tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315024531213408708.post4476346963081421843..comments2023-10-20T09:27:13.001-07:00Comments on To My Parents, Ayn Rand, and God: On not being able to understand StraussIsabel Archerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12338591033415985750noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315024531213408708.post-67264320093199340402010-01-03T07:33:58.851-08:002010-01-03T07:33:58.851-08:00Oh, and regarding:
"... people would have ve...Oh, and regarding:<br /><br />"... people would have very real and warm friendships cemented by sending each other long, witty, literate multi-paragraph letters."<br /><br />Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.<br /><br />:)sardonic_sobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315024531213408708.post-75953446724471893472010-01-03T07:31:01.116-08:002010-01-03T07:31:01.116-08:00"I understood individual words, of course, an..."I understood individual words, of course, and even how to put them together into sentences. But try to figure out what argument the sentences added up to, and I would be lost."<br /><br />When this happens my first inclination is to read the text again more carefully. My second inclination, when following the first does not avail, is to assume that the writer is the literary equivalent of Lord Dorwin, Chancellor of the Galactic Empire,* and that they haven't actually *made* any coherent argument, just a series of vaguely persuasive statements. Usually if what it is that they are attempting to persuade the reader of is discernable at all, it boils down to "You're not nearly smart enough to understand this, so just take my word for it."<br /><br />I have yet to be proven wrong.<br /><br />S<br /><br />*See p. 71 of "Foundation," by Dr. Isaac Asimov, available on Google Books, for an explanation of Lord Dorwin's uncanny power.sardonic_sobnoreply@blogger.com