©2007, by Bal Simon & NewbieReports.com – All Rights Reserved
(Stede and Dede are sitting around a campfire in the eastern Washington area called Wenatchee. The air is cool and crisp. There are old patches of snow on the ground, but they’re not melting. Stede and Dede are discussing many things – momentous things – things that make you say “Wow!”)
Dede: Bal has asked us to discuss some of the things that form the subjects here at NewbieReports.com. This builds on the an earlier entry, and may give an idea of some of the utility of what a metalogue can accomplish.
Stede: One of the things that a metalogue can accomplish is to make a dry subject at least a little bit more interesting, we hope.
Dede: Right. Hey, put another log on the fire.
(Stede does it.)
Stede: Where should we start? Bal suggested that we discuss the meaning of the word field in his construct Wow-Fields. I, of course, picked up, meaning right away. Dede, on the other hand, has had a lot of difficulty with it.
Dede: No I haven’t. It’s just that there are a variety of different meanings of the word fields. For example, there are fields of grass. And there are fields of study. And there are magnetic fields. So I was simply trying to figure out which meaning Bal was using.
Stede: And now what do you think?
Dede: Well, I don’t know. I think it’s like with a baseball player.
Stede: Very articulate. A baseball player?
Dede: Yeah. You know, like when he fields a ball.
Stede: So what would Wow-Fields refer to if field means to catch?
Dede: Well it would mean that you caught a feeling of Wow.
Stede: Hmmm….
Dede: Yeah. That’s it exactly. You have to catch the feeling of a Wow. So you field a Wow.
Stede: Well that’s pretty interesting there Dede. But that’s not the meaning at all. But I think you’ve got something there nevertheless because there is a psychological aspect to be in Wowwed. But that’s not what Bal told us. Don’t you remember?
Dede: Not really. Put another log on the fire, please.
Stede: Your turn. (Dede grunts as he lifts a log and puts it on the fire.) The word field includes in its meaning concepts like context, situation, group membership, place, condition, and a variety of other similar ideas. But it goes beyond that. It also includes such ideas as magnetic fields, lines of force, spheres of influence, and induction.
Dede: Oh! So it’s not just that you find yourself in a situation, but that the situation itself affects you.
Stede: That’s it exactly! Dede, my boy! You can go to the head of the class.
Dede: And that, of course, happens because of hemoglobin.
Stede: What? What does?
Dede: We’re all affected by magnetism, and we also all know that the only things affected by magnetism contain iron, nickel, cobalt. And hemoglobin has a bunch of iron in it. And that’s why we can be affected by Wow-Fields.
Stede: That has to be some of the dumbest logic I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Now you can go to the back of the class.
Dede: It’s not my fault that you can’t communicate clearly. Just when I think I’m understanding you, it turns out that you couldn’t put your concepts together correctly. I mean it was you who brought up magnetic fields, not me.
Stede: That was simply for the purpose of analogy. I did not mean that Wow-Fields are the same as physical magnetism. You do know what an analogy is, right?
Dede: Sure.
Stede: What?
Dede: An alogee is a little one-celled plant in the…
Stede: That’s algae, you Barnacle Brain. I said analogy, not algae. Try again.
Dede: OK. OK. It’s when you think of something as being similar to something else.
Stede: That’s right. But it doesn’t mean that the two things are the same. And it is certainly doesn’t mean that the two things are the same in all aspects. They are similar in a few ways. That’s all. So when I say that a Wow-Field is like a magnetic field, all I mean is that both affect things in ways you cannot readily see. With magnetic field, you can’t see what makes an iron nail jump from where it’s sitting to make contact with a magnet. Similarly, we can’t see (at least not currently) what makes someone exclaim Wow! when he or she sees a magnificent waterfall.
Dede: So waterfall can be a Wow-Field?
Stede: Yes, indeed.
Dede: But what if this is my first time seeing a waterfall, but for you it’s something so common that it no longer impresses you?
Stede: Ahhh… well you’ve raised a very interesting point, but I think the fire, which you let go out, is our first priority. And I see we don’t have any more wood. So you gotta go look for more.
Dede: Me? Why me? What about you?
Stede: Somebody has to think about this stuff so we can do another entry, and it sure the heck isn’t you.
Dede: What do you mean it isn’t me? Why not? I think you should gather more wood.
Stede: We’ll let me tell you what the situation really is. Bal wants you to go get the wood. Ask him.
Dede: And just how do I do that?
Stede: Like this. Bal. Who do you want to go get the wood for the fire?
Bal: Like Stede said, I think Dede should do that so that Stede can think.
Dede: Awww… nuts.
(What amazing fate awaits our two heros? Will they come to understand what’s going on when one person says “Wow!†and someone else says “Ehhh…?†Momentous things are afoot. Check back for the next installment of Grazing in the Wow-Fields.)
