Blog Etiquette and Philosophy
A teacher once said that if he could only have one student, in his whole teaching career, who actually learned something he would consider his life successful. Another said that she thought that she learned more from her students that they did from her. We are all at different levels in our understanding of certain subjects, some of us more informed than others but the wise man does learn from the fool and the criminal is inspired by the saint. We are, at all times, both the teacher and the student. It is the Grand Dichotomy.
This global crisis that we are confronted with has many aspects and points of reference. It is too big, too globally encompassing to understand it completely. Therefore it is unknowable from which background the light will be shed. The seamstress inspires the plumber who gives birth to an idea that the physicist uses as his model for cold fusion. The musician inspires the social worker who writes an article to influence the politician to legislate for Energy Education in our schools. How it will happen we cannot say, cannot predict.
When John F. Kennedy challenged the USA to put a man on the moon before the 60s were over, who could have predicted the way it would be done. Many scenarios were written as to exactly how they were going to achieve it but it was a 25 page proposal from a junior NASA worker that was finally adopted. I imagine many senior NASA members laughed at the prospect of leaving many lunar module pieces floating in space and sitting forever on the moon or heading straight back to earth with hardly any propulsion, careening into the atmospheric shield and descending into the ocean on a parachute. It must have seemed very funny indeed. History is loaded with like-minded examples of human ingenuity. Look at what can be accomplished with the right spirit of openness and cooperation.
Therefore, it is imperative that we cultivate patience and respect. We highly recommend against frustration and petty squabbling. Please leave your egos out of the Blog room. It is not self serving to put people's backs up and does not contribute to an educationally ideal environment, which must be of prime importance during our discussions. In the prophetic words of Bill and Ted, be excellent to each other.
