The last thing I want to do today, particularly after my personal
experiences of yesterday not connected with this list, is to get mixed
up in psychological analyses. But in view of the fact that certain
analyses have been made based my recent posts and the List's reactions
to them, I would just like to say a few words that think might be
appropriate.
I have lived in Brazil for more than half my life, and one of the first
things I had to learn early on was that cultural attitudes towards the
truth can be very different. For example, in England, we expect a doctor
always to tell us the truth about our diagnosis, and if he doesn't do
that, he can even get sued for it. So if a cancer patient has two weeks
to live, the doctor says "You have two weeks to live", and that's that.
In Brazil, this would be considered by many doctors to be unethical.
After all, if the poor patient really does have only two weeks to live,
what right does the doctor have to spoil the last 2 weeks of the
patient's life?
What I am trying to say is that although the truth is of fundamental
importance, it is not always wise to go around hitting people over the
head with it. The main reason is that it tends to create symmetrical
relationships and the eventual polarization expressed far too often in
the form of war. More complementary relationships are needed in this
warring world of ours, and consequently on this List.
Although the fundamental purpose of this list is to discuss technical
issues, the fact that we are drawn into arguments about questions of
management, and even of individual personalities, is inevitable.
However, on this occasion I have been extremly gratified to see that the
situation has not got completely and utterly out of hand, as it has
sometimes done on previous occasions.
One of the fundamental guiding principles I try to use (but sometimes
fail in using adequately, I admit) is that ALL ideas are valuable,
including the ones we might initially disagree with or find obnoxious.
Or in other words, it is more important to attempt to use the creative
potential of a wrong idea than to abandon it. The theory of "lateral"
thinking and psychology is easy, but the practice of it can take years
of dedication and perhaps education.
That's all. Now let's get back to the technicalities of computer
programming, until the next punchup, which we all enjoy as long as we
don't get hurt too much!
Regards to all,
Bob Warren
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