with very politely.

And "I don't know" is an acceptable answer here. When I was a TA in grad
school, I found out that is the mark of a "true professional" -- being
confident enough in what you do know to not be afraid of what you don't.

</ramble>

> >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.

Kinda like the "Washington Post" -- unless it's a Political Scandal, most
people don't care ...

> On the other hand, a couple of the computer related lists that
> I belong to have far more traffic than the martial arts ones,
> and manage to avoid controversy.

Computer lists tend to be divided along the lines of the controversy though.
Most people on a Lisp (programming language) related list won't be there to
argue the merits of it relative to the C++ programming language.

Unless, of course, you bring in AOL vs. Microsoft, which at this point is
beginning to look like "Godzilla vs. Mothra" with us as the "helpless
bystanders" ...

<snip rest of my OT ramble>

<or is it? <wicked grind> >

John Price
CHI Systems

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