Comment 73934

By mystoneycreek (registered) - website | Posted February 08, 2012 at 07:42:09

I'll admit I'm of more than one mind on this subject. And as conflation is a primary pet peeve of mine, especially when it comes to 'things-Hamiltonian', I'm finding myself wanting to regard each element carefully. And each time I do, every time I go through the process of 're-consideration', I do find the result varies.

I'm absolutely sympathetic to what Matt's proposing, and am grateful for the time and energies expended on even this portion of the 'project'.

I'm a little more pissed-off at the background stuff, especially as the theme of an upcoming Spec commentary ('The 8-Ball and The Curve: Why Are We Always Behind One or The Other?') is present in other situations in the city that have either already unfolded or are still in the process of doing so. But that's me, and I fully recognize and accept that my priorities are different than others'.

Having said that, and having no control over how this particular situation is going to end, I would say that it's dangerous to take everything listed above, lump them all together and go to town on conflation.

(And no, the following has nothing to do with the exigencies of the BOE situation. Something deserving of a town hall, at the very least.)

There's a belief within the counselling community that the degree of regret with which you looks back on your life is directly related to where you are today. So if you're particularly dissatisfied or disenchanted, you're probably going to be inclined to season your remembrances with more than a little regret. And of course, the obverse is true; if you're content, genuinely happy, then you're probably not going to sprinkle much regret on your memories. You'll shrug and say 'No worries! Life's good right now!'

The same applies to how we regard buildings we've 'lost'. I bet that if we'd managed to construct, over the past half-century, a vibrant downtown, a core that draws people, a city-centre that appealed and had an number of great draws equal to our 'losses', then this discussion would look entirely different.

We are, make no mistake about it, dissatisfied with what we have before us in the downtown. And as I've blogged about previously, when you're frustrated, when you're feeling even slightly 'desperate' about things, then how you process circumstances tends to be seasoned accordingly.

I offer no solutions here, not on this occasion, save to suggest that as part of a healthy discussion, we need to be able to acknowledge our true objectivity. Or at the least, concede our frailties. Because I'm not sure a flawed entrenchment ever accomplishes much.

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