SC - OT Creativity Changes

[John Henschen]

Sadly, I have to agree with Duke Cariadoc. SCA members, the majority at
least are at the kindergarten level in their knowledge of the Middle ages.
Normal americans are at pre-school  level. I'd say that even most people who
teach medieval history are in high school level... in relative terms. I'll
admit that I'm probably just graduating from kindergarten and entering first
grade, and I've been a member for 9 years. And honestly, the number of
people who know... wait a minute.... I think we're getting some things
confused here. I view first grade knowledge as a first level of learning.
Not the knowledge that a first grader (6 year old) may have of the middle
ages. Perhaps that's where the confusion lies...?

Celadon
- -----Original Message-----
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
To: sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
Date: Friday, June 26, 1998 1:21 PM
Subject: Re: SC - OT Creativity Changes


>Duke Cariadoc writes:
>>If you want to do something different, there are lots of period
>>recipes that haven't been done yet. And of course, in most groups,  a
>serious attempt at a period feast is something different. What bothers me
>is how often the desire to "do something different" means a gimmick
>feast, designed with no thought about, or concern for, the availability
>of  period recipes (i.e. a "Marco Polo" feast or the like).<
>
>Your Grace,
> I don't understand what is wrong with a themed or 'gimick' feast
>(although I dislike the term).  I know that they did themed affairs in
>period, Elizabeth I was known for this sort of thing, and others,
>although I can't lay my hands on other specifics just now.  Now, whether
>or not the feast is planned with an eye to specific availabilities, that
>is something that must be addressed.  But, I think the theme events,
>feasts, contests, whatever are a good way to make the connections in
>people's minds as to what was happening in a given area, and what else
>was affected by it.
>>
>>>Have we moved from living the Dream to attending a
>>graduate-level history class?
>>
>>No--in lots of ways.
>>
>>1. Our average is more at the kindergarten level.
>
>Oh, come now.  Perhaps the American average, but the average knowledge of
>the folks in the SCA?  Not a chance.  I once read that the average number
>of books bought and read by Americans was 2-3 a year.  I have been
>merchanting books for a long time in the SCA, and I can personally tell
>you that our average is WAY above that! :)  Even counting the newcomers
>who have little or no idea past what they have seen on television, they
>still have SOME interest in learning about our period, or they wouldn't
>be here.  Especially considering the state of public education in
>America, I think you do a great injustice to the intelligence of the SCA
>community to rank it so low.  (I know you are a law professor, and have a
>very intimate knowledge of education, but I still think the average
>interest and knowlede in the SCA is higher than most "high school
>graduates", if not the average IQ levels as well.)
>
>>2. What we do isn't "attending a class" at any level. So far as I can
>>tell, nobody in the SCA studies period cooking merely in order to know
>about period cooking--people study period cooking in order to do it.
>>
>>David/Cariadoc
>
>Perhaps this is just my own personal slant on learning, but I have rarely
>studied something (non-compulsory) that I was not interested in DOING
>something with.  Even if I have no current applications in mind, I file
>every piece of education I get away, and someday further down the road,
>it becomes significant to something I am doing.  I have learned more
>about connecting information and understanding bigger patterns by
>studying things in the SCA.  Our ability to make something and work with
>it to see the actual funtionality of it transcends a lecture-type
>classroom, but it also makes lecture material more relevant in return.
> No, I don't think we have moved away from "The Dream" (another
>phrase I don't like much, as far as I can tell the one common 'Dream' is
>to build the perfect SCA site), I think we are Dreaming on a larger scale
>now.
>
>
>Mistress Christianna MacGrain, OP, Meridies
>
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