Anyone want to offer a test situation?
Any situation? Yes. Right now, in Guild Wars 2, I am trying to figure out how my guardian can take on many enemies at once. Ok, that will work. Where do you stick your sword? You can look at the mechanical facts, there are many enemies, and you have a constrained range of resources. In that system, there may be the answer you are looking for. So if you went with that you would either find that system tool or not, and that’s how the situation would unfold. Or you can look at the setting and the behaviour of the enemies. This could be compared to the emotional element of a real world situation. No situation your character is in is every really the same is it?
No. You can use movement to deliberately limit the number of enemies you have to fight. True. And in that way use an ability that isn’t explicitly built into your characters mechanics, and yet a third option. You can manage pacing, identify what element of the fight is driving the pace you are trying to deal with, and prioritize your attacks that way. By focusing your efforts slow the unfolding of the fight.
These each sound like valid approaches?
Yes, thank you. Usually, spell casters set the pace of the fight. Damage based spell casters speed it up. Healers slow it down. Either way you don’t want opponents setting the pace.
So perhaps a real life example. We are talking about flow, and how attention shapes it’s behaviour. Attention is like the proverbial fork. Where you stick yours dictates who, and when a situation is done.
So a real life situation, these classes. Ever notice they don’t always effect you the same way? I can’t dictate where you place your attention. Some come looking for what they believe to be hard facts. I sometimes have those to offer. Some come looking for what they believe to be affirmation of faith, support for spiritual truth. Sometimes I do that also. Others come looking for a broader way of perceiving things in the first place. Sometimes I offer that new information, sometimes I don’t. But is it what I say that really determines this?
It’s probably the perception of the listener or reader. It’s what the person is looking for. You get from these classes (and articles) what you bring to it. Some people bring a hammer and want more nails for their comfy little box. Some people bring a fan and want to feel wind to refresh their feelings. Some people bring a scanner and want to find new specimens to test their system on. I can meet each person with their own tool and even rotate between them. Have you observed this?
I have. Things don’t have to be accidental though. You have more tools at your disposal or can use the one tool in more ways than you are accustomed, and how you use your tool because they are all just metaphors or symbols for how you use your attention. Patterns of attention you have learned determines what happens. What you actually get from classes. I can’t predict what that will be and I don’t even try when I choose a topic or begin a class. I just watch what happens as the class unfolds.
I think you are very good at that, allowing each person to use the tools of their choosing. Yes, and showing other ways, other possible conclusions, other outcomes that could be arrived at or at least I hope to.
Any questions about flow so far?
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~