A
Anonymous
Guest
Wow, there sure is a lot of backlash in the online aquarium communities over this whole Nemo thing. I must admit, it's fairly ... ugly. Is that the right word? Arrogant? Maybe that's better.
I don't mean to chastise the members of this community unduly. You've been an invaluable resource in my quest to learn as much as I can before jump into my first reef aquarium. You’ve probably saved me hundreds of dollars in poor equipment purchases, and undoubtedly saved my pets from many painful mistakes I surely would have made. For that, I’m very grateful.
But the attitude here, and on other message boards, over the whole Nemo thing somewhat puts me off. I would like to take this moment to point out that this may be an opportunity to educate a wider vein of the public than we normally can. Rather than greet newcomers with curt replies and thinly veiled arrogance, wouldn't you rather set them on the right path? These are often people who have no preconceptions about the aquarium hobby. It's our chance to educate the public a little about things like responsible fish keeping, to think of fish and other aquarium organisms on equal par with a cat or dog or parakeet. We can use this opportunity to tell people about tank raised fish and the less destructive methods of harvesting organisms from the reef.
More importantly - we can get people to care about natural reefs themselves. Getting people into the hobby is a GOOD THING(tm) as long as we think of it like this: they are potential allies, not potential threats.
I'd like to take a second to ask all the superlative people here to treat the newcomers nicely and do your best to reign in that normal human tendency to alienate new members of a clique. It's in our advantage to do so. Everyone sucks when they're new and blundering around. Most humans are curious, and willing to absorb knowledge you throw their way. Give it a shot.
Thanks.
-me
ps – unless I’m way off base. Then just ignore my inane babbling.
I don't mean to chastise the members of this community unduly. You've been an invaluable resource in my quest to learn as much as I can before jump into my first reef aquarium. You’ve probably saved me hundreds of dollars in poor equipment purchases, and undoubtedly saved my pets from many painful mistakes I surely would have made. For that, I’m very grateful.
But the attitude here, and on other message boards, over the whole Nemo thing somewhat puts me off. I would like to take this moment to point out that this may be an opportunity to educate a wider vein of the public than we normally can. Rather than greet newcomers with curt replies and thinly veiled arrogance, wouldn't you rather set them on the right path? These are often people who have no preconceptions about the aquarium hobby. It's our chance to educate the public a little about things like responsible fish keeping, to think of fish and other aquarium organisms on equal par with a cat or dog or parakeet. We can use this opportunity to tell people about tank raised fish and the less destructive methods of harvesting organisms from the reef.
More importantly - we can get people to care about natural reefs themselves. Getting people into the hobby is a GOOD THING(tm) as long as we think of it like this: they are potential allies, not potential threats.
I'd like to take a second to ask all the superlative people here to treat the newcomers nicely and do your best to reign in that normal human tendency to alienate new members of a clique. It's in our advantage to do so. Everyone sucks when they're new and blundering around. Most humans are curious, and willing to absorb knowledge you throw their way. Give it a shot.
Thanks.
-me
ps – unless I’m way off base. Then just ignore my inane babbling.
