On 04/30/2013 12:07 PM, Steve Smith wrote: > (how many books do you/father/grandfather own? how > much personal correspondence do each of you maintain? how many journal > entries (words, lines, pages?) do you average? etc.)
I think I can gather some data. I already have a number of questions I ask various people in social settings. Since I loathe small talk, I have to entertain myself in some way. If I don't have questions to ask, I usually end up getting in an argument and making everyone mad at me. So, i'll add these questions to my list of things to ask when I get bored in social situations. ;-) My own answers to these questions are: Grandfather: more reading depth, less breadth: not at all a writer Dad: very broad, not much depth: not at all a writer Me: some depth, some breadth: lots of correspondence, some publication It's difficult for me to extract a pattern from that. Then again, I was adopted and have no idea who my biological parents are. Given the measures we've chosen, there is no method for teasing apart nature vs. nurture. Had we chosen more biologically relevant measures, it might be easier to do so. > I guess at this point, I've proposed a model that is not particularly > well validated (by me)... but then that is usually what this level of > discussion consists of doesn't it? Speculation about what models > *might* have some validity and how they *might* be tested and maybe some > anecdotal dogpiles to support/contradict the models proposed? It seems the norm for this mailing list. But other communities can be more tolerant of deeper exploration. I'm not addicted to "closure". But I do seek it out and appreciate it when I find it. (I've really enjoyed Arlo's recent resurrections.) -- glen =><= Hail Eris! ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
