Deron wrote:
>Sounds like a bit of a dilemma:
>
>-- The goal is to raise people to level 3 from "high" level 2...
>
>-- If successful the convertees becomes slightly less interesting people to
>know...
>
>-- But knowing interesting people is a great thing.
>
>So there's no steady-state solution...the process requires a constant
>influx of level 2ers (and a letting go of the freshly minted level 3ers).
Have any of you heard of John Zorn's COBRA? John Zorn is a `avant garde' musician/composer and COBRA is a war game. Zorn translated the game into a musical form that can be "played" by improvising musicians according to the well defined rules of the game. Alliances are formed, attacks and counter attacks staged; there are spies, guerilla players that are not bound by all the rules, and the constant intrigue of shifting loyalties. The rules are difficult to learn at first, and the hand signals for communicating between members while playing might seem a bit cryptic to the outside observer. But, like any other war-game, once you've mastered the rules it can be quite fun to play. And even if you don't, it can be interesting to watch and try to decipher the dynamic at work.
I ask becuase the CORBA meme is sweeping my fair city at the moment. A couple of versed musicians got together and formed diverse improv groups to play it. (From cellos and tabila to distorted guitars and DJs.) As you might expect, it took quite a bit of time and training to teach the rules (and strategies) of the game to the groups. But now that each group is fully trained, their memebers are spinning off to each form their own groups. Resulting in an exponental growth of players in town in a relatively short period of time. I've already been to a party where a spontainous recital erupted and would be surprised if it didn't become the "in" cocktail game among the musically literate in short order.
So, what does this phenomena have to do with:
>So there's no steady-state solution...the process requires a constant
>influx of level 2ers (and a letting go of the freshly minted level 3ers).
?
-Prof. Tim