I had little success in persuading people in my class to speak out. I tried to persuade them that what they had on their minds would be interesting to others in the room. The students who knew this and did state their questions, compliments, confusions and complaints emerged as leaders. They enjoyed their time in the class more, I think, from looking at their expressions and listening to their voice tone.
I was reminded of the general idea that what I do and think is not unique but is shared by others this morning. I am trying to master Gmail, in more than one account at once. I was looking at the Gmail (Google's email settings) to see what might be added to my interface, the tools and buttons I see and use. As I read through them, I see there are small inventions, little additions often called "apps" for 'applications' or "applets" for little applications that can do things an efficient robot would not need done. I am not an efficient robot, though, and neither it turns out are others who can write programs that modify or add to Gmail. Do you want to quickly mark as read email you haven't read? Do you want to preview a message or a link in one?
As I read what is provided by others, I see again that my foibles and difficulties not mine alone. Others get overwhelmed, too. Others feel they alone don't understand what Hulu is. They too are bored by football and eat too many sweets, too much brie and nuts.
I am not calling for a band of lazies to celebrate laxity and disorder. I do find comfort in seeing my aches and worries are part of others, too. I do find strength to proceed against difficulties knowing that others are engaged in the same struggle.
