"I'M boycotting the AOS"

[tcrane]

There are two contradictory statements you just made..

"Honestly, the AOS has little relevance."

"There's no logical reason why we shouldn't be able to link people to the AOS articles that expertly address their questions. "

Which is it? Of little relevance? Or a useful resource?
You also point out that you're a better grower due to their articles.

Not everything online is free, nor should it be. This board is a donation-based resource, on an 'open source' model. There's plenty of software out there which is open source, and plenty which is proprietary. Same goes for all this information. Use what you choose to use. Contribute as you will.

You may be right that some of the way the AOS chooses to disseminate their information is a little behind the times, print publishing isn't the most efficient means for those of us who are computer literate; but to disregard the huge contribution to this hobby the judging, information, and education offered by the AOS seems a little bit overly dramatic.

One reason people don't go around sharing AOS articles is probably out of respect, the same reason they choose not to file share or download torrent files. It's called 'stealing'. Without respect for one anothers intellectual property, this place called the internet will never earn respect as a medium for collaboration.

I'm not an AOS member, largely due to the cost. However, I enjoy seeing which plants are awarded, have learned a great deal from members in my local OS, and believe that the people who work hard for their organization deserve to be paid for their time and contributions as much as possible.

Cheers,

-Tristan

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by epiphyte78

Selecting for purely superficial characteristics is the difference between poodles and Border Collies.

Do you mean to imply that poodles and border collies are only superficially different? Have you ever met dogs of these breeds? The real differences are not in superficial characteristics like coat and color.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by epiphyte78

Am I going to think about this the second after I hit reply? Nope, I'm going to hang out with friends in the yard and grill up some korean BBQ.

wow...

stfu

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

wow...

stfu

+1

[ronaldhanko]

Originally Posted by epiphyte78

cb977, I strongly resent that you changed the title of my thread...in my opinion you've overstepped your authority as a moderator and I will share my thoughts with Marty on the subject.

That's fine if most of you folks disagree with my approach. It's ok to disagree! It's your prerogative if you want to start a thread encouraging people to financially support the AOS....just like it's my prerogative to explain in a civil manner why I think it's in the best interest of the orchid community not to financially support the AOS.

Your post was not "to explain in a civil manner why I think it's in the best interest of the orchid community not to financially support the AOS" It was a call for a boycott that as others have pointed out appears to arise out of some personal grudge. I appreciate the fact that the title was changed - a call for a boycott of the AOS has no place here. If you had simply explained why you do not support the AOS it would have been a different thing, but calling for a boycott means you want the organization to fail, and I'm thankful for all the responses, either supportive or at least contrary to what you wrote. I think the thread should be closed, since even the present title is inappropriate.

[ronaldhanko]

By the way, thanks to the Admins and Mods for keeping a tight rein on things - I appreciate both the fairness and carefulness of the work they do.

[Swamper]

I think it should be closed period. Before someone gets banned because they lost their cool one day. Close it NOW it's not going anywhere positive.

[gnathaniel]

Originally Posted by epiphyte78

Ok, you're right...judging does have some relevance. When an orchid in cultivation can't handle conditions that it has no problem with in nature we can thank the AOS judging system for encouraging breeding along purely superficial lines. So the only relevance of the judging system is turning orchids into pansies.

Epiphyte, I'd like to respectfully point out that all captive breeding of any plant inherently makes it less and less adapted to the conditions it faced in the wild.

This is especially true of plants that create huge numbers of seed with high attrition rates, as do our precious orchids. The ones that survive and grow to maturity in cultivation are the ones that are best-suited to the highly unnatural propagation process to which we subject them. Plants that do best in flask and as seedlings in captivity are not necessarily those that would do best in full-on symbiotic conditions in the jungle. The only way to keep a species adapted to its original habitat is to grow it under the same set of selective pressures as are typical of that habitat, though even that's not a sure thing...

Orchids adapt readily to captive cultivation in large part because their method of reproduction allows rapid shifts in the genetic composition of a population to favor the conditions of the moment. This characteristic is exactly what has inspired such tremendous speciation within this group in a relatively short time, but it also means that populations rapidly deviate from 'wild-type' in culture.

So don't blame the judging process, blame the nature of orchids (and life, and evolution) and our own zeal for breeding and raising them in captivity.

I'll shut up now.

--Nat

[cb977]

cb977, I strongly resent that you changed the title of my thread...in my opinion you've overstepped your authority as a moderator and I will share my thoughts with Marty on the subject.

You do that

My job here is to keep the majority of our members happy. I could have shut down this thread when it started becoming an annoyance but I didn't.

Your opinion might matter to you...but it really doesn't mean much at all to me.



and this thread is now closed

[cb977]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

wow...

stfu