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I don't know why you are downvoted. This is an excerpt of the abstract: > By introspecting my personal aesthetic sensitivities, I eventually realized that my t

I don't know why you are downvoted. This is an excerpt of the abstract: > By introspecting my personal aesthetic sensitivities, I eventually realized that my tastes in the scientific, artistic, and physical domains are all motivated by the same driving forces, hence unifying Lisp, Jazz, and Aikido as three expressions of a single essence, not so different after all. Lisp, Jazz, and Aikido are governed by a limited set of rules which remain simple and unobtrusive. Conforming to them is a pleasure. Because Lisp, Jazz, and Aikido are inherently introspective disciplines, they also invite you to transgress the rules in order to find your own. Breaking the rules is fun. Finally, if Lisp, Jazz, and Aikido unify so many paradigms, styles, or techniques, it is not by mere accumulation but because they live at the meta-level and let you reinvent them. Working at the meta-level is an enlightening experience I am hesitant to criticize the author, because I find the text so absurd that I must clearly be missing something. It looks like satire written for /r/iamverysmart. I'd honestly appreciate being given more context from fellow HNers which upvoted this story and found it interesting.

vorpalhex 8y ago
This is a pretty par-for-course academic paper written on the philosophy of Aesthetics. The writer is using themselves as a subject via introspection, which is perfectly allowed, and attempting to highlight the aesthetic comparison between three of their favorite hobbies. This isn't supposed to be a hard sciences paper. Aesthetics can, validly, be introspected on a personal level. If reading the paper makes you feel insecure, then you should probably engage in some self-introspection as well.
- cjcole 8y ago
  Are implications of insecurity and obliviousness also par for the course in academia? (Wait, I know that one already.)
- AllegedAlec 8y ago
  > If reading the paper makes you feel insecure Nice projecting. He said nothing about him feeling insecure. He (rightfully, imho) said that the entire paper was incredibly pretentious.
  - vorpalhex 8y ago
    > that the entire paper was incredibly pretentious Is it pretentious in it's writing style or it's topic? Writing style wise it's a perfectly par-for-the-course humanities paper. It's not a blog entry, nor a letter to a friend. It's a formal academic humanities paper. Topic wise, it's discussing aesthetics. There are plenty of places for criticizing the authors aesthetic arguments (in a formal manner), but in terms of writing about the topics and their relation to aesthetics the author does a perfectly fine job touching on the usual points. So I'm confused as to how the paper could be pretentious. He isn't making the claim that the only way to achieve aesthetic pleasure is to partake in his particular hobbies, or to argue for some idealized version of these hobbies. He's not glorifying programming, jazz or martial arts as being anything other than rule based frameworks with room for exceptions and growth. He isn't making strong exclusionary arguments in regards to other languages. Nor does he make any claim that he is special, or that his introspection is special or unique. So if reading a perfectly standard academic humanities paper leads you to think it's incredibly pretentious, then that says something of the beholder.
- nabla9 8y ago
  That's actually good point and puts the text in context. (your implication of insecurity is rude and dishonest dismissal somewhat spoils it)
- M_Bakhtiari 8y ago
  Didier detected

vorpalhex 8y ago

This is a pretty par-for-course academic paper written on the philosophy of Aesthetics. The writer is using themselves as a subject via introspection, which is perfectly allowed, and attempting to highlight the aesthetic comparison between three of their favorite hobbies. This isn't supposed to be a hard sciences paper. Aesthetics can, validly, be introspected on a personal level. If reading the paper makes you feel insecure, then you should probably engage in some self-introspection as well.

cjcole 8y ago
Are implications of insecurity and obliviousness also par for the course in academia? (Wait, I know that one already.)
AllegedAlec 8y ago
> If reading the paper makes you feel insecure Nice projecting. He said nothing about him feeling insecure. He (rightfully, imho) said that the entire paper was incredibly pretentious.
- vorpalhex 8y ago
  > that the entire paper was incredibly pretentious Is it pretentious in it's writing style or it's topic? Writing style wise it's a perfectly par-for-the-course humanities paper. It's not a blog entry, nor a letter to a friend. It's a formal academic humanities paper. Topic wise, it's discussing aesthetics. There are plenty of places for criticizing the authors aesthetic arguments (in a formal manner), but in terms of writing about the topics and their relation to aesthetics the author does a perfectly fine job touching on the usual points. So I'm confused as to how the paper could be pretentious. He isn't making the claim that the only way to achieve aesthetic pleasure is to partake in his particular hobbies, or to argue for some idealized version of these hobbies. He's not glorifying programming, jazz or martial arts as being anything other than rule based frameworks with room for exceptions and growth. He isn't making strong exclusionary arguments in regards to other languages. Nor does he make any claim that he is special, or that his introspection is special or unique. So if reading a perfectly standard academic humanities paper leads you to think it's incredibly pretentious, then that says something of the beholder.
nabla9 8y ago
That's actually good point and puts the text in context. (your implication of insecurity is rude and dishonest dismissal somewhat spoils it)
M_Bakhtiari 8y ago
Didier detected