tycho wrote:josiah33 wrote:Well! some lesson in the greek language is not bad once in awhile.
You too, Josiah?
Okay, @quicksand, the whole of the initial post is also a poem. And yes, a poem, or even a statement isn't always true. I'd say that also a statement is made because it truth isn't so obvious, else, it wouldn't be made at all!
For a moment I was convinced that my style of expression was unnecessarily ponderous or difficult, but with the above objections I realize that the problem is one of the spirit of our time more than anything else.
The clamor for simplicity has gone beyond its limit now it has become simplicism.
Ockham's razor like any other razor cannot be used to cut everything, more so, to cut into linguistic expression. The finite words in a language are to be used to create an infinite world, and this can only be done by adding complexity. Even Diogenes needed Alexander's world to be.
The arguments made for the obviousness of knowledge are deficient and false. Let me begin by reminding you that even Scientific laws are just averages, or approximations. Anything is possible, so even swinging your legs with certainty and not flying off is because the gravitational conditions that dominate in space are not dominant in your living room. But it doesn't have to be that way all the time! And you cannot determine when and how these conditions will change. Hence the need for faith.
A word is a symbol. And any symbol signifies something. Form goes with matter. Form without matter has no meaning and is insignificant, so every word is indeed, a spell.
Beauty entails poetry; what's wrong with that? In fact, poetry was my intention!
Not all criticism is just. And so far the criticism offered here is unjust. And not just that, it is both diffident and contemptuous, and full of inferiority complex, signs of the bourgeois, the mass man; a.k.a 'Middle class'.
I think you are aiming for flair, which is noble, but you are short on clarity, which is regrettable. Usually where you find clarity, simplicity isn't very far off. These are two usually intertwined concepts but they are not mutually exclusive.
You go wrong here by claiming we all universally seek simplicity; You don't see the causality of simplicity and clarity. You can project a complex yet clear idea. You drop lines, which are cryptic, then many times you stop short and don't explain them.
You mention science. Ever seen how a mathematical proof is written? It starts with predicates and then operations are done on them, values moving left and right until the final elegant proof is revealed. You provide the 'final proof' and nary how it got there. Without supporting statements, a new proof doesn't amount to much and could be an assortment of random characters anyway.
More on science; Scientific laws are averages? Where did you get that idea? In fact, a lot of scientific laws are very precise. The ratio of Pi is a very specific number for instance, so is the gravitational constant, there are very many examples ...leave science out, it is taking wind out of your sails.
Take this premise ..
Quote:A word is a symbol. And any symbol signifies something. Form goes with matter. Form without matter has no meaning and is insignificant, so every word is indeed, a spell.
While I can't argue that a word is a symbol, it can't mean something to everyone. We encounter symbols everyday and many are meaningless, redundant or useless to our existence.
If I picked a random mandarin word and pasted it here what would that mean to you? A word on its own cannot be a spell, especially just any random word. It has to exist within coherent text explaining an understandable idea; Then you can call the sentence, verse, paragraph or book a spell. And even calling it a spell is probably not the best to convey what they are, you are dabbling in mysticism here.
Things that don't involve high order brain functions like reasoning, emotion, scheming don't deserve the high pedestal you have put them; They are units, components, cogs in a wheel,...which then makes the whole. If we did this, we'll start regarding bacteria and viruses in a new introspective light (they have form and matter don't they?) ...in the end, we'd drown in drivel.
Lastly, you have blasted the criticism. That is ironic. In my opinion your posts smack of elitism, like you want to prove your thoughts are of a higher order than a common man's, or actually mine for that matter, that is why you say they are
Quote:contemptuous, and full of inferiority complex, signs of the bourgeois, the mass man; a.k.a 'Middle class'
,..all the things you are not, naturally.
You invoke poetry, stating that is what you intended. You didn't structure the post by conventional poetic forms; and while I don't dictate the rules, I find they help lessen the confusion.
A poem by definition
Quote:A piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song, and that is usually rhythmical and metaphorical
Poetic
Quote:
Of, relating to, or used in poetry.
Written in verse rather than prose:
Anyhow, who says you have to follow rules? That would be a restriction on expression. However, you have excused yourself from the burden of explaining your writing cause poetry leaves writings to multiple explanations. That is indeed a masterstroke. I doff the hat.
I haven't read of any poet brought to task over their writing, as opposed to writers of plain prose. How can you hold to standard something that can be interpreted in many different ways? You want us to appreciate your thoughts, derive something useful from them, well,....It is like trying to pin down smoke. I am skeptical about things not in the plain, how can you be sure the originator is not mucking with your head for his/her own amusement?
For instance, historians and buffs have been debating this painting for 500 years, I think Hans Holbein was having a laugh. Many times I think you are doing the same thing @tycho.
Quote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors_(Holbein)
Have a happy new year.