yes and no, jazzy...
First off, your very description of it as "my" world is both flattering and way off base. Like Gemstar's Henry Yuen, I can't even program my VCR, and until I started following the thread at the end of the summer I hadn't the slightest clue about any of the stuff we chat about--including, for that matter, the investing stuff. So I'm living proof that a total novice can come up to speed (well, sort of, partly, in some areas) just by paying careful attention to what people say on the thread.
Second, as to the lurkers being left behind, I'm not sure that's the case. I mean, the increase in regular thread posters comes directly from our lurkers, so a lot of them are not only not being left behind, but coming out of the woodwork to take us all forward.
Third, you're absolutely right about the classroom analogy and people's unwillingness to ask questions for fear of looking like a fool. But as an occasional professor I can assure you that that syndrome drives good teachers crazy, and that the solution is not to dumb the content down but rather work on eliminating the obstacles to learning posed by shyness. We're all ignorant, just in different areas, so there is no shame whatsoever in asking questions, as long as one is prepared to do some work on one's own as well to try and come up to speed.
Fourth and finally--and I know I sound like a broken record on this--most questions have been asked and answered by somebody sometime in the past, so if one doesn't want to ask then one can read the archives gradually over time and usually find the answers there.
tekboy@ignorantaboutmostthings.com |
