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What bizarre style of writing, as if Burning Man is some thoroughly alien concept and is being described as seen by the curious eyes of an awestruck anthropolog

What bizarre style of writing, as if Burning Man is some thoroughly alien concept and is being described as seen by the curious eyes of an awestruck anthropologist. Yes, it's believable that this professor found something of interest in the way Burning Man organizes itself but did we real need paragraphs upon paragraphs of this woo-woo style writing?

perl4ever 7y ago
The cumulative attendance of Burning Man since 1986 is around 1 million people, so that's about the maximum number of people that could have experienced it, if nobody went more than once - but of course, people have, so the real number of unique attendees is lower. ...that means more than 99.7% of the US, and 99.99% of the world has never gone and it is thoroughly alien to them. So a bemused anthropologist seems like the appropriate POV for a general audience.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  > 99.99% of the has never gone and it is thoroughly alien to them Bit of a false dichotomy. Surely there's a bunch of people who are familiar with Burning Man from photos and videos online but haven't attended personally.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    I imagine you could argue the opposite just as easily. I first heard of it many years ago, but seeing a few photos doesn't mean someone is "familiar" with it from an anthropological perspective. Especially since presumably it's changed a lot over the years.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
      Right. I just meant that if you’ve read about it, it probably ain’t thoroughly alien to you.
      - omarchowdhury 7y ago
        Not conceptually, but certainly experientially.
        perl4ever 7y ago
        I've read about Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (and seen pictures)...I would say they're still thoroughly alien to me...
forgottenpass 7y ago
That kind of perspective happens unfortunately often, where someone can't fathom a group and has no idea how to relate. They invent pretentious gibberish to hold onto the idea they know what the hell they're talking about. Unfortunately, when you (as the reader) don't have any better connection to the subject mater, you might not notice how hamfisted, reductive and often denigrating their attempts at explanation are. Then those become the memes with which society treats that group. This happens all the time.

perl4ever 7y ago

The cumulative attendance of Burning Man since 1986 is around 1 million people, so that's about the maximum number of people that could have experienced it, if nobody went more than once - but of course, people have, so the real number of unique attendees is lower. ...that means more than 99.7% of the US, and 99.99% of the world has never gone and it is thoroughly alien to them. So a bemused anthropologist seems like the appropriate POV for a general audience.

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
> 99.99% of the has never gone and it is thoroughly alien to them Bit of a false dichotomy. Surely there's a bunch of people who are familiar with Burning Man from photos and videos online but haven't attended personally.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  I imagine you could argue the opposite just as easily. I first heard of it many years ago, but seeing a few photos doesn't mean someone is "familiar" with it from an anthropological perspective. Especially since presumably it's changed a lot over the years.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    Right. I just meant that if you’ve read about it, it probably ain’t thoroughly alien to you.
    - omarchowdhury 7y ago
      Not conceptually, but certainly experientially.
      - perl4ever 7y ago
        I've read about Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (and seen pictures)...I would say they're still thoroughly alien to me...

forgottenpass 7y ago

That kind of perspective happens unfortunately often, where someone can't fathom a group and has no idea how to relate. They invent pretentious gibberish to hold onto the idea they know what the hell they're talking about. Unfortunately, when you (as the reader) don't have any better connection to the subject mater, you might not notice how hamfisted, reductive and often denigrating their attempts at explanation are. Then those become the memes with which society treats that group. This happens all the time.