help! I have a disorder caused by the Pynchon List!

[Paul Mackin]

I think it would be possible to go on a great length on this but for a
start let's take your perception that "everything seemed SOOO 
SSLLOOWW" in the "live people" encounter you describe. One reason for this 
could be that, in face to face conversations with people you like and want to
remain liking you, it is invariably  necessary to continue listening
(and this is true even in the company of generally bright  people) to a
whole lot that doesn't interest you as much at that particular moment as
something else might.  However, you still have to patiently bear with
them some reasonable time until somehow the subject can be politely
changed. But, while going through p-list messages, this nuisance can
easily be avoided. One can instantly skip over the less interesting and
completely uninteresting stuff with a mere key stroke. This is what
gives one the illusion of speed while in "p-list life"  as compared with
"real life."   Think how much more perfect "real life" would be if such
were possible there. 

P.

On Fri, 2003-02-21 at 15:42, Elainemmbell at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/21/2003 12:51:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> quail at libyrinth.com writes:
> 
> > most of us are Joyceans, all of us like to
> > debate, and none of us are afraid of a little controversy
> 
> Driving home (fast) from a meeting with real, live people in a restaurant in 
> the 3D world, I realized that the reason I left the meeting feeling very 
> dissatisfied is this:  I have an intellectual/emotional disorder, bordering 
> lately on sociopathy, specifically caused by you entities on this list.  ALL 
> of you, even the ones who call names a lot, and who don't like each other, 
> and who make believe (sometimes) that they are each other; even the ones who 
> write bad poetry or get a little arrogant about their research skills or 
> political philosophy from time to time.
> 
> Can you help me?
> 
> See, the problem is that the real people I met today, though quite 
> intelligent and attractive in their own way, and all of them writers, simply 
> were not as entertaining as you!  They were smart but not daring, creative 
> but not edgy, articulate but not clever, and everything seemed SOOO 
> SSLLOOWW...my fingers kept wanting to click on to the next part of the 
> thread...and then I realized there was no thread--it was conversation, where 
> one person talks and later another one does.  When it was my turn I nearly 
> completely blanked.  I had to visualize my keyboard in order to get the words 
> out.  
> 
> WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?
> 
> Have any of you--especially the old-timers (no offense)--suffered from this 
> bizarre malady?  If so, how, other than abstaining from the List, does one 
> conquer it and begin to enjoy Real World Interaction again.  I am not shy.  I 
> am a seasoned public speaker and performer.  At least I was before I came 
> here, met you, and became addicted...
> Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
> (860) 523-9225