On 10 Jul 1995, Barry Mallis wrote:
> Replying to LO1973 --
>
> Reply to: RE>Emergent Learning LO1973
>
> To Doug Seeley, about the "great turn-on of this list"
>
> Doug, thanks for responding to all of us in your thoughtful piece. There
> was something delightful about how you really wove so many people into one
> reply posting. Very humane, sending questions back, giving us the sense
> in your questions to us that you care for our thoughts and wish to
> continue a dialog.
>
> My feeling is different from face-to-face interchange or dialog. Is this
> because we are typing, because we are in black and white? The somewhat
> stretched linguistic irony here is that we are "taken at face value" when
> we contribute a posting!
I concur, Barry, with your response regarding both the impact of the
interchanges on the list and the differences from "face-to-face"
encounters. As I read this particular thought, it occures to me that the
separation in time is an essential element in generating the depth and
quality of the responses. When I am engaged in a face-to-face or even a
"chat" form of dialogue, I am too caught up in the need to reply
immediately--to reduce anxiety, capture a reaction, or in some way protect
or advance my sense of myself.... With the "space" accorded to me in time
through the list modality, I can be more reflective and more spontaneous
at the same time, exploring in my own being what is sparked by the
comments on the screen without needing to make my explorations explicit
all at once. And then the opportunity to sit back and read what I have
written, condense, correct, or polish it to a certain sheen is an
additional benefit.
So in some paradoxical way, I become more able to learn from myself and
from the interaction even though I am interacting with a static image of
someone else rather than their immediate presence. I think this is more
related than we might think with the ancient and honorable tradition of
"letters" in the academic and personal sense. The instantaneous energy of
the technology revolution may have come full circle in some way through
the list and allow us a new combination of immediacy and spaciousness
which results in greater learning than immediacy alone....
The tradition and practice of meditation also comes to mind as I read
this. Through the spaciousness of meditation we come closer to the
awareness so eloquently communicated in the recent post by Jackie Mullen
with the quote from Varela, et al, _The Embodied Mind_.
And, of course, the opportunity to delight in the Tao, Rumi, and other
teachers is an unparalleled benefit!
{snip]
> In the meantime, I am honored in my heart to be able to participate in
> this list; touched that others read and reply; moved that even in this
> "still-frame" dialog, we synthesize new, personal observations which
> assist our living. My deep thanks to you all.
>
> A secret turning in us
> makes the universe turn.
> Head unaware of feet,
> and feet head. Neither cares.
> They keep turning.
> -Rumi
See what I mean?
-- Tobin Quereau quereau@austin.cc.tx.us