Problem: “Newbies are lazy.”

Sadly, there is a good amount of truth in that statement. Most, although not all, newbies will not read, practice, think an idea or question through, or take the time to properly post. This can be highly frustrating to even the most patient psions who have years of experience with newbies. Newbie constantly complain that they do not want to read a long article or thread. Or they complain the article or post is too complicated to understand and follow. They want a short, quick answer and they want it spoon fed the information. The newbies then complain they can not practice for whatever reason; usually because they do not have the energy will to do so. Newbies often do not take the time to think about what they are asking. They are too lazy to take time out to search for an easy to find answer. Finally, many newbies will not take the time to clearly, with proper spelling and grammar, post a question or opinionated post. They tend to resort to chat speak and silly posts.

Remedy:

-Reading is a good thing. The more one reads, the more educated and intelligent one becomes. Long articles and posts are one’s friend, not one’s enemy. The length usually means there is more information for one to learn and generally means the information is better explained. By reading more articles, one will learn all sides, methods, and opinions about a topic. Please note that psionics is full of ideas and theories. The more you learn, the more the complete the picture you will get.

-As for practicing, there is no excuse to be had. You make time. You find a reason to practice. You find a method. You find someone to help you. You search all the sites on the internet until you find something that helps you practice. There are plenty of resources available for you to look through. If you do not practice you will not get results. It is easy as that.

-If you do not take the time to think and understand something by yourself, you will not get very far in psionics. Psionics is not easy to comprehend, but it is not impossible, even for an eleven year old. You need to take some time and go idea by idea. Learn some logical thinking. This will help you look for problems in a method or spot a bad article. The more advance you get, the more complex the ideas and methods get.

-Last, but not least, learn to write. Even preteens should be able to form simple sentences. Learn to check your work so it flows smoothly and the message comes through. Learn to write more than two sentences and really think about what you want to say or ask. Leave the slang, cursing, and chat speak at home. Chat speak makes you sound incredibly stupid and that is the last thing you want in the psi community.

Problem: “Newbies are immature.”

Looking at the age group, this is to be expected. Most newbies range from eleven to sixteen, according many age polls. This means most newbies are in middle school or early high school. They are struggling through the nightmare of adolescent. Many newbies are highly emotional and overly sensitive. Older and more mature psions find it easy to push the buttons of these kids, who have trouble understanding reality, and thus there are problems. Then there is the problem off putting young teen boys together. Psionics is dominated by young male teens and they tend to fight and argue a lot. Being young often times makes teens act or think they know everything and the same is true with teen newbies in psionics. Another part of being an immature newbie is they act spoiled and very disrespectful. This comes from upbringing and schooling. Some teens will demand everything, will not follow rules, and might even go out of their way to defy the staff.

Remedy:

-Emotional immaturity can not be solved. At most, the newbie can be aware of their behavior and work to solve the problem. It is the complaining psion’s job to realize that sometimes acting one’s age is a good thing, even if a bit annoying. For both parties, remember that time is your friend. The newbie will grow and mature and one day be a psion themselves.

-Newbies need to be aware that they do not have to join a site and do not have to put up with different members. The newbie is free to leave if they have a problem with someone. The newbie also needs to learn that fighting and arguing with everyone is not a good idea, especially if no one will stick up for you. Pm the admin or staff member and let them know there is a problem. If the newbie feels too embarrassed to do this, understand that the staff member will more likely blame the newbie for not telling the staff member in the first place.

-A site is not a newbie’s personal entertainment center or school. We are not required to do anything, teach anything, or entertain you in any way. In fact, we really, really, do not appreciate it when a newbie expects this. We are also not your parents or your baby sitter. We do not want to sit and watch you, to make sure you are following all the rules, and then yell at you for every wrong thing you did. Unlike your parents, there is no law requiring us to keep you. We can kick you out if we feel like it, but generally you get a warning or two beforehand. Please be considerate of others and mind your manners. We will all get along better if you do.

Problem: “Newbies are impatient.”

Newbies are famous about being impatient. They want easy, fast results in psionics. Newbies complain that they can not do a skill and when asked how long they have been at it, it turns out not very long at all, usually days or a week. They tend to think that telekinesis should only take a day or two and do not want to hear that the skill usually takes days if not weeks or months. Newbies also think that they will be able to instantaneously be able to do the skill without practice or hard work. They get bored with psi balls if they do not get it right the first time. Newbies also have the bad habit of skipping needed basic steps and go straight to the hard skills. Then they ask why they can not do the skill. Newbies also want a teacher who will teach them at the newbie’s schedule and be handed everything at once.

Remedy:

-This is a problem that both newbies and teaching psions need to beware of before getting frustrated. As usual, most newbies go through this stage. Some newbies simply will not wait and will give up. Others will struggle through before learning how psionics works. A few will pick up the facts quickly. It is up to the teacher to know this and just bear through this stage. Yet newbies can do their part in understanding the problems.

-Newbies need to realize that psionics can take years to become good at it. Only a few people are naturally good at most psi skills. Everyone has something they are good and something they are horrible at. Sometimes a psion will never become good at a skill. They can practice all they want and do everything right and still get no where.

-Finally, newbies need to understand the importance of not skipping steps. Learning to feel psi and making a psi ball is extremely important if one wants to learn telekinesis. Even if psi balls seem boring, it is good practice and will help the psion develop the mental muscle needed for other skills. Do not try to do everything at once. Slow down, go day by day. Do not over train or you will end up doing damage to your mind. And take the time to enjoy and admire what you are doing. You will learn a lot more this way.

It is surprising how many newbies make these mistakes. They do not realize all of these traits are what makes them a newbie and gives the general population of newbies a bad name. Though note not all newbies are like this. Some are perfect students. Some are the extreme of all these problems. This article is not meant to be a blow against newbies, but to help them. To experienced psions, please take the time to realize complaining does not help the problem, but add to it. Newbies, please take this advice because few psions would go to the trouble to explain this.

Written By: JediKaren (2009)
© 2012 Psionics Institute