Originally Posted by
yeodoug.com
There was a time - not so long ago - when those with knowledge were respected for having gained that knowledge and their sharing their knowledge was a gift that was gratefully received by those with less knowledge. This has been the case with teachers and students throughout time and each of us functions in both roles - teacher and student - for most of our lives. Everyone knows more about something than someone else. But each of us always has more to learn.
Self-evident? One would think. But unfortunately it is not so.
Membership in web-based fora and email list-serve groups is easy to attain. While forum and list-serve administrators usually require that people register using their real name, this is by no means the universal rule. Many people sign up using a pseudonym. People are identified by a "screen name" which gives no clue as to one's name, age, location, or academic standing. As such, fora and list-serves can equalize the wise man and the fool - with no way to know anything about a person who posts a message.
This aspect of the Internet - the equalization of the wise man and fool - is a fundamental reason why so few professional trombone players have any interest in posting messages to fora and list-serves. They know that once they put themselves online, they run the risk of being called out by a 14 year old.
When you're 14 years old, you have a lot of questions. But not a lot of answers. Not yet. Having answers comes with experience. There was a time when inexperienced people listened, waited their turn, and learned a few things before thinking they were experts. The Internet shattered that. Cloaking behind the veil of anonymity, anyone - learned or uneducated, expert or novice, genius or idiot, wise man or fool, serious student or troublemaker - can post a message. If a learned person makes a point, anyone in the group can take them on, tell them they're stupid, that they don't know what they're talking about, that they know better. How many times have I cringed when I've watched some young, inexperienced player on a forum lay into the sound or technique of an accomplished, well-respected player? Many times. It's too easy to hit the "send" button. Instead of thinking about the consequences of posting a rumor, a vile opinion or an ill-considered thought, the words speed out over the bandwidth. And the professional player, who has spent years building his reputation only to see his playing picked apart publicly by people who really don't know much about what they're talking about says, "I don't need this." And they disappear. Or they don't come to start with. You do have to put up with "stuff" to be a professional on fora and list-serves today, having to watch yourself, your peers and colleagues being called out regularly by people who have no idea what they are talking about.
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