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This style of writing is becoming more common and it is frustrating. The author seems hell bent on making their words the focus rather than a window through whi

This style of writing is becoming more common and it is frustrating. The author seems hell bent on making their words the focus rather than a window through which you view a story.

spectramax 8y ago
I agree, just to be clear - you're talking about the author of the article, not Richard Feynman. Clarity in writing reflects clarity of thoughts. I wish the same thing dies in the Business world. When I hear a CEO of Intel or Adobe or Google speak in polished, PR approved, Lawyer vetted tone as if they strung big words together and tried to make the sentence after the fact - it makes me cringe. This is one of the reasons why I like Elon or Steve Jobs - they are relatable and human.
chubot 8y ago
I've always been annoyed by this, but now that I know the term "classic style", it annoys me even more. For those who haven't heard of it, "classic style" is explained in the recent book Sense of Style by Steven Pinker, and there's a nice diagram here: https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/steven-pinkers-guide-to-classic-style.html https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/stev... It's in opposition to academic style, legal style, self-conscious style, etc. One distressing thing I've noticed is that some of my adult colleagues write in "high school book report style". They seem to want to fill up a certain number of words rather than getting straight to the point.
- bitwize 8y ago
  Similar advice from Olin Shivers: http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html
mercer 8y ago
While I do share your frustration most of the time, for some reason I've never felt it when reading a Brain Pickings post. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I know what to expect, and so when I do read one of these articles, my state of mind is to just kind of take in whatever idea is expressed, to click on the copious amount of links, and to write down the titles of any materials that seem interesting. The style feels fitting for a blog/magazine that mostly seems to offer surface-level ideas, often interesting, with links and references to various source materials. It's a bit like the difference between actively using google/wikipedia/stanford encyclopedia of philosophy and passively clicking around on tvtropes.org.
plausibilities 8y ago
Hem-hem. Allow me to pontificate for your edification, as to why wanton use of esoteric terminology is in fact a paragon of lexical mastery and thus ideal for the optimization of literary accuracy... /s
ericsoderstrom 8y ago
I enjoy Farnam Street Blog, in part because the author does such a good job of stepping out of the way for his subject. Here's the FSblog post on the same Feynman letter: https://fs.blog/2013/08/richard-feynmans-love-letter-to-his-wife-sixteen-months-after-her-death/ https://fs.blog/2013/08/richard-feynmans-love-letter-to-his-...
markdown 8y ago
> She walked down her father’s hand-poured concrete driveway wearing a white dress. What is the relevance to the story of how the driveway was made? None. There is no relevance. Just masturbation by the author.

This style of writing is becoming more common and it is frustrating. The author seems hell bent on making their words the focus rather than a window through which you view a story.

spectramax 8y ago

I agree, just to be clear - you're talking about the author of the article, not Richard Feynman. Clarity in writing reflects clarity of thoughts. I wish the same thing dies in the Business world. When I hear a CEO of Intel or Adobe or Google speak in polished, PR approved, Lawyer vetted tone as if they strung big words together and tried to make the sentence after the fact - it makes me cringe. This is one of the reasons why I like Elon or Steve Jobs - they are relatable and human.

chubot 8y ago

I've always been annoyed by this, but now that I know the term "classic style", it annoys me even more. For those who haven't heard of it, "classic style" is explained in the recent book Sense of Style by Steven Pinker, and there's a nice diagram here: https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/steven-pinkers-guide-to-classic-style.html https://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.com/2014/09/stev... It's in opposition to academic style, legal style, self-conscious style, etc. One distressing thing I've noticed is that some of my adult colleagues write in "high school book report style". They seem to want to fill up a certain number of words rather than getting straight to the point.

bitwize 8y ago
Similar advice from Olin Shivers: http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html http://web.cs.ucla.edu/~palsberg/shivers.html

mercer 8y ago

While I do share your frustration most of the time, for some reason I've never felt it when reading a Brain Pickings post. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I know what to expect, and so when I do read one of these articles, my state of mind is to just kind of take in whatever idea is expressed, to click on the copious amount of links, and to write down the titles of any materials that seem interesting. The style feels fitting for a blog/magazine that mostly seems to offer surface-level ideas, often interesting, with links and references to various source materials. It's a bit like the difference between actively using google/wikipedia/stanford encyclopedia of philosophy and passively clicking around on tvtropes.org.

plausibilities 8y ago

Hem-hem. Allow me to pontificate for your edification, as to why wanton use of esoteric terminology is in fact a paragon of lexical mastery and thus ideal for the optimization of literary accuracy... /s

ericsoderstrom 8y ago

I enjoy Farnam Street Blog, in part because the author does such a good job of stepping out of the way for his subject. Here's the FSblog post on the same Feynman letter: https://fs.blog/2013/08/richard-feynmans-love-letter-to-his-wife-sixteen-months-after-her-death/ https://fs.blog/2013/08/richard-feynmans-love-letter-to-his-...

markdown 8y ago

> She walked down her father’s hand-poured concrete driveway wearing a white dress. What is the relevance to the story of how the driveway was made? None. There is no relevance. Just masturbation by the author.