Notes on queries

[A. G. Maisey]

You have put your comments very nicely Jim.

It is certainly not a good idea to discourage beginning collectors by providing harsh personal opinions about something they have paid good money for. Moreover, in a Forum such as this one, those opinions can be read by everybody in the entire world, and this can cause flow-on effects for the person making the enquiry.

In addition to what you have said, I'd like to make a further comment.

When I was a child I was taught that if I could not say something nice, I'd best not say anything at all. Well, childhood is a very long way behind me now, and although I do agree in general with this line of thought, over the years I have modified it a little.

In try very hard not to make unkind remarks in public, if I feel that somebody needs to know that what they have spent their hard earned money on is not quite what they think it might be, I hesitate before making a public comment and then make a private comment in as gentle a fashion as possible to the person who has enquired.

Another thing is this. Many people are interested purely in the physical object that they collect, they have very little interest in the culture or society from which this object came. They certainly have no interest at all in absorbing the present day attitudes and values of the people who form the population of a society or region that produced the objects of interest to a collector who tends to regard something of less than a certain age as a "fake", or "reproduction".

Sometimes the thing that the collector living in his Western society might write off as "fake" or "reproduction" is regarded by the person of the society from which it came as a valid expression of their material culture.

It is perhaps a very good idea to acquaint ourselves with the attitudes and values of the society, or societies that produce the things we collect, before taking it upon ourselves to pass judgement on those things and express an opinion. Alternatively, any opinion given could be qualified to make it very clear that such opinion is based upon certain pre-determined standards or circumstances.

[ariel]

Kubur one defined in 2 words the reason why certain people behave in a snarky manner : ignorance and arrogance. I just cannot add anything to this pithy summary.

[Jim McDougall]

Stu and Alan, thank you so much for your very thoughtful and supportive comments! I really appreciate your elaboration and observations concerning this ever present situation which often occurs in threads where items are posted for comment.
Naturally, everyone has their own opinions, and every right to express them.
The point I have tried to make, as you have perfectly recognized, is that the wording and demeanor of such responses is key, and some effort to temper these is much appreciated and produces better results in subsequent discussion.

While there are many individuals who simply lack language or people skills, as Ariel has succinctly noted, even a common sense application of 'the golden rule' should not be too hard to fathom in an environment where shared interests prevail.

I often see posts where queries are accompanied by disclaimers noting, 'go ahead, be brutal, I can take it' etc. but we know that regardless, everyone appreciates candor with courtesy.

[Kubur]

Kubur would like to add something:
At the very end, we are gentlemen and educated people, but even more than that, I have a simple question.
How many people are interested by our crap?
Few dozen, less than one hundred? We like the same things, we have the same passion, old men hobbies, so of course guys peace and love!

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Kubur would like to add something:
At the very end, we are gentlemen and educated people, but even more than that, I have a simple question.
How many people are interested by our crap?
Few dozen, less than one hundred? We like the same things, we have the same passion, old men hobbies, so of course guys peace and love!

Kubur, if you go to the bottom of the ethno arms and armor page you can see how many people/entities are browsing the forum.
405 as this post is being written.

Only 6 members though.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Kubur would like to add something:
At the very end, we are gentlemen and educated people, but even more than that, I have a simple question.
How many people are interested by our crap?
Few dozen, less than one hundred? We like the same things, we have the same passion, old men hobbies, so of course guys peace and love!

Interesting question indeed,
Actually our interests and fields of study are pretty diverse, but basically centered on arms and armor, which in the general interests of the population outside our collecting and study community typically has very limited exposure or interest in these topics. We know that museums and publications of general nature have increasingly tried to avoid focus on weapons in accord with the political correctness paranoia.

I know that if I mention in conversation to someone in general conversation that I am a historian in the study of arms and armor, I usually get a subdued, 'oh how interesting'. But if I say anything further in explanation, the 'glassed over eye syndrome' becomes quickly evident.

However, if you look at the tally of 'hits' on threads aside from the viewers at the moment listing Rick mentioned, the numbers indicate enormous interest over time, and suggest that people 'surfing' the web for information often hit our threads. The proportion of readers (hits) is remarkable compared to the number of responses or entries.

Here again, and I have been told this by many persons, they have admitted they often read the threads, but are apprehensive about making comments as they feel they do not 'know enough' or fear rebuke or ridicule from other writers on the threads.

To add to your 'peace and love' I would also add two words which pertain directly to the theme I have been promoting in this thread toward responses to persons posting queries and seeking comments on their items,
"candor with courtesy".

A few choruses of 'Kumbaya' everybody !!!

[Jim McDougall]

In the past week I have been deeply engrossed in research concerning Renaissance swords and famed makers of blades, which often of course crosses paths with the art of fence and dueling, and a reference on the art and science of western martial art.

In this I found a treatise written by a 16th c soldier and master of fence who was also known as a philosopher, his name was Vincentio Saviolo, and it was written in 1595. In the pages I read, I found a passage which rang resoundingly toward our topic at hand in perhaps an oblique sort of way.

"...the more skill a man hath of his weapon, the more gentle and courteous should he shewe himself".

While in a seemingly odd context as pertaining to our discussion here, what brought this to mind is that in my time of many years studying arms as well as collecting them, I do recall this sort of philosophy from previous reading on fence.
On these pages, I recall noting on many occasions that our study of arms here was in order to benefit ourselves and others by learning as much as we can on the weapons to avoid unfortunate mistakes in acquisition.
I noted that for a collector, the most sound and important weapon in his collection is that of knowledge.

Therefore, here, our weapon is knowledge in this analogy, and we all become ever more skilled in its use through our discussions, research and ideas.
The use of philosophy in martial arts as with this comparison brings to mind the well known Chinese work, "The Art of War", by Sun Tzu, while ancient, is often employed today in business practice.

I believe this is as much as I can say on this topic, so will close with it.

Back to work on research and discussion on arms for me!!!

Thanks everybody!

[corrado26]

You are really a very wise man
corrado26