Fidelity: request for input

[Simon Wilson]

Like some people of a certain age my sister-in-law is a bit of a tea snob. It's usually Darjeeling made in a tea pot (sometimes even with a crochetted tea cosy (ffs)) and served in bone china. Of course it has to brew for about half an hour. It's usually quite nice when it arrives but I'm not sure it's worth the faffing and waiting. On the other hand, I've spend a lot of time in a care home over the last few years and made thousands of cups of tea for people who aren't particualrly choosy - chuck a cheap tea bag in a mug add water and milk and Bob's your uncle everybody's happy. Now, I do like tea but I can't remember ever making tea in a cave and that's because I've always gone for instant coffee or hot chocolate. You can get instant tea and although I've never tried it, it just might be OK and may be worth trying if your the sort of person who insists on tea. But I would say definitely in a cave go for hot drinks that are easy to make. Certainly don't go for the bone china and large-leaf darjeeling and even avoid tea bags or any other sort of fiddly tea.

 

[Oceanrower]

Hmm. I'm not sure you lot are giving this thread the respect it deserves...

:spank:

 

[Ian Ball]

Hmm. I'm not sure you lot are giving this thread the respect it deserves...

I disagree.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Serendipity is a much nicer word.

 

[alastairgott]

Hmm. I'm not sure you lot are giving this thread the respect it deserves...

:spank:

Every answer helps young Kenilworth the philosopher. If his beard is 10 foot long in the forest, what noise does it make?
If his beard turns Grey in a cave, when will it fall out?

 

[antmcc]

If I have a picture of Castro on my computer, do I have Fidel IT?

 

[paul]

[gmod]Let's finish with the jokes etc. and at least try and answer the question. This is not in 'Idle Chat'.[/gmod]

 

[The Old Ruminator]

I  did try Global Mod. I really did.  :bow:

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Perhaps the insincere answers reveal more about fidelity in the caving world than we might like to think.

 

[Oceanrower]

I'll try, Paul.

But, to be honest, I don't even understand the question!

 

[The Old Ruminator]

William Wordsworth's take on fidelity.

"A shepherd is astonished to see a little dog which is barking in a very unusual manner among rocks and fern in the mountainous region.  He wonders how the strange little dog could be there all alone in the deserted cave-like rocky mountainous region far from any human habitation.  The only other sign of liveliness that the shepherd could spot in the isolated region was that of a fish jumping out of a pool of water and a raven cawing.  It seems as if the sun?s rays and the howling wind are trying to rush past the region and seem trapped there.  The shepherd has a faint suspicion of foreboding and hurriedly follows the dog across the rocky terrain and is shocked to see a human skeleton lying on the ground.  The shepherd then realizes that it was the skeleton of Charles Gough and even remembers the day the tragic accident occurred.  The dog had stayed by the side of Charles Gough for 3 months in the difficult terrain.  The incident depicts the enduring affection that dogs display which surpasses that of human beings."

Well it does mention somebody called Gough and a cave.

This is not an insincere answer Mr or Mrs Mod.

 

[cap n chris]

Please do not submit anything that you are unwilling to have partly or wholly repeated, in print, credited or not according to your wish.

Here's an offering:

The more experience and insights one gains, the more Fidelity veers entirely from the camaraderie and infectious socialising towards a focussed concern for the solitude and sanctity of the beauty of the pristine geology, unpopulated and therefore protected. 

 

[Mark]

Let's finish with the jokes etc. and at least try and answer the question. This is not in 'Idle Chat'.

No its in "Caving in The Media. Book/DVD reviews etc" ???

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The lonely road to Nirvana good Captain Chris.
The profound peace of mind found solo mud sloshing in Grebe Swallet . Fidelity, Self awareness , Nirvana.

"The more experience and insights one gains, the more Fidelity veers entirely from the camaraderie and infectious socialising towards a focussed concern for the solitude and sanctity of the beauty of the pristine geology, unpopulated and therefore protected.  "

 

[paul]

Let's finish with the jokes etc. and at least try and answer the question. This is not in 'Idle Chat'.

No its in "Caving in The Media. Book/DVD reviews etc" ???

And Kenilworth says in hist post above: "I am in the process of writing an extended essay on the topic of fidelity, both in general and as it relates to caves, caving culture, and the larger natural world." and asks his question in relation to this. I see no problem.

 

[ZombieCake]

A couple of thoughts:
One definition is: "faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support."  So could that also imply some sort of contract, perhaps either psychological or financial?  E.g. paying club membership fees could imply fidelity to that club.  Or perhaps agreeing to meet up each Tuesday to go digging is a sort od psychological contract and also faithfulness (fidelity) to that group.

Another definition is: "the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced."  So could that imply consistent quality (and by implication safety) of something more practical such as rope work, ladder rigging, etc.? 

 

[pwhole]

I think without a little more clarification from Kenilworth as to the context of the 'fidelity', it's going to be difficult to know how to approach a piece of writing, especially as I wasn't planning to do it. If we can't discuss here what fidelity actually means, then I suspect it's not going to go very far. I would imagine that the second definition - the 'degree of exactness' would be the more logical choice in the context of cave exploration/description.

 

[RobinGriffiths]

Let's finish with the jokes etc. and at least try and answer the question. This is not in 'Idle Chat'.

No its in "Caving in The Media. Book/DVD reviews etc" ???

And Kenilworth says in hist post above: "I am in the process of writing an extended essay on the topic of fidelity, both in general and as it relates to caves, caving culture, and the larger natural world." and asks his question in relation to this. I see no problem.

Ok, back to the question - no piss taking, Do you know what he's after. I don't. "caves, caving culture, and the larger natural world" can be anything. What does it even mean? Everything we could possibly encounter?  If you got that question in an exam, your heart would sink. What version of fidelity are we going with? Faithfulness to a person, cause or belief? Or accuracy in reproduction?

Until we know what is requested, we may as well take the piss, in traditional British fashion.

 

[Kenilworth]

I wished to be as vague as possible in order to see what directions individuals' thoughts might run. This suits my purpose. I should have clarified though that I mean fidelity of the first dictionary sense of faithfulness. I posted in this section because I couldn't think of a better one. This work will be included in a print publication so I reckon that's close enough.

 

[cooleycr]

Hi there Kenilworth..

I have spent the past three years working on a mine shaft restoration project.
Although we are all volunteers, and come from all walks of life, both professionally and socially, I have every faith in the rest of the team and trust them implicitly.
During this time I could easily have gone off to do some "proper caving", but I remained true to the cause, turning up most weekends in all weather..

I was faithful to the cause.

Does this count?

Charley.