apothecary Posted May 8, 2005 How do you feel about being a member of this community? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted May 8, 2005 Mostly misunderstood and discriminated against by the larger population hehe... :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock n Liam Posted May 8, 2005 I was always intimidated by the look of the forums, but once i joined i got to like it. Obviously i havent been registered long, but have been lurking for ages now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvi Posted May 9, 2005 I think it's great to be able to be a member, since there really aren't many people into ethnobotany locally. People around here say things like "Man I hear peyote really fucks you up. It lasts for 3 days and you have to induce vomiting to stop the trip! I've gotta get my hands on some." It's just really nice to be a part of such a knowledgeable and openminded group. Also most of you guys have a great respect for plants, which is awesome. [ 09. May 2005, 03:20: Message edited by: Salvi ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smogs Posted May 9, 2005 mostly good but sometimes it feels like theres so much politics going on! and there wouldnt have to be if jerk wads just followed the site rules also this may sound funny at first but theres a lot of prejudgice on here. Example.. "oh you made a spelling or grammatical error you therefore must be stupid and young and an idiot... therefore none of your arguments are valid" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hebrew Posted May 9, 2005 yeah i enjoy it ethnobotany is my fav hobby and i have learnt a great deal from the forums [ 09. May 2005, 12:06: Message edited by: hebrew ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted May 9, 2005 smogs, you get politics in every community. Ethnobotany is for many only a minor part of their lives, so it is only natural that people occasionally clash on every other aspect of their lives. Someone once complained about this community being too homogenous, others occasionally claim it is too divergent. The truth is probably in the middle and it gives us plenty to talk about. Your other comment is something that bothers me too at times. We have so many members who don't have english as their primary language and these comments can be off putting. Also, while we like to keep high standards, that doesn't mean those with lower language skills need to be ostracised. I'd like to see more tolerance in that respect and will actually keep a bit of an eye on this in the near future so it doesn't get out of control. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
incognito Posted May 9, 2005 i have learnt really all i know about ethnobotanics from this forum, it has been pretty damn good to me..thanks everyone !!! :cool: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted May 10, 2005 This is without a doubt the best such online ethnobotany community I've every found- both because of the scientific rigor of many members and because its a clean friendly place. I would never call these forums too homogenous... nor would I say its too diverse to function well, overall its a pretty good mix.... and the management is cool :cool: I peek in on other sites from time to time but SAB and EA are the only ones I take seriously or would want to be significantly involved in. Personal and political conflicts pop up now and then, and are usually resolved- that just goes to show how at home folks are here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2b Posted May 10, 2005 Personally this is like a breath of freash air for me, living in the country to long can some times make you go native , and this comunity keeps me in touch with opinions and thoughts from like minded people.It's my escape from the rum drinkin , ute driven , roo shootin locals around me 9 -5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benzito Posted May 10, 2005 The people on here are the only actual ethno-heads that I ever converse with. And I think it is a wonderful, supportive, and inquisitive community. There are people on here trying things that no-one else ever has. Or at least, that there is no previous record of usage. That is pretty darn cool! I spent my first 6 months or so, of being into ethnobotany, just reading erowid and whatever else I could find. Then eventually I found herbalistics, used Darren's service a few times, and was pointed towards this forum by him. Ever since then, I've used this as my primary research resource. As far as the physical 'real' world, I discovered ethnobotany all on my own, and started researching it all by myself. None of my friends are specifically interested, they all just keep asking when I'm going to "start growing shrooms". They are after 'getting f*cked up' rather than enlightened, so it's to be expected. So, really, apart from my girlfriend who has to listen to me, you are the only people I really discuss ethnobotany with. Without this forum, I would feel I had lost something important from my life. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dracos6 Posted May 10, 2005 this forum is like a sanctuary to me, i do not a single person interested in ethnobotanics and about the only person intereted in plants in my life is my mum (geez when i put it like that its rather sad) and her extent of interest is "that one smells nice" and like someone else mentioned all my mates just wanna get smashed or "trip out" and unfortunatly i have found myself growing apart from them of late. they are still good friends but well yeah, you know......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bloodbob Posted May 10, 2005 Simple I don't consider myself as a part of the community PS Nor do I consider my self as a part of law enforcement because I'm not just incase people thought I might be hinting that I was a mole or something I'm not I just don't participate in any other way then this board really. [ 10. May 2005, 06:31: Message edited by: bloodbob ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benzito Posted May 10, 2005 Who gets sick of hearing things like "So, when are we gonna harvest all those peyote?" And then you gotta try and explain: "We're not, I'm growing them for the experience, to keep them alive, to bond with them, to learn from them, to feel the powers of the ancients within my garden. When i am at one with the plants, then i may partake of their flesh." "Okay Ben, well while you partake of ancient flesh or whatever, we're gonna go get a fiddy. We wanna get smashed. Crazy hippy" It's a conversationg I have had about every single plant I grow. Non-ethnobots just don't get it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smogs Posted May 10, 2005 heh heh ben explain it like this... my plants are like a retirement fund... you grow them like assets and watch them until your old and spend the autumn years in another dimension seriously tho i know what u mean i have heaps of plants i dont ever intend on using but i like to collect them and yes i really do enjoy this community and am glad i stumbled across it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted May 11, 2005 Good answers everyone. Benz, you can't really blame them...they don't know better. Why don't you try explaining it to them in a more rational sense rather than the one you gave. Like "well we could harvest the peyote now, but there's no way you'd trip. It's gonna take another 5 years just to get a single dose". Either they'll get disinterested, or very interested. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benzito Posted May 11, 2005 That gets them disinterested. people who don't keep plants don't use the same time frames as us. If I say "I'll have some morning glory seeds in about a year", they just can't comprehend that kind of time frame. They want to score for the weekend, or maybe the next big music festival they have, but no-one plans a drug experience years in advance. No-one but ethnobotanists. It has taught me alot of patience keeping plants, and I thank them for it every day. Don't get me wrong, I don't write off my friends because they don't understand my way of thinking. I just try to teach them about these plants, but I thought this would be a familiar story for many out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvi Posted May 13, 2005 Yeah, I totally know what you mean Benzito. Like, I showed a friend my cactus collection, and he's just like man why don't you sell these, you'd make a fortune! Then, I'm just thinking, well then I'd have to take the money and buy replacements. To me, you can't put a price on some plants. Oh and also, a friend of a friend learned that I was growing some cactus from seeds and his response is "Pff it'll take forever to have enough to trip, that won't work!" Because apparently that's the only reason to grow a cactus, right? [ 13. May 2005, 04:55: Message edited by: Salvi ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted May 13, 2005 I'm often unsure if us plant folks really are supremely patient or if we just have a hideously distorted perception of time... a few days ago I was watering plants and scoped out some cacti I started from seeds- was like 'woah dude! they got big fast, musta had a growth spurt or something, almost time for transplant!!, no way they could grow this big in just.....' then I looked at the label on them, two weeks ago was their 4 year birthday. [ 13. May 2005, 07:02: Message edited by: Auxin ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coin Posted May 13, 2005 i don't know what the signup process is here now, but if there's some sort of intro or 'welcome' to the forum in the signup, i'd love to see something in there addressing that point about grammar/spelling it's ridiculous and condescending (to criticise this). it's really just another sort of skill, like typing fast, or being able to use creative imagery, transcribe a melody, or whatever. and that's in support of ppl whose language skills aren't so great, let alone those for whom english is a second language..the few members here who i know have eng as a second language (third?), you can see their english improve by leaps and bounds by the month! english is a terrible beast anyway, who knows why anyone would get so defensive about it anyway..i love the diversity here, but it's certainly not so heterogenous as to have no focus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salvi Posted May 14, 2005 quote: it's really just another sort of skill, like typing fast, or being able to use creative imagery, transcribe a melody, or whatever. True, but unfortunately, I think a lot of people don't take posts made by people with poor spelling/grammar as seriously as those made with perfect spelling/grammar, whether they realize it or not. [ 13. May 2005, 20:06: Message edited by: Salvi ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
