Mark, let me respectfully yet firmly disagree with you. Firstly, I did in no way whatsoever suggest, assert, nor imply that my situation (as one of the earliest pioneers in Interaction Design) was "close to the norm" as you put it. In fact, if you read my post you'll clearly see that I actually took great pains to *not* refute or argue with what Christina and Scott had said, but rather was positing the importance of keeping open the possibility of envisioning and working *one career at a time* toward alternate situations.
To call an aspect of my post "disingenous" strikes me as highly insulting. It's one thing to put words in someone else's mouth, but then to call that somewhat disingenuous, well... Really. Perhaps you would like to back up and rephrase your assessment. Mutual respect is of the highest order in our conversations here and I believe that everyone would concur that if we are to move forward, we must be free to put forth our ideas without the type of assault on character that charges of disingenuity carry. And if there's been any single rhetorical gambit employed against anything I've ever suggested over the past twenty-five years, it's been something along the lines of, "Well, okay, but you're different. So that doesn't count and we can (implied) ignore what you're saying." We're all different. Each and every designer, though we may live in world of bell curves and common realities, has the ability to turn our rudders and adjust our trim tabs to move in a wide variety of directions. There will never be a shortage of those appealing "to the way things are," and my voice is simply there to insist that while there is much truth to those realities (and I would never, for a second, imply disingenuity on the part of those arguing from those positions), that every one of us has the potential to be an exception. And when all of those exceptions are added in, our field can move forward. It behooves every designer, no matter how young, to work toward earning that respect that they seek for themselves and for our field. Seek those networking opportunities. Seek that constant education and breadth of experience. Put your efforts into movement, not despair. Suspend at least some portion of your judgement for what *you* think should be, and work toward making that a reality. I certainly did not just wake up one morning with the opportunities I have today. I struggeled against great odds and against the opinions and judgements of many others, including many in our own field, and suffered many setbacks along the way. We live in a continuum, not a fixed situation. We are on paths, not tracks. This is what I was saying. I'm surprised to see it taken so very wrongly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=33964 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
