"Your only limit is your imagination."

I hereby request that folks stop saying this

I've heard it bandied about at me a lot if I've made comments that there's things I want to make but can't, or that I'm not happy with some aspects of my av.

Thing is, the problem with it is this. If my only limit really was imagination, then the only reason I wouldn't already have everything I wanted would be that my imagination wasn't good enough. What action can you take to improve your imagination? Is that even possible?

Fortunately, I know I'm limited by skill and time too. Fortunate because those are limits that I can do something about.

Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

Second Life is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

But that 1% inspiration is what leads you to perspiring in the first place.

Without it... nothin.

Agreed

You could always steal it... like that man whom I quoted.

.

Seriously though, your limits in Second Life are (1) the speed of your broadband connection, (2) the speed of your PC, (3) the limitations of the software, and (4) the limits of your coding and building skill.

Imagination is a narrow fifth.

You phoney bastard!!!

Very true and I assume you are reffering to my post and yes I have worked on skill and I have worked on time. I have the time but lack the skill. I have tried asking for help on skill trying to give it a second chance and half the time get what I need and the other half get the same "generic answer".

To those that say it takes blood, sweat, and tears are right but at a point you learn there are things you can't do...otherwise we'd all be able to fix cars, fix computers, balance our checkbooks, file taxes flawlessly, and fix every problem within government.

Would you agree though Jeffrey that some while they can invision it, have the speed of broadband, a good speed PC, and account for limitations of software. They still might not have the skill needed nor can develop the skill to an exceptable level to do what they see?

1. In real estate ventures they say its location, location, location. Can be a reason why the land sales in SL vary. Many hate the main grid, snow, rock, clouds. Everyone wants the perfect beach front home with a beautiful view.

2. For business investments its advertise, advertise, advertise. Can be a reason why you see many flame wars in the forums here-- so many trying to advertisie and make a name for themsleves. Risky, sometimes it backfires and they make a bad name for themself. Then i guess any advertisement is good advertisement.

3. For everything else its time, money, and motivation. This is definitely the reason for my success or lack there of. Many are successful in what they do in SL cuz they are willing to spend the time, money, and motivation to see it through. Heck, just stopping to read the forums or even post in them is time consuming!!! Im often in awe at the amount of time people devote just to trolling.

Absolutely. Usually the only answer to that problem is to hire out, which happens often.

People do have their limits. While breaking them is possible for many, it's not (always) attainable given other circumstances.

Why?

It just seems that according to this post and the other that I made that many say you either have the skill or are to lazy to do so. Which I find amazinly naive and one sided for a community and place organized around the idea of being different.

Tru dat

-Ayame Sapeur

Surely breaking limits is impossible by the definition of a limit? Perhaps I'm being too pedantic. A so-called limit to one's abilities, which one at some point surpasses was never a limit at all.

Well, keeping with the tangent conversation...

I would define it as a limit at a point in time (now). That may be surpassed in the future using newer methods, but in the present, it is the limit on the capability of a process.

Consider it thusly. At present, Second Life is limited by primitives. In the future we may have meshes or a yet-to-be-invented 3D technology, raising the attainable threshhold. That does nothing for what can happen now, though.

And, frankly, all we can do is work with what we have now. Ya?


(By that token, to "break a limit" would be to reengineer the process so it's more effective; something that may or may not be possible)

So back to a person's limits, then it would take a "stepping out of oneself", or some external influence to "break a limit". That makes sense, yes. Second Life is not able to reinvent itself in the way that a person can, it (currently) has to rely on Linden Labs to do it for it.

It's worth taking the time to figure out what the words we're using actually mean to us.

First, a joke!



And then I'll come back and type something unfurling on my mind and which is considerably more serious. Best o' both worlds.

I guess we all can't be as "grand" as you Willow!

Holy crap, what a sad thread! Frankly I think it's a load of shit, a cop out.

I suspect that you are far less limited by your imagination then you are by your lack of self confidence.

Firstly, you have to define your goals, write them down if you have to. I suspect you have no idea what you even want. These initial goals should be broad, as opposed to specific projects. "What do I want from my Second Life?".

Once those goals are defined, brainstorm ways to accomplish those goals. Write these down as well. Analyze these and narrow them down. Figure out ways to implement these ideas.

After alot of thought and planning.....implement those plans. Make it happen.

Guess what? after all of that, your intial plan may fail. Don't let that discourage you, learn from that endeavor. Use that knowledge to make your next attempt succeed.

Most of all......have fun!

Imagination is a funny word to me. What does it all mean? This post of mine is an emotional reaction to the original post and posts which followed it—comprising this thread—and solely reflects my personal experiences. I don't like saying YMMV = "Your Mileage May Vary", so I'll simply state that if even little slivers of it are true for you too, I'm overjoyed, but I don't expect that by definition. I've had this in my mind and on my heart for awhile, so I want to finally let it out.

It's time.

I'm often told I'm imaginative, or creative, or observant, or another word like that. What's especially revealing to me is that when I'm told I'm showing signs of using my imagination, often, I really don't see that. The manifestations of who I am in Second Life are by far and large everyday, mundane things to me.

Confused? I'll explain more! Second Life to me is what real life is to most people. I know that can sound shocking, but it's perfectly ordinary for me. Something about the way I am wired as a person is inverse to how most human beings seem to be. This has caused me great discomfort over the years, but I know things in my existence had finally changed for the better when I was allowed to rez watermelons in SL and was not teased nor bullied for it, but rather, celebrated.

I don't believe I have any great quantifiable skills. I used to be a "content creator" of techno music, but that's a lifetime and a career away. A hearing loss accident (hyperacusis) changed all that, and I found myself devastated, depressed, and looking for something to do. That something to do became Second Life.

I love sunrises and sunsets. I am amazed the sun hasn't come towards us and scorched us all to death. I know, an absurd, irrational notion, even with my respect for the great scientists of the world, but it is how I feel at my core. The simple pleasures... eating watermelons, sitting on a beanbag chair, and one of my favorites, which I never take for granted: being able to communicate.

I'm also told I have a funny way with analogies. I'm certainly flattered, altho I definitely don't see it that way. Again, my usage of analogies and "colorful" descriptions are simply... me. Just like if you were out doing some casual gardening and an angry auroch charged at you because she falsely believed you abducted her young, you'd react instantly. And that's what I'm doing, playing ping-pong on the SL Forums like a centipus, which is a cross between a centipede, an octopus, and a platipus. It's that natural.

I'm not a great explainer. I surely wish I was. When on Second Life, I sometimes get stoned, and by that, I don't mean under the influence of drug or drink, but rather, it feels like a giant rock just hit me in the head. It's so literal and visceral. During these times, I may seize up and pass out at the keyboard, altho I've been gaining increasing control over these functions. It may be a resurfacing of my early struggles with narcolepsy. But it's not so much a sleepiness as it is a metanoia—google that if you're curious.

Why I say this is because, I've had a lot of crazy dreams I've been compelled to act on. I can't explain it—I certainly wish I could!—but all I know is, when I don't listen to the dreams, things totally suck for me. And when I do, THEY RULE! I attribute this to fundamentally listening to a long-dormant part of myself that is finally waking up.

So how does this relate to this thread directly, veering in from the forked alternative route to the bullet train's mainline? Here's how: there's something I call rippleshock. I can't find the words to describe it, but it's like the special effects used with the aural stun guns in Minority Report, or even Jango Fett's sonic mine. Time to time, I'll suddenly "drop". You know that popular feeling of falling in a dream and waking up before you hit the floor? I imagine that's exactly what it feels like for me, but I'll be awake. At the keyboard, this manifests itself as a pause on my part, causing fellow Resis I'm talking to, to think I'm lagged out or even crashed. But no... I'm just inside of my brain, tracing the ripples as they shock me. That's literally why I picked this word, RIPPLESHOCK. And I'll panic, but it's a good panic, and I'll quickly type and shower out a liquid flow of words. Sometimes in ALLCAPS, often containing a "Torleyism" (like "RUR RUR RUR" or "LOLEX" or "YAYZERAMA!", and often attached—like a spy with a briefcase handcuffed to 'im—with a literal flood of ideas.

I find it difficult when someone suggests, "Let me know what you think/feel", because like public transit, these trains in my mind have a timetable not decided by me. Nor do the buses in my heart, and sometimes, just like public transit, they can run late.

I close my eyes at some points... think of a wideeyed anime character who wants to come home from school, looking up at the stars and going "BYUUU..." with one of those )( glyphs and holding her schoolbag close because it's gettin' dark and she wonders where her ride is. That's what I see right now. I feel afraid, but on edge—excited, even. I don't often externalize the process, but today is that day.

Today is November 18, 2005. I've wanted to write these words for a whole year now and I'm sooo happy to finally let it out. I couldn't have done it without you. Incidentally, today is also Ventrella Linden's rezday, so make that extraspecial.

Now, I often feel embarassed because of my weakness in Earth geography. Anyone who's played trivia with me knows this. For some reason, This, no doubt, is a personal limit. I've challenged it many times, seeing if I can "limit break" it, as the Final Fantasy gest goes. Not yet; I still get lost in the supermarket. I haven't given up tho. For some verrry peculiar reason, I have a firm command of Second Life regions. Anyone who's played trivia with me knows this.

I frequently get the compliment that I have a unique perspective. It really makes me smile. But again, I don't see myself that way—I see many Resis in Second Life who have unique perspectives to me. It's really not a part of my self-image. I know this about myself all too well, and this is a fundamental building block of why I am constantly seeking out amazing people, places, things in SL. To extoll praise, and show my appreciation, my adoration, my gratitude in this world of wonder. Despite everything that can—and has—gone wrong, soooooooooooo many things have gone right.

When doing sonic studies, I also recalled aspects like "talent" and "luck" being factors in a person's success. I wrestle with words like that because while people know what's generally meant when they're referred to, they are notoriously hard to pin down to a formula. We have mathematics, probabilities, game theory, but there's a certain essence of the human kind in humankind that invariably gets lost.

I don't know if it's possible to improve one's imagination, but I do know that one can consider new possibilities, travel down different paths, and come out a better person. Hates of the past can be unlearned, and while never forgotten, one can have so many happy memories at the forefront that the darkness quickly becomes overshadowed.

As I travel through Second Life, I'm in awe. I can't offer any formula for my happiness, but I can share stories from along the way and I do know I'm being observed. I realize I'm atypical—what's worked for me can't possibly work for everyone else! [It takes a certain I don't know (English for je ne sais quois) to wear neon green and hot pink.] But in saying this, I hope more will too, and we'll be all the better by learning from one another. Watching each other live our Second Lives.

What's my only limit?

Your only limit is your imagination. C'mon SOMEBODY had to say it!

I am a complete idiot with programming and other manifestations of computer code.

After a year of painful trials, I now know my way around LSL and can build what I need with it. Now LSL is actually pretty fun for me.

If I can accomplish that, with the significant mathematical and cognitive limitations from which I have always suffered, then the only true limits are those people impose upon themselves.

edit: It should also be noted that I didn't whine about LSL being too hard for me. I just grinned and bore it.

I don't believe that there are things you can't do, just cause you inherently can't do them. I think the limitations are more often how much time and effort are you can spend or are willing to spend on them.

Fixing a car is a matter of investment in education and tools. Personally I would rather pay someone to do it because it doesn't interest me that much. I can change my own oil though .. or a tire. The same is true for computers and taxes. Is it worth it to you to spend that time and effort learning, or would you just rather pay someone. Personally I do my own taxes and checkbook. As far as fix every problem in government... that's an issue of power. Give me the power to do it and I will fix them to my satisfaction. I doubt you would like it, but I guarantee I will be happy.

Quite so! I used to pay others to handle my scripting needs. Why? It was better to pay someone who had attained familiarity with LSL thanks to day-to-day experimentation. I couldn't compete with that familiarity. Now, though, I've earned that familiarity myself and no longer have to go beyond Enabran to get what I need. Which feels good.

There's other stuff I'm not good at, like particles. And for that, guess what? I pay others! No man is an island -- you'll always need help from someone else. As long as you have a vision, you know some talented people and have some initial investment, you can make any product a reality.