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A. G. Maisey · 28th October 2022, 11:18 PM

Quite possibly so Gustav, but since I have been required for many years to be very conscious of the truth, meaning and logic of words, this is only to be expected.

Unlike many people I do not find the study of words to be onerous nor objectionable, I find it to be essential.

I was told many years ago by somebody, & I honestly forget who told me this, it might have been a high school teacher, that we cannot throw words around haphazardly we should regard words as being similar to bullets, not only in required accuracy but also in terminal effect.

A lot of the way I think and the way I act has come to me from things others have taught me, or maybe not necessarily "taught", but just their passing comments. I do try to follow some of this good advice, but I'm not always successful. I tend to be too verbose at times.

I recently had a little bit of writing published in (of all things) a book dealing with philosophy. I think it needed to be restricted to 5000 words, in any case, it needed to be of a defined length, & written in a defined style.

So I sat down and wrote the thing in a spare afternoon. It did not take long. But when I ran it through a word counter I had something like 20,000 words. The next 15 drafts were principally concerned with reducing that stack of garble that I had produced to an acceptable minimum.

I don't think I deliberately try to turn myself into a Gordian knot --- and I prefer to take this analogy as a compliment --- but I believe this sometimes might happen because I feel that I owe other people the common courtesy of trying my best to explain why I might take a certain position.

As to academia. I am not an academic, but I do have close friends and family who have been, & still are subjected to the harsh dictates of this segment of society. I have carried out paid work for a number of academics. Frankly I do feel sorry for academics and the world in which they live, but at the same time I am very appreciative of the contributions of some of these people to the bank of knowledge that they have made available to all of us.

EDIT

Too late Gustav, I had already read what you wrote & then deleted, and I thought it was, in its way, a beautiful piece of writing, perhaps one of the more perceptive things you have posted to this forum.

28th October 2022, 11:18 PM	#25
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,700	Quite possibly so Gustav, but since I have been required for many years to be very conscious of the truth, meaning and logic of words, this is only to be expected. Unlike many people I do not find the study of words to be onerous nor objectionable, I find it to be essential. I was told many years ago by somebody, & I honestly forget who told me this, it might have been a high school teacher, that we cannot throw words around haphazardly we should regard words as being similar to bullets, not only in required accuracy but also in terminal effect. A lot of the way I think and the way I act has come to me from things others have taught me, or maybe not necessarily "taught", but just their passing comments. I do try to follow some of this good advice, but I'm not always successful. I tend to be too verbose at times. I recently had a little bit of writing published in (of all things) a book dealing with philosophy. I think it needed to be restricted to 5000 words, in any case, it needed to be of a defined length, & written in a defined style. So I sat down and wrote the thing in a spare afternoon. It did not take long. But when I ran it through a word counter I had something like 20,000 words. The next 15 drafts were principally concerned with reducing that stack of garble that I had produced to an acceptable minimum. I don't think I deliberately try to turn myself into a Gordian knot --- and I prefer to take this analogy as a compliment --- but I believe this sometimes might happen because I feel that I owe other people the common courtesy of trying my best to explain why I might take a certain position. As to academia. I am not an academic, but I do have close friends and family who have been, & still are subjected to the harsh dictates of this segment of society. I have carried out paid work for a number of academics. Frankly I do feel sorry for academics and the world in which they live, but at the same time I am very appreciative of the contributions of some of these people to the bank of knowledge that they have made available to all of us. EDIT Too late Gustav, I had already read what you wrote & then deleted, and I thought it was, in its way, a beautiful piece of writing, perhaps one of the more perceptive things you have posted to this forum.