Totems
Paul Graham uses a common comparison I don’t agree within his otherwise excellent essay on writing.
(a) an expert on literature need not himself be a good writer, any more than an art historian has to be a good painter.
Painting isn’t the most important means of expression taught at school, but language is. No art historian only paints or drafts his comments, everyone writes them down.
Most problems Graham observes come down from something else: how professionalism often leads to totems and taboos. And hardly anyone won’t fight those, as most people find some comfort in them.
[x]#1235 fan dinsdag 17 mei 2005 @ 23:58:44
