Re: AIS: HIST: REF: Early Checklists

John is a board member of AIS, so am I, and Anner has
been. None of us speak for the society and all of us
speak for the society. Just because Anner is more
eloquent than I am does not mean that her opinion
represents AIS. I think it obvious that I have been
expressing my personal prejudices against some types
of communication (abbreviations). I feel my opinion
can only have an effect if people agree or see my
point. I like to present my views especially when then
go against prevailing sentiment. I like to think this
opens new perspectives. Anner should not try to paint
my opinions as some monolith of thought within AIS.
That would be unfair to everyone else. Tarring AIS
with any problem is like shooting yourself in the foot
if you are a member. I may be a problem for Anner. But
AIS is not me, or her alone. It is a marketplace of
ideas. Hopefully the best rise to some action.

--- ChatOWhitehall@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 8/2/2007 12:22:28 AM Eastern
> Daylight Time,  
> jijones@usjoneses.com writes:
> 
> You know I was new to irises in 1992, and I don't
> remember having  any  
> difficulty understanding what "standards" or "falls"
> were or  getting  
> acclimated to any of the particular jargon used by
> the AIS  and  
> irisarians, nor do I think is is or was elitist.
>  
> 
> 
> That is the way it was with me, too. I wonder what
> we are doing  or saying 
> that is reckoned to be so daunting?
>  
> A presumption appears to have gained favor in some
> AIS circles  that new 
> folks are alienated by rhetoric or concepts at any
> level  above the most intuitive 
> so that AIS' posture must be elemental in the 
> extreme to protect them, and 
> the society, from the effects of  their own
> timidity. 
>  
> I hope I am reading things wrong, because think this
> is a  really unsound 
> presumption. 
>  
> I don't think most people are that timid. I don't
> think people with  adequate 
> self-esteem are intimidated by awareness of their
> own ignorance. I  think 
> people join special interest societies in part to 
> remedy ignorance of a subject 
> about which they decide they want  to know more. 
>  
> They also join to hang with folks and have some fun.
> This does not mean  hang 
> only with people just like they are. A person has to
> be prepared to  hang 
> with all sorts of people who are interested in
> irises if that person  joins AIS. 
> This could mean people who approach the subject from
> entirely  different 
> perspectives, and entirely different backgrounds,
> with entirely  different 
> mindsets, and entirely different vocabularies, some
> of whom may  turn out to be people 
> with whom one would not hang were one not 
> interested in irises....too 
> highbrow, too lowbrow, too fond of scolding other 
> folks, too competative, boring, 
> whatever.
>  
> Anyway, I think there is something vaguely
> condescending about the  
> presumption. I won't say it is elitist, because I
> don't think it quite  rises to that 
> level, but were I a new person, I might not welcome
> the  awareness that someone 
> assumed I required such obvious  coddling. 
>  
> Of course, the last and best word on all this sort
> of thing  was provided by 
> Eleanor Roosevelt, who observed,  "No one can made
> you  feel inferior without 
> your permission." 
>  
> Cordially,
>  
> Anner Whitehead
> Richmond VA USA
>  
>  
>  
>  
> 
> 
> 
> ************************************** Get a sneak
> peek of the all-new AOL at 
> http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
> 
>
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