Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:28:53 -0600
From: Jarrett Kupcinski <kupcinski@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Friday Philosophy: On Community
 
One of the more interesting threads on the Vanagon List this past week =
had very little to do with Vanagons. Ostensibly about beverage holders =
and Canadians (are they one in the same?), I say =93interesting,=94 not =
because any reasonable person should care in the slightest about either =
of these phenomenon. Although a well designed cup-holder is cause for =
celebration, the discussion is worthy of note because it was in a larger =
sense about community.
 
A successful community is an amazing thing because it is a whole greater =
than its parts. Unfortunately, the calculus which permits such emergence =
is unclear. It=92s not simply about having a mass of qualified members; =
there is not really a community of toaster owners any more than there is =
one of brown-haired folks. The success of a community may once have been =
about location, but the Internet broke that boundary.
 
Obviously, for a community to work, something needs to be shared. =
Interest in Vanagons, a degree of fluency with English, and a tolerance =
of email from people we=92ve never met are all qualities we have in =
common. And questions, answers, stories, and rants--in short, =
information--are the glue that keeps us together. We follow rules =
(mostly) about things like content and message trimming. But again, =
those parts don=92t equal up to the whole.
 
Kind of like the vans we drive.
 
I=92ll admit my bias here: I grew up with VW campers, and so I own one =
now. Because I own one, I like hanging out with folks share that lunacy. =
I know there are other car groups out there, but this one seems more =
successful than most. I can=92t help but wonder if some of that success =
is due as much to our differences as to our homogeneity. We are composed =
of folks who can rebuild engines blindfolded and those who believe both =
ends of a wrench are dangerous. Daily drivers and weekend(er) warriors, =
Syncronauts and Westy pilots. Amateurs, vendors, mechanics, engineers, =
artists, and the odd philosopher swell our ranks. My, but we are =
diverse.
 
Kind of like the vans we drive.
 
Jarrett K
Olly, 89 Westy made up of parts, parts, parts=
 
------------------------------
Well said Jarrett!

Zee that's  ZedEE or DAIZEE  aka gtadaizee