interviewed by src

[cellio]

1. You get to send a written question back in time to one of the great sages, and receive a written answer. What do you ask, and to whom?

I had to think about this one a lot. I'll probably think of a dozen better things tomorrow, but here's what I have for tonight.

The question: "Please explain to me the rules of exegesis -- how we come to understand the halacha on a question". The person I ask: Rabbi Shammai.

The reason: the talmud records many, many disputes between Rabbis Hillel and Shammai (and their students and descendants). Both were great sages, but the rulings almost always follow Hillel. So I'd ask Shammai to explain the system that allows him to be a great sage but come up with completely different answers. Because I'm curious, and because it might help us modern people without benefit of the sages' minds to look at questions from another perspective.

(Note, by the way, that Hillel is usually more lenient than Shammai. So this isn't a ploy to get a liberal approach on the table; I'd just like to hear about a different approach that apparently had merit.)

2. As you get to know people, what do you feel surprises them the most about you?

Hmm. I should ask some of them. :-)

For people I've gotten to know more recently (past few years), I'm told that my lack of (relevant) religious background growing up comes as a surprise. I've been mistaken for someone who's been (somewhat) observant since birth by a bunch of people, in my congregation and elsewhere.

More generally, maybe that for someone who's supposed to be smart and who is mentally pretty organized, I'm pretty bad about paper. I can keep a months-long to-do list in my brain, memorize my calendar half a year out without effort, recall the smallest of details from past discussions/meetings/books/etc, tell you who's reading torah the week after next from memory... but I cannot reliably pay bills on time, even though the physical bill should make this easier. I'm also not very good about filing paper, though I usually know where things are. And a quip I once heard along the lines of "it's national clean-off-your-desk day; I think I found Elvis" hits a little too close to home.

So especially if you know me primarily from the net or activities outside the home, this might not become evident for a long time. If you've seen my office, it probably comes as less of a surprise.

3. When you RPG, do you prefer a character mostly like yourself or mostly unlike yourself? Are there any recurring traits in characters you've enjoyed, or ways they seem to converge on something?

I like to try to play characters who are somewhat different, but I don't always succeed. I think I often end up playing me++.

There are some characteristics where I really don't like playing someone radically different. I would have trouble playing a typical low-charisma character, for example -- the sort who's argumentative, disruptive, etc. That's because I see an RPG as a team-based effort, not a competition among players, and that sort of behavior can undermine not only a party but the players who are getting together to be social (among things). For similar reasons, I wouldn't be interested in playing a character who would steal from the party.

I think I would also have trouble playing a character who is not equipped to solve problems and puzzles. The "big dumb jock" doesn't appeal -- though the "foolhardy jock" would be quite another matter. :-) While it's hard to play a character who's smarter than the player, it is also hard to play one who is significantly dumber -- at least for me.

I guess the recurring themes in characters I've played (there haven't been a lot that involve actual role-playing rather than munchkining) include problem-solving, reasonable smarts, and reasonable ability to get along with others. Character classes have run the gamut, from paladin to assassin, warrior to mage.

I'm going to be playing in a session of My Life With Master in a couple weeks, and that promises to be completely different from anything I've tried before. Should be fascinating. I hope I can get into the headspace without squicking anyone. (The players play competing henchmen for an evil overlord.)

4. What skill do you wish you'd studied in childhood so that you could just do it now?

Any foreign (natural) language. I am told by people who have such skills that learning the third language is easier than learning the second, and I understand that an additional language is learned more easily when you're young.

While it never would have occurred to anyone when I was actually a child, I'd be happy to project backward a request for that language to have been Hebrew. :-)

5. You can set up exactly one teleport ring, from your home to another place. It can only be used by you, and you can only move yourself and a small bit of luggage or family pet through it. Where is the other side? Why? How often will you use it?

What a neat question!

I'll presume that we're talking about the here and now, not the vague speculative future, so I'll rule out "the mars colony". :-)

My thoughts are going in several directions. On the one hand, I would really like to have easier access to my friends in other parts of the world -- but they haven't had the decency to all congregate in one place. I suppose the greater Boston area holds the greatest concentration, so maybe siderea's house. (Wait, does she have a car? Maybe I should hit up jducoeur instead.) If I took this approach, I'd use it fairly frequently -- for weeknight or Sunday get-togethers, or an occasional Shabbat, depending on who I'm visiting.

Another thought is to establish a vacation home somewhere interesting. After all, the actual travel is a real nuisance. So maybe I could find an interesting place with good weather, a strong Jewish community, a good presence of SCA folks and other geeks, and interesting places to hang out. (Oh, and libraries and book stores! And DSL. :-) ) I'm kind of a social creature, though, so given that I can't bring my friends with me, it has to be a place where I can make friends. Or I have to get together with my other friends who get teleport circles and agree on a plan. This model calls for longer, less-frequent trips, I think. (By the way, I'm more of a woods-and-waterfalls person than I am a tropical-beaches person.)

Part of me says Jerusalem. Because it would be great to go and try to connect without committing days on each end for travel. But I don't know how often I would use it in practice. So probably not.

By the way, I considered and rejected scenarios that let me make money from it (e.g. putting the other end on top of a good diamond mine). I wouldn't want to squander it on something that I couldn't directly enjoy at some level. Yeah, sure, money can make a good down-payment on happiness, but it just doesn't seem right. I want to use it for social, not financial, gain.

You know the drill: if you want a set of questions, ask. You'll update your journal, including the offer to propegate.

Comments

Re:

[cellio]

Ok, trying to keep this fairly light...

What (hypothetical or real) tool that you do not have would most help you in your job? (Let's please stipulate that the magic DWIM box doesn't exist. :-) )

Name one interest or hobby that you'd like to pursue that you're not pursuing right now. What's stopping you?

The genie in the lamp will grant you one superpower. Which do you ask for?

Share a fond memory from your youth.

What type of character would you like to play in your next RPG?

Re:

[cellio]

Answered here.