4 ms·

Another good reason to read the classics is to maximize the number of "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"'s(1) you have with the people in the culture surrounding you

Another good reason to read the classics is to maximize the number of "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"'s(1) you have with the people in the culture surrounding you. Note that may mean depending on where you are, you might need different classics. (1) And if you understood that reference right away, you got the point!

esfandia 8y ago
Yup, Star Trek is probably much more of a common ground these days than ancient Greek literature. Don't know if it's a good or a bad thing though.
- vanilla_nut 8y ago
  Depends on age and cultural background. When I deal with non-technical folks of various ages, there's an OK (but not great) chance that they've read some classic literature that I enjoy. Unfortunately a lot of those were forced readings in high school, but it definitely depends on the individual. As much as I love Star Trek (particularly TNG), I'd say it's far, far less popular among folks in their early 20s these days than the classics. Probably why they're called classics :)
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
TeMPOraL 8y ago
:). But the truth is, that makes Harry Potter and Game of Thrones much more of a "classic" than Shakespeare. Shared cultural context is something I believe we're losing anyway, or at least it's not scaling well with population size and civilization - these days they're just so many books being published, along with movies and TV series, that it's increasingly difficult to find things you've both read/watched with random people. Schools in a given country are forcing the same set of literature on people partly in order to ensure a shared cultural context, but as we all know (and as is discussed elsewhere in this comment thread), this only makes people know the titles but not read the books themselves.
- noonespecial 8y ago
  I dunno. I think there's still a long way to go before Hogwarts is more generally recognizable than Romeo and Juliet. Still, there's probably some fascinating anthropology to be had in the idea of fandom as a new form of nationality. They say dual citizenship is possible but I'd steer well clear of the dmz between Trek and Wars.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    > Still, there's probably some fascinating anthropology to be had in the idea of fandom as a new form of nationality. I agree. If you think of it, meeting people who identify more with a fictional culture from a TV show more than with any existing one, that's... something new, I think. Can't think of any analogue in past periods in history. > They say dual citizenship is possible but I'd steer well clear of the dmz between Trek and Wars. Been there, can confirm. Not pretty :).
    - noonespecial 8y ago
      If you think of it, meeting people who identify more with a fictional culture from a TV show more than with any existing one, that's... something new, I think. Religion, Christianity in particular, seems a close analog.

esfandia 8y ago

Yup, Star Trek is probably much more of a common ground these days than ancient Greek literature. Don't know if it's a good or a bad thing though.

vanilla_nut 8y ago
Depends on age and cultural background. When I deal with non-technical folks of various ages, there's an OK (but not great) chance that they've read some classic literature that I enjoy. Unfortunately a lot of those were forced readings in high school, but it definitely depends on the individual. As much as I love Star Trek (particularly TNG), I'd say it's far, far less popular among folks in their early 20s these days than the classics. Probably why they're called classics :)
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

TeMPOraL 8y ago

:). But the truth is, that makes Harry Potter and Game of Thrones much more of a "classic" than Shakespeare. Shared cultural context is something I believe we're losing anyway, or at least it's not scaling well with population size and civilization - these days they're just so many books being published, along with movies and TV series, that it's increasingly difficult to find things you've both read/watched with random people. Schools in a given country are forcing the same set of literature on people partly in order to ensure a shared cultural context, but as we all know (and as is discussed elsewhere in this comment thread), this only makes people know the titles but not read the books themselves.

noonespecial 8y ago
I dunno. I think there's still a long way to go before Hogwarts is more generally recognizable than Romeo and Juliet. Still, there's probably some fascinating anthropology to be had in the idea of fandom as a new form of nationality. They say dual citizenship is possible but I'd steer well clear of the dmz between Trek and Wars.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > Still, there's probably some fascinating anthropology to be had in the idea of fandom as a new form of nationality. I agree. If you think of it, meeting people who identify more with a fictional culture from a TV show more than with any existing one, that's... something new, I think. Can't think of any analogue in past periods in history. > They say dual citizenship is possible but I'd steer well clear of the dmz between Trek and Wars. Been there, can confirm. Not pretty :).
  - noonespecial 8y ago
    If you think of it, meeting people who identify more with a fictional culture from a TV show more than with any existing one, that's... something new, I think. Religion, Christianity in particular, seems a close analog.