Klarinet Archive - Posting 000793.txt from 2000/09

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: [kl] Eminence
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 16:55:06 -0400

On Mon, 25 Sep 2000 08:49:43 -0700, kevinfay@-----.com said:

> Tony Wakefield posted:
>
> > And we have 1 or 2 extremely eminent clarinettists in here, so you`re
> > in very apt and similar company.
>
> . . . I'm not sure which 2 you had in mind, or what you standards of
> "eminence" are. IMHO, that number would increase by a multiple of ten
> (or more), just amongst those who regularly post.
>
> You shouldn't forget, moreover, that there are many hundreds of
> subscribers who *never* post. The identity of some of them would
> likely surprise you, too.

I agree with what lies behind that. And in fact, though I might be
thought to be an 'eminent' clarinet player just because I happen to have
a few CDs extant, I very much don't want *that* to be a criterion by
which my posts are judged, as I've said here several times.

(Of course, you *can* buy the CDs if you want:-)

The thing about this list is that we have an opportunity to talk to each
other, and to criticise each other, based solely on whether or not what
we say to each other *makes sense*, and whether or not our reported
experiences support what we say.

I think a great deal of damage is done here when people are treated
differently.

In other words, it's damaging when people are judged (and especially
when people *want* so to be judged), not on the basis of what they say,
but on the basis of their *credentials*.

I encountered that here when I started posting. On 10 Oct 1998, I said:

"I don't know whether this is the right community for this discussion.
There's a sort of *reverence* here I find disturbing."

I found that people, sort of, *humbled* themselves before me, because
they had some notion of me as different from and superior to them. Of
course, I *am* quite experienced and knowledgeable;-) -- but the degree
of that has to be determined case by case.

And this 'humbling' seemed like 'acknowledgement' at the time; but
actually, I've come to distrust it, and I think that it's ultimately
damaging.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Women might fake orgasms, but men fake whole relationships.

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