Matt Colville's Community

[Gradine]

No matter how much some would love for it be otherwise the case, language is deeply, deeply personal. It is rooted in history, culture, family, and individual experience. Any attempt to pursue what any specific word can, should, or does mean is inherently going to be significantly more fruitless than the ideas behind those words.

"We need a common vocabulary in order to-" no, you don't. You want a common vocabulary. What you need is understanding, as in what the other person means when they say the word they say, and you don't need them to say the words you want them to say in order to do that.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

Maybe. Ultimately, language gonna language.

You'd think so. But language and language are not synonyms either. Common mistake.

 

[Older Beholder]

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[definiteFreakyFishGuy]

Sorry, a bit late to the conversation.

Overall, I thought this was a very thought provoking video, and I found myself spending a lot of time this week thinking about what Mr. Colville said. Some of what he said landed well, some not so much. It made me think a lot about what community means to me, and how I used to conflate community, friendship, and people I do hobbies with.

One thing that stood out in Colville's definition of community is the "emotional regulation" bit. It has definitely been my experience that in the groups I was part of, the ones that caused most friction were the most passionate ones. In my DND group, the player that almost imploded our group was the most passionate player—they spent the most number of hours working on their character, researching the lore, and talking to the GM about the campaign. That said, it did come off as a bit too exclusionary—maybe he said this and I just don't remember, but I'd want to allow some room for community members to make mistakes and grow (as much as one could tolerate) rather than exclude them outright.

Finally, I felt totally called out when Colville mentioned people spend way too much time talking about what they dislike than what they like. I agree that it's probably healthier to talk about the things I like rather than things I dislike. That said, I feel tremendous satisfaction when I find people hating on something I also dislike, and I'm guessing I am not alone. (That said, I have blocked a number of folks that I found super obnoxious...)