I noticed an interesting phenomenon a long time ago as a young man. It has remained true in all of my observations so far in my life. The observation is this:


When I first meet someone (whether in person or online, the same thing appears to be true) within a few minutes he/she will try to establish common ground. Some people do it by talking about what they hate, hoping I hate the same things.

Others reveal themselves by talking about the things they love. Often, these people don't care if I love the same things, they are just so full of their own passion that they can't NOT talk about it!

I have found that the second situation inspires me, and the first situation discourages me. That's the main distinction. Both types may or may not make equally good friends


I don't know if this is a corollary or not to the topic of excellence vs equality, but at this point in the conversation I feel compelled to mention this observation and ask for other peoples comments along those lines.

If nothing else, this observation has led me to identify myself by what I love rather than by what I hate. I don't care what you hate... but I am very very interested in knowing what you love, and why you love it.

That's why this is such a great forum. People here all love music! Me too!

And not just music, but also they love home recording! Me too!

And not just that, they also love evluating and buying gear! ME TOO!

And they all love BIAB and/or RB! Me Too!

In the final analysis, we have far more in common than we have as differences. If we steadfastly communicate around our common love, then we will never have to censor the topics of disagreement. A healthy system allows for difference, it doesn't suppress it.

Thoughts?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0