In my last post on this topic I inadvertently made it sound as though I were criticising Dave Kruger. That was not my intention since I know Dave to be a prudent an careful paddler. My comment regarding the original post in this thread was to draw attention to the nature of many questions asked by paddlers that focus on the appropriate reaction to danger rather than avoidance of danger. This reminds me of Neil Postman's essay of the nature of questions. He points out that how a question is asked often determines the answer. His example was that of two priests who write to the Pope asking clarification on the issue of smoking and prayer. The first asks, "Is it acceptable to smoke while praying?" and the Pope's reply is that praying is a sacred act and should not be defiled by smoking. The second priest asks "Is it acceptable to pray if one is smoking?" The Pope replied that praying is always appropriate no matter what one is doing. The way the questions are posed determines how one might respond. In this case I should have been more conscious of who asked the question rather than the question itself. Sorry, Dave Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 14 1998 - 06:44:52 PDT
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