This reminds me a lot of music theory. I used to think of the elements of western music as being prescriptive, like major and minor keys and functions. But I ca

This reminds me a lot of music theory. I used to think of the elements of western music as being prescriptive, like major and minor keys and functions. But I came to understand that the most groundbreaking treatises on music theory were originally descriptive, before becoming understood as prescriptive. Great artists found ways to innovate new practices, and eventually theory began to fragment as it became seemingly impossible to create a coherent set of rules to cover all popular music, even though so many idioms are shared between genres. And what's particularly fascinating to me is the fact that music can't really even be said to communicate ideas. So it's a bit of a mystery why it should have idioms to begin with. And yet...