This is an age-old question that many a monk has brought up before.

I, for one, have asked myself this many times until someone in the CB pointed out to me that it wasn't what I knew but instead what little I knew that I shared.

...Do you *actually* think I know the same amount of Perl as some of the other monks below or of the same level as me? Definitely not.

All I do around here is try to contribute as much as possible by never logging out and by contributing answers to the questions I know.

To anyone doubting theirselves, just think that as long as you learn stuff here try to contribute intelligent and well thoughtout answers, than you are just as valuable here as anyone else.

BTW: good post, azatoth
UPDATE:Fixed load 'o spelling errors.

Tiptoeing up to a Perl hacker.
Dave AKA damian

I'll second this. Being a monk, of the Perlish or any other persuasion, is about following a path. It's not what you say, it's not even what you currently know, it's what you're honestly striving towards. XP and Best Nodes are nice positive rewards, but they shouldn't be the point.

Not that postings etc. are irrelevant. But it's hard to contribute much, at least for me, for two reasons:

1. When I read someone's question that I can answer, there's usually 5 other people who've posted replies, some of which are better answers than whatever I had in mind.
2. Whenever I get stumped to the point where I begin to compose a SOPW, I stop, think, search, think some more, and wind up figuring it out myself. Sometimes, just the act of organizing my thoughts for someone else to read makes the solution appear.

So I keep reading and learning, and contribute when I can.

-- Frag.

Amen. It's what I try to impress on my son all the time: it's not how well you do it, it's how hard you try.

In a learning situation such as this, which tries to imitate the round-table discussion group style of brainstorming, it's the throwing around of ideas (hopefully, without penalty even if you do something very basic or stupid) that makes Perlmonks a place where you can actually learn. It adds to my productivity instead of sapping it, as most 'net based stuff seems to do these days.

I know that I am capable of making a complete ass out of myself, to a certain degree it can't be helped :) But I also know that as long as I interact, write responses, get corrected and LEARN, I've done myself and probably others some good.

Now the bad news is that Size Kills All; the universe doesn't scale. This type of interaction works great with small groups of people (like, strangely enough, in kindergarden and 1st grade classes), but becomes much less effective as the size of the group grows. Eventually, the signal to noise ration shifts into the noise area and, it breaks. Take the way IRC used to be, Usenet and Everything for example.

So, Share and Enjoy while you can. Maybe, if we are lucky, Perlmonks won't fall pray to that, but if it doesn't, it will be the first one I've seen.

And I'd really like to keep away from assigning worth to people. That's a dangerous idea at any time. Just have fun, learn Perl and don't stress on it.

____________________
Jeremy
I didn't believe in evil until I dated it.

Speaking as an unreformed fool, I prefer stupid to boring. Although this week would have been better personally being stupid, but my mouth is bigger than my foot. *sigh*

Do your best and take it as it comes and you won't go far wrong.

In a previous age, the WWW had not been invented yet and I had to barter with the local university to get access to Internet email (there was no such thing as an ISP yet), I belonged to a "newsgroup"-like discussion group on CompuServe. It was mainly populated by fellow writers and developers, and the discussions were very philosophical and deep. In it's heyday, it was quite a group.

Anyway, it was noted one time that the lurkers outnumbered the active participants by about 80:1 ! We would chat about the wisdom of the ages or the wimsey of the moment, and out there was this hidden audience totally unknown to us except for traces in the system logs. Occasionally someone would get up the courage to post something and thus join the group; most always newcomers graduated from being lurkers, so like long-period comets we knew there was some vauge population "out there" but never really thought about it much.

One day that itself became the subject of conversation. Why are all these people watching us, and what are they getting out of it? Some cross between PBS (this was before Discovery Channel) and a geek soap opera? We pondered but could not truely comprehend.

—John

My personal impression/opinion of the Voting Systems is skewed.

On the one hand it's a great incentive to get people to participate. In that sense, it is done very fairly & realistically. You can become a Saint simply by voting regularly & not doing a whole lot more. Or you can post voraciously. The up/down-side to that is that you will then be Judged by what you say. Are you asking an intelligent, thought-provoking question? Are you giving an informative, well referenced & linked reply? Or are you being a Troll? Or are you too lazy to read a book on PERL on your own & you're going to ask the monks how to do everything?

The big problem that I'm sensing here is that many monks have taken up the aspect of Politicians.

For example, ever post like a Troll as Anonymous Monk? Then you're guilty too. Personally, I haven't done it, but I've wanted to.

The truth is that the titles convey some sort of office, wherein they artifically generate a sense of respect for those who've been here or accomplished more than you have yet. I have great respect for many people here, and they have both taught & learned from me on occasion. But the other hidden truth is that the titles are meaningless...

Contemplate the meaning of nothing and something which itself has no meaning.

So.. You find people who might become obsessed with their XP. I have been known to be a stats whore... But mostly in that I'd check on my new postings like 10 times a day to see how they are received. I've learned to be more socially conscious of what exactly I'm saying so that maybe I don't provoke people to -- me for no good reason.

And therein you see both sides of the coin. On one side it makes you obsessed with nothing and on the other hand I find myself taking greater care in my work...

Like I said... $IMHO='skewed'.... But my best advice is this: Relax, and enjoy your work. Don't fret over where you fit into an artificial pecking order. In your life experience there are things that you can share with others just as they can share with you.

"A resource shared is a resource squared." - Mark Pesce

The only thing I felt I could do was accept it and
just not screw up too bad.

So what I'm doing now is watching the very good monks,
the ones that I respect. Watching how they are at the monastery.

There is nothing wrong with feeling unworthy.
Just as long as you remember that the big dogs were once little dogs like us.
Follow their example mindfully and be yourself at all times.
Try to be worthy of your position and respect yourself and others.

Nothing too easy.

"Lights, Camel, Action!"
--Stump
A Fierce Pancake(1988) *Charleton Heston*(track 8)

In this age of "first reply gets first XP," it feels quite frustrating to try getting words in edgewise. Nevertheless, I come back here and trudge along, conveniently ignoring the thorns in my side, whether they be saintly, fast burners, trolls, etc... I end up coming here and not caring about who's where on the totem pole. That's a Good Thing about a place full of regulars that I can readily respect.

I guess my whole point in rambling is that you're not the first (or the only) one to feel this way. I've stopped trying to make it to Best Nodes, and I've stopped trying to compare others' XP to mine, for it is an exercise in futility.

--
Me spell chucker work grate. Knead grandma chicken.

I became a monk, and then I discovered strict. It's sad.

But, I got a fancy new rope belt, so I kept my mouth shut...

-OzzyOsbourne