The Value of the Cellar, and Where it May Lead

[lumberjim]

As seen in the poll that I started last week, people take different things from the cellar....(or any message board like this, I suppose, but since you're in the cellar, I'll refer to this in cellar terms).....

I recognize in myself a certain obsession with it. At times, I think it's a problem, as I'm sure some of you who are subjected to me would agree, and other times, I see nothing wrong with it. So I began to think about WHY. Why do I spend so much time in here? Why do I care at all about people who, for the most part, I will never meet? Why do I spend time and effort trying to come up with ideas that will draw people in further, and commit them more strongly to the sense of community? It can be tough to examine your own motives, sometimes. My first guess was that it was an escape, like tv or reading. eh? maybe. Then I thought," It's because I have few real life friends that i can talk to about what we all talk about in here. Maybe I'll make some in here?" ......getting warmer, i think.

What I realized tonight, and this may change, I don;t know, but....anyway, here's what I'm thinking:

The things I put on the poll are all, individually, reasons enough to check back into the board as much as daily. And some of you do just that. But, the thing that has me checking it throughout the day while I work, and periodically in my free time, is that i like ALL of that stuff.

Here's the thing: I grew up with a group of friends that were great guys, and we had great times, but I was always aware that they were very average when it came to any kind of deep thinking or abstract ponderings. vainly put, I was the smartest of my group of friends until I was in the 11th grade, and started hanging out with some guys that scored in the 1300's on their SATs, and went to college for engineering (nerds)( partying nerds, though). They were much quicker witted, and at times their banter was challenging to keep pace with. I was novel to them too, i'm sure, as I was in the main stream/tough guy clique in school, yet I understood big words, and sometimes managed to make them laugh as well.

I lost touch with these guys after school, and apart from jinx, I lost touch with what I liked so much about hanging with those guys. Jinx and I are so similar in our beliefs and core philosophies, however, that really deep challenging discussions only come about if we disagree on something. the rest of the time, we just read each others eyes, faces, and sometimes minds, and we understand with a few short comments what the other person is saying, and what they really mean.

I have new friends at work, but yet again, and with the possible exception of one older salesman, I am the smartest one in my circle of friends, having to dumb-down some thing I want to talk about with them. Most of these guys have good common sense, and ther are only a few that I would actually call stupid, but ...well, you know what i mean.

My parents are both smart, and when my Father lived in the area, we would sit up late nights talkign shit about the universe, or computers, or women, you name it. He lives in NC, now. Shelby's sister and b-in-l are both fairly lucent, too, but most times when we're together, things tend to revolve around the kids.

So, back to the cellar. What the cellar does for lumberjim. It combines friends like I have described in all of the categories i've described above, as well as a few more that I haven't, and some others like me that can go either way depending on who we're talking to, with an interface that makes interaction nearly ...interactive. It's like having a panel of different advisors at your disposal. There are elders who offer sage advice. There are deep thinkers that unfold facets of the topic at hand that you had not recognized as such. There are comedians and jokers. There are logicians, politicians, and craniorectal magicians. There are people just like me. There are some so different that I doubt that they are actually people.

This all boils down to a depth of opinion, though, and reasoning that you just cannot get in a classic circle of freinds or a family. It's much much more. Obviously, as with all advice you recieve, you take it with a grain of salt, but just hearing the advice, or having that argument can create stronger volition of your own views, or correct some that you were wrong about. It's like a "thought pool"

SO where will this lead?

In the far distant future, when we figure out how to accurately map thought, overcome the philosophical objectors to said activity, and become one with our computers via insertion of subcutaneous processors and data storage with wireless communication to boot, will we subscribe to "thought driven" message boards like this one, and be able to draw upon the vast experiences of our communities to make real time decisions, check facts, get emotional support, etc...? A voluntary communal conscience or consciousness? Imagine if you knew everything that all of the other peole on the cellar combined knew. If the knowledge was a quick request away. Talk about exponential advancement in all facets of our lives....

So, if you like, go ahead and cast aspersions toward those who spend a lot of time on message boards, but I for one have gotten smarter since I joined up.