What is the most interesting thing that you've learned in B&A, if anything?

I have learned that scads of America's youth looks down upon and despises books which I was fortunate enough to read and enjoy of my own volition. I have also learned that I apparently know nothing about how one is supposed to read books and that my sincere answers are completely useless in the pursuit of unearned As.

I have learned that in less than twenty years the entire attitude toward vanity publishing has switched from widespread and unbridled scorn to a wide eyed sense that one must only ask how much it costs to publish one's very own thinly disguised fan fiction. That, and that many of the fathers of our great nation's thirteen year olds evidently are close personal friends with publishers.

I have learned that many embittered and variously aged souls enjoy behaving as if those aforementioned thirteen year olds are some sort of threat to their own shattered dreams and that they find it rewarding to grind the kids beneath the muddied boot of their own crappy lives, rather than feeling a wistful nostalgia for the dreamer days of their pasts.

I have learned that truly wretched grammar can mask an intelligent mind and a yearning heart and that despising a person for their lacks does not always highlight one's own attributes.

I have learned that we all find very different things to be irritating. For example: I think that asking on a large public forum containing all manner of possible readers whether someone else remembers a book whose particulars have escaped you exhibits a great deal of common sense, but many others evidently find it to be silly, futile and boring. I have also learned that I really love when I do know that book and it completely makes the asker's day to be provided with a link to it.

I have learned that B&A contains some of the coolest people on all of Y!A and also some of the very pettiest. I have learned that no matter how annoyed I get I do always come back and that if you look hard enough you will not only be able to help other people learn things but you will be able to learn things yourself. For another example: I had no idea in the world that there was a book with the priceless title of "Night Travels of the Elven Vampire" until some asker was desperate to find a copy as a gag gift for her boyfriend. After choking back my hysterical giggles I was afforded the revelation that maybe self publishing does develop some sort of dubious fanbase after all.

I also learned that it is entirely possible to make actual friends online and to be able to recognize kindred spirits by the way they approach seemingly innocuous questions. I guess that isn't unique to B&A but that is where I learned it so I think it counts.

Well, that's a start. I could probably come up with much more, given the time and opportunity, but you would probably prefer to see me exit anyway.

***Edit) Oh, sorry. I guess I screwed that all up. I haven't actually learned much about literature here, though I have had a couple of private lessons from someone I met in B&A.

I'll delete if you want me to. Just say the word.

*** arabesque! You didn't finish East of Eden? How could you?!?

Oh, it's okay honey, you just get to enjoy it longer. Right?

*** Aw, KK, that's nice. And you've been very kind lately. I swear you weren't amongst those I had in mind. Scout's Honor!

*** Oh good, I'm glad to hear it, Lyra. Thank you, and thanks to Vet too. I'll take any kind words I can find today.

I have learned a lot of things here. I don't know what person I would be now if I hadn't stepped in to B&A.

I've learned to concentrate on people's appearances. They might seem nice and sweet on the outside, but turns out they're trolls wanting to troll my Q&A. I had a delinquent add me as a contact and then proceeded to follow my Q&A. The only thing to do was to block him, which I did. But there are also people here that I thought were quiet, but they turned out to be crazy, loud and just about the best people I have ever met. I'd mention names, but they are too many to count!

3 years ago I had no idea what a Mary Sue/Gary Stu was. Now, with the help of the brilliant users here, I avoid making a Mary Sue with my characters when I write a story.

Those "What do you think of my story?" questions actually help. A LOT. Other people answer well and give constructive criticism, and I pick up their tips so I could improve myself, too! So they're helping two people: the one who asked the question and me! I'm sure the others get some tips here, too, from the users.

Book recommendations! How I love them. I often get my book lists here. I tried a lot of their recommendations and loved them. Just goes to show that they have good taste.

B&A in general made me realize how there are tons of people out there, like me, eager to read, write and explore this wonderful creation they call books. I learned so much from this place, and I learn something new every day. It's a great blessing.

I've been on Answers for over two years, but it wasn't till this year that I became a more regular user, and it was this year I learned the most. My vocabulary of literary terms has increased greatly, and I've learned more about reading literature analytically. I've also learned more about critiquing works, which has been fun. I don't know what I'd do without the B&A. But truth be told, I haven't been quite as active on the B&A as I was before - suddenly I'm feeling nostalgic. There definitely has been some good times here in the B&A, that's for sure.

Am in my mid 40s and have been reading since I was 8. Mostly classics, literature, very little fantasy.

Rather too often, when question on a book appears that I know I have read and liked, I only seem to remember rudimentary elements of the story. I therefore go back, pick up the book and re-read it. (Happened to me with Camus, the Stranger recently and Hermann Hesse, Siddartha).

To my surprise, both books were rather different (mostly in style) than I remembered and it was good to come back to them.

Normally I do not read books twice, because there are so many books out there I still am desperate to read, but this was a good experience and i will repeat it.

For me I haven't truthfully learned much of anything. I seem to retain an inordinate amount of facts that have been useful in answering questions. I am able to utilize quite a bit of my knowledge to assist in the best way possible.

--- I find I like to correct misinformation and advise by providing links and other useful information.

--- Books and Authors that are mentioned I have some recognition of. When I do stumble across a name or title that I am not familiar with I jump onto wiki or amazon or the author website and check them out, so in that capacity I am learning about more authors and written works. Most however have not garnered enough interest for me to read the books.

--- I still like B&A, because if anything I am using my mind on a regular basis and keeping myself active as a part of yet another community.

It's kinda mixture of half truths on your assumptions. Take Wushu for example, it is now divided into two branches for its competition. The form competition and the Sanda (fight/kickboxing) competition. Form competition will be much closer to dancing because if you look at it, the competition is similar to gymnastics. Those training for the fight competition won't work that much on their flowery movement forms since it won't be effective in the arena. Other examples are martial arts like Capoeira and Indonesian Silat. Both are practiced during era that the practitioners were being oppressed. Silat often masked their training as a play or just celebration dance. I would recommend these two Martial Arts if your goal is to be a good dancer through Martial Art. Capoeira will definitely train your body to make you a good dancer in a hip-hop fast powerful style Silat will enable you to dance in Asian like refined slow dance.

I learned to chillax a little. A little respect goes a long way. Sarcasm doesn't.

I learned that people can seem like complete assholes at first but turn out wonderful and intelligent. I remember I hated a whole lot of my contacts at first.

I learned not to regard Y!A or life in general as a competition. It's a lot more fun that way.

Through critiquing some samples of writing, I learned what mistakes not to make. I can honestly say that being on this site has improved my writing.

I learned to think more critically about what I read.

♥M♥

Without intending to sound self-absorbed or pompous, some of the most interesting things I've learned here in my few weeks have come from myself.

Almost every time I read someone's writing with the intention of giving commentary and criticism, I find myself making suggestions based on principles of writing and literature that I wasn't aware I knew. Whether my advice is the best it could be or not, or whether I say things that are patently untrue; these things are not relevant. In reading and criticizing others' work, I bring to the surface of my mind principles of writing that I did not previously have a conscious knowledge of. Therefore, simply floating around here and answering questions has enabled me to take not one but many steps in my ability as a reader, writer, and editor.

While I've read some interesting answers around here, and learned some interesting things from the answers that others post, I feel the most valuable thing I've gained from posting here has been this progress in my own writer's journey.

I've learnt that sometimes, I say really stupid things. I answer a question only to re-read it later and realize that I was talking crap. It happens rather regularly but I don't usually have any record of what garbage I say.

Things I've learnt about literature?

I've learnt that I read shallow. I don't pick up alternate motives and meanings. I read at face value. Reading answers that people write about classic books makes me want to go back and re-read the book to see all the things that I've missed from only seeing what was plainly there.

That being said, I re-read HP7 and I still don't see how Dumbledore is gay... and I don't see that him being so adds anything to the story. So I'll go one and keep thinking of him as an asexual being.

I have been using Y!A for two years, I was suspended before so ignore the date on my profile page.

To be honest, the first thing I learned is not to trust others. Not all people who appear to be nice are actually nice, I used to think "nah, paedophiles and creeps don't exist anymore" I was terribly mistaken because they do, trust me, they do...

I learned that I should appreciate others' taste in books. I like fantasy, others might hate it and it's best to appreciate and 'respect' their opinions. I might not like it when someone discredits Harry Potter; I've found myself doing the same to Twilight. That is wrong, plain wrong. That's why I stopped answering Twilight-related questions.

I've learned that not everyone accepts my opinions. I may be right, but not all people agree with me and if they don't agree then it's best not to argue with them.

I've learned that the best way to approach others is by niceness. If I want to freely express my opinion and have others accept it then I should phrase it in a nice way. One can go and rant about how 'stupid', 'ignorant' and 'puerile' others are, but never notice that they're acting like that. Childish.

I've learned that "wow I should've read classics a long time ago" considering the fact that my primary language isn't English.

I've learned that books I might not appreciate now are worth keeping because I'm going to appreciate them in the future. I hated The Fellowship of the Ring when I was 15. Now, I love it!

Should I continue? :D