Suggestion for correcting the IDE's script editor [words of wisdom]

[Dennis Brown]

On Jul 1, 2005, at 5:20 AM, Bob Warren wrote:

> Can we go back to where it all started?

Ok, I deleted everything before this post in my mail.

> Now, if we can discuss this on the List and arrive at some kind of  
> consensus
> about it, then perhaps we would earn sufficient respect on the part  
> of the
> management to get something implemented.
>
> Bob

A wise proposition.

Just a few ideas about these posts from my long experience.

STRANGE or BAD IDEAS:

1.  Every good idea I ever had, started out as a bad idea.  Some of  
the worst and most improbable ones turned into the best.  The key was  
to take the bad idea as a way to break free of the previous limited  
thinking and use it as a stepping stone to a great idea.

2.  Half the bad ideas I ever had were really bad and stayed that way  
and never led to anything worthwhile.

3.  I learned to treat ideas (my own or somebody else's) with  
equanimity.  I embrace the good ones whatever their source, and  
wrestle with the bad ones until I understand their true nature.

4.  It is often hard for me to tell that I have a good or bad idea  
until I can bounce it off other intelligent persons with different  
experiences.

5.  Ideas are not people, they are just inanimate objects.  They feel  
no insults or injuries.  They are fair game.  If you wish to release  
an idea into the hunting grounds to see if it survives, please do not  
identify yourself with it's fate.  Be a dispassionate participant,  
arguing for, or even against it's merits as the chase progresses.

PEOPLE are NOT IDEAS:

1.  The people who release ideas are not to be confused with the  
idea.  They have feelings, and are not fair game.  Everyone should  
receive respect, even when they don't give it.  That is a very hard  
thing to learn (especially if you feel slighted).  I have noticed  
that the most helpful people on this list behave this way.  I have  
also noticed that when a person is given respect (in spite of their  
perceived disrespect), they tend to change their tune in a positive way.

2.  Let the list mom handle the disposition of obnoxious people who  
really don't belong on this list.

WHO BENEFITS from a GOOD IDEA:

1.  I present ideas for improvements on this list without any  
expectation that I will benefit from them even if they are ever  
implemented.  It is unlikely that any will make it into a version in  
the time frame of my current projects.  I do not know if my future  
projects will materialize, or if I will have the same needs.  I view  
my contributions as planting an apple tree that others will be able  
to pick the fruit from.  Therefore, I am not emotionally invested  
from a personal level, only as representing part of the user  
community needs.

2.  I benefit directly when my good or bad ideas generate a response  
from the community about to solve the underlying problem (that  
spawned the idea) with the tools available today.

Dennis