> My preference for novices (context of original message) is for a balanced > presentation upfront. As a self-proclaimed kayak novice I would have to agree. I'm not a usenet/BBS novice though which I think has prepared me better to listen to the opinions expressed here. The written word is much less effective at expressing emotion than the spoken word...along with the body language that accompanies it. It's easy for someone's passion for their belief be taken as pushy and arogant. And a contra view is often mistaken as an attack on the original message. Very rarely would these mistakes be made if these discussions were in person. And at that point, the truly arogant and pushy would be obvious to all. I can't help wonder how many rookies are reading these messages afraid to ask a question because of the pounding response, or how many have already moved on... My only word of caution to everyone would be to be careful how much you insist your point. The novice could be easily pushed away to develop bad habits of their own. Possibly fatal habits they would have avoided if not scared away from asking a question here. The goal should be to draw the novice in and help them become a better and safer paddler, not scare them away by thumping your chest and claiming all other opinions/methods null and void. Just my 2 cents... Woody aka the rookie...but getting better thanks to you. *************************************************************************** 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 Sun Jan 31 1999 - 17:39:29 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:03 PDT