XMCA Mail 2005_04: Re: ponder this ye lurkers

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Re: ponder this ye lurkers

Your posting (you're a newbie? Really?) is golden. This fresh perspective, exprressed with *such* warmth and personality, was a thoroughly enjoyable read and took the dullness out of my grading day.

>
> The dissonance one experiences whilst dipping (I mean thinking about writing,
> watching other more/less insightful comments arrive, wondering whether its
> really worth it, sweating over every word, using brackets too much, eventually
> deciding to press the big red send button, wondering about what folks will
> construe about the message, choose from: "that was homely/reminded me of when I
> was 3/WOW - cool!/who let him in here then?" - usually about an hours worth) in
> to a community like xmca where you KNOW there are minds enormously more
> scholarly/erudite/insightful than your own is really sweat inducing - but it is
> worth it. This nervous energy alone is a sign, to me, of high-end cognitive
> activity. I cant put a price on that.
>
> Michael Cole's gentle reply demonstrates what I am trying to communicate. It
> lifts the bar. It shows me a trajectory of progress along the apprenticeship
> from where I am to where he is - even though I can never arrive. What is my
> reaction? Frustration/IshudNeverHaveBothered - turninginto - [pause] I could
> learn something here and now here I am back 12 hours later having woken up
> thinking about it and spending the most precious part of my day (the first hour)
> framing this reply in the hope that I wont spend the rest of the week being
> distracted from actually doing some 'work'.
>
> Another part of that I also find discomfiting is the speed with which the senior
> members of such communities can post messages that demonstrate elegance I would
> never think of in a lifetime - let alone in an hour.
>
> Exposing oneself in the way I did costs - time and stress, perhaps minutes off
> my lifespan! I suppose some of this comes down to character traits. I have never
> minded speaking out electronically if I think I have something to say. When I do
> so, the cost is worth it because learning is worth it and as long as the
> community is kind enough to humour/tolerate/encourage us young-uns we may just
> stick around... may dip in occasionally...
>
> - only forgive me if, as mum said, I wait until I'm spoken to before I speak.