FredL

OK,Al, let me get into something very esoteric and hope that I don't lose you (and all you lurkers out there).

Several years ago, a very smart guy at Harvard named Peter Senge came up with the idea of "mental models". He used this concept, as well as some others related to it, to transform several world class corporations, most notably Royal Dutch Petroleum from failing companies to world beaters.

Now, what does this have to do with Bonsai? Read on, my friend.

Mental models are the basic mental constructs we have in our heads that inform us with the knowledge of how the world works. They are something like paradigms, but much more elaborate and may have conscious elements as well as unconscious elements. They are the basis of how we decide what we will do and how we will do it.

Bonsai, like everything else we do, are developed based on the mental models we have to do it with. These mental models may be very deep, elaborate, detailed and complete or they may be very shallow, simple, incomplete and even fallacious. They may be shared in large part with other members of our community and actively refined through active communication, or very personal and highly idiosynchratic.

The quality of our completed trees depends more on the quality of our "Bonsai Mental Model" than anything else. Oh, it is true, execution counts, and, no doubt, plain old luck enters into it, too, but, hopefully, you grasp the importance of the contribution that one's mental model makes.

I see "rules" as being merely a presentation of information describing an important part of the mental models of the most skilled practitioners in the Bonsai Community.

Is it OK to disregard "the rules"? Why, absolutely. It's not as if the Bonsai Police are going to arrest you and put you in Jail somewhere deep in Central Japan if you disregard them. Is it a good idea to make the effort to inderstand "the rules"? Only if you care as much about developing a really deep, complete and valid Bonsai Mental Model as you do about tinkering with little trees in pots. And, being able to communicate in words as well as examples with other members of your community.

I have little patience with newbies (or, for that matter, not-so-newbies) that express hostility or indifference to the "rules". Sure, go ahead and "do your own thing". Just recognize that it puts you on the outer fringes of our community, makes it unlikely that you will ever do much that is really enjoyed by anybody but yourself and makes it unlikely you will ever be able to communicate with the rest of the Bonsai Community.

Best regards, Fred