Mental weight, was Hammer weight

[William E. Darst]

>On Friday, July 21, David Vanderhooven said:
>
>>I personally don't understand all of what is being discussed, but I am
>saving
>it for future reference, for a time when I may have the knowledge necessary
>to grasp the concepts being discussed.>
>
Yes, I think that this brings up a point.  I have noticed from time to time
that some of my collegues have been feeling a little overwhelmed, or is
that underwhelmed, by some of the threads - especially the more esoteric
and far reaching theoretical discussions going on here.  I guess if the
subject, pianos, wasn't one that we all have such a stake in we could more
easily take a few steps back and have a laugh.

David, your comment above reminds me of a minister I once worked for who
told me that there are two ways to go about learning something - the
squirrel method and the spider method.  The squirrel gathers nuts and
stores them away to use later (i.e. your reference) and the spider spins it
out of his own guts.  Although, he commented at the time that he prefered
the later method I have come to the conclusion over the years that at
different times in a learning process one method or the other comes into
play as appropriate.

I find myself using the squirrel method a lot when moving into a new area
or trying to unravel all of the various viewpoints people present on
subjects (ie the ongoing discussions around action geometry), filing away
posts in various submailboxes that I have created so that I can return
later and reread and analize them.  I then may be able to form some useful
questions to contribute, at least.

Those who are spewing out all of their theories are simply using the spider
method.  I think when using this approach it is necessary to do it with
conviction.  One may appear to be pontificating or being somekind of guru
in the process, but in reality they are only testing their theories in the
larger arena.  They are all out on their own limb.  Usually, the things
they are talking about are things they have thought about for a long time,
given attention to and tested in various ways.  All of those little acorns
have fermented deep down in the subconcious layers of their minds and
recombined, and are now reemerging in a new form.  I find this process
truly exciting.  And, I think that this medium, pianotech, is important in
that it serves a catalyst to this process.  It exists as a kind of halfway
point, somewhere between being simply a verbal bull session and a formally
published text on a topic.

So, I think that as we read what others post we need to add qualifiers like
-"This is a Test," and  "Don't take the following as a pronouncement from
on high, etc. . .

Oh, before I end this let me say that I hope to hear a lot of reports on
what goes on in New Mexico.

regards,



Bill Darst
Music Dept
UC Santa Barbara