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One Point to Saint hood

by coreolyn (Parson)
on Oct 29, 2002 at 11:57 UTC ( [id://208711]=monkdiscuss: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

2999 meaningless points, what's a Pontiff to do?

My attainment of Saint hood is proof of the lack of meaning to the points. I've been here a long time checked in regularly, voted often, occassionally rooted for the home code, and on rare occassions was able to help someone with a basic question.

Yet still it's cool to make Saint, and I have learned a ton (and still learning). Hanging around here has made me a better professional coder without a doubt. I'll never make a God as I've always only been a B+ person and there's way to many A+ Perl folk around here for me to take Sainthood as some kind of validation to my skill set.

But as notice to those still aspiring, If I can make it anyone can.

coreolyn

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: One Point to Saint hood
by robartes (Priest) on Oct 29, 2002 at 12:58 UTC
    Congratulations on reaching sainthood. I say congratulations, and I mean congratulations. You are correct in saying that being a saint does not necessarily reflect one's skill level as a Perl coder, but I do think there is some value in XP.

    For me, XP are a reflection of one's activity in the travelling circus we call PerlMonks. If you get a little aureole to stick above your head, that IMO means that you are a (somewhat) regular contributor to this site, and that your contributions as a whole have been valuable and helpful. True, one can imagine becoming a saint by just sitting around and voting on posts for a long enough time, but that is still contributing to the community, albeit indirectly.

    Don't knock sainthood. It means the community appreciates what you have done for it. Now go out and celebrate. Crack open that bottle of champagne you secretly kept for this occasion, write a Perl poem, go kiss a camel, be happy: you're a saint! :)

    And after you've done all that, come back here and just continue what you have been doing before - that's why you became a saint after all.

    CU
    Robartes-

      Congrats!!! Way to Go... Anandatirtha
Re: One Point to Saint hood
by barrd (Canon) on Oct 29, 2002 at 13:39 UTC
    Hi coreolyn
    I concur with robartes on his comments about purpose of XP/attainment of Sainthood. Whilst yes, there has been much discussion on the worthlessness of XP I believe its a means to an end. I have alot of interest in 'community' sites, I specialise in 'content management', grew up in a New-Age commune - yes, I really did!, and am striving to learn as much as possible about creating good, purposeful, useful community websites. I am but a mere Monk, but am thankful for having come here, and as most would admit have benefited greatly from this incredible resource. The XP system as already stated is a means (to an end) to apply 'structure' to what is a complex matrix of information and community controlled content.

    BTW, before I forget, Congratulations!

    I too have not added a great deal in terms of expertise in a Perl sense thus far but strive to learn through others, that appears to be "the purpose" of the site. I could be wrong, but I don't believe so. In return, I try my best to help others, in doing so I've received a great deal of knowledge from my fellow peers and am very grateful for that...

    So to conclude...
    This site works, and it works very well. Signal/Noise ratio is at a more than tolerable level comparable to very few other sites I participate in (I'm sure there are quite a few who can guess at some of the sites I am talking about ;) and I continue to strive toward a better understanding of how this community ticks. Again, congrats on reaching Sainthood, don't wallow in "the whys", and be thankful that you have helped in your own way to make this a site to be proud of, and of being a valuable member of "this" community.

Re: One Point to Saint hood
by hsmyers (Canon) on Oct 29, 2002 at 14:37 UTC
    Two things about XP,
    • It's not the goal, it's the going
    • or as Robert Browing said,
      “Ah, a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”

    --hsm

    "Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."
Things that have never happened...
by ellem (Hermit) on Oct 31, 2002 at 04:28 UTC
    I have never gotten more than a 60 on anything I have ever written here (I'm not begging)
    I don't think I have ever been front paged
    I don't think I have ever been Perlishly helpful to anyone
    No one I know about here hates me
    Having said that and being a proud Friar let me go on and on....

    PerlMonks is the only place I have ever posted where people went out of their way to help. I don't know if there's a flamebot or a Godzilla repellant here, or what the story is, but the people that inhabit these pages are decent human beings who basically get it when it comes to Perl != Easy. (Especially for the occasionaly coder.) So if you've been around long enough to become a Saint then you have become a vital part of the community! YOU are doing SOMETHING. Something good.

    So you're not on the Perl6 team or you don't hang with wizards! So what?
    You answered a lowly Friar's question once and he got smarter. You are a Saint.
    --
    ellem@optonline.net
    There's more than one way to do it, but nearly none of mine work.
Re: One Point to Saint hood
by petral (Curate) on Oct 29, 2002 at 15:14 UTC
    As I slouch toward sainthood using the Rip Van Winkle method (every few days I get a couple of points just for being logged in), I take solace in the fact that I'm still comfortably ensconced in the middle of the Other Users list.

    But, yeah, xp is a terrific gadget for interacting, even though, it means no more than any other popularity contest.

      p
Re: One Point to Saint hood
by legolas (Acolyte) on Nov 01, 2002 at 02:55 UTC
    Great Job!!! Attaining sainthood is a great accomplishment don't feel that each point doesn't count that much. Think about it I mean for each point you earn each of your past points seems like they count less than those you have previously earned. I think it is sort of like running... When you run you are tired, worn out, you want to go to sleep and ask yourself "Why in the world am I doing this?". But when your run is over you stand there proud that you never gave up during the race. keep up the good work!
Re: One Point to Saint hood
by Jenda (Abbot) on Nov 10, 2002 at 15:56 UTC

    There's no point in being ashamed that as far as the number of upvotes you get is concerned it's much better to post a nice kind nurturing remark somewhere into the Meditations then to actually help someone. And that all you need to get to the higher levels it to stay here long enough and not to flame too often.

    While you may not think it's something great to become as saint take is as a compliment. Say thank you and go on.

    Jenda

Re: One Point to Saint hood
by bradcathey (Prior) on Aug 17, 2004 at 02:03 UTC

    (Please don't vote on this post--I just needed to talk to express myself) I realize this is an old thread, and my reply may never see the light of day, but I've come across it as I stand on the brink of sainthood myself. Honestly, I never thought I'd be in this spot. And I can't agree more with corelyn, I feel unworthy-- like the "hail fellow well met" lurker. Oh, I've learned so much, but the more I hang out here, the more I realize how much further I have to go. Thanks coreolyn for going before me and putting into words what I am feeling right now. I guess once I reach sainthood I need to work even harder to be a help to those who come after.


    —Brad
    "Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up." G. K. Chesterton

      Sorry bradcathey had to vote on this..

      While it shames me that this was one of my highest reputation nodes, (Which just goes to show that I still don't deserve sainthood for any other reason than persistance.) one of the things that is most pleasing is when someone actually digs something up out of the past. So thank you and congratulations -- How many points to level vroom?

        I do not understand this stance about unworthiness. You have stuck around and written nearly 400 nodes; some of them answers, valuable in themselves, some of them questions, valuable in the discussion they stimulated. Consider, by contrast, that there are roughly 14,000 users who registered and never even posted, and many others who registered only to ask a question and never came back.

        Does then perseverance and contribution not warrant at least some amount of recognition?

        Makeshifts last the longest.

        Points to level vroom? About 1 million. I'm 52 now and if I live to be 96-1/2 I might make it--that's only if vroom switches to ASP!. And thanks for your congratulatory note, it welcomed me this morning, along with my new rank. Think I'll go for the double cheeseburger at lunch today.


        —Brad
        "Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up." G. K. Chesterton

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