Alex Wright


Ninja Dwarf

March 29, 2004

Lowell pointed me to Tom Coates on pirates and ninjas, elves and dwarves:

I have always considered the profound distinction between ninjas and pirates to be an absolute one. One was either ninja or pirate - there were no inbetweens. One personality type was skilled and proficient, elegant and silent, contained and constrained, honourable and spiritual. The other type loud and flamboyant, gregarious and unrestrained, life-loving and vigorous, passionate and strong. I thought all people must pledge their allegiance, or be categorised accordingly.

The other day at work, another binary pair was presented to me - a co-worker who doesn't declare people pirate or ninja, but instead elf or dwarf. For him, humanity falls into doers and thinkers - elves being elegant and timeless, conceptual and refined, abstract and beautiful while dwarves are practical and structural, hard-working and no-nonsense, down-to-earth smiths and makers.
While I can easily classify myself as a ninja – an introvert - I feel conflicted about the elf-vs-dwarf axis. I may have a cerebral (elvish) disposition, but I seem to work like a dwarf; that is, I like solving practical problems. Maybe I'm an elf trapped in a dwarf's body?


File under: Ephemera

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