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> However, my reaction to 9nGQluzmnq3M's coment is mainly this: Why judge an article or opinion on what it's not instead of what it is? To me, I'm judging the

> However, my reaction to 9nGQluzmnq3M's coment is mainly this: Why judge an article or opinion on what it's not instead of what it is? To me, I'm judging the article based on what it's claiming to be. He starts it with a faux linguistic analysis including numbers, faux cultural comparisons, and an analysis of the Japanese language -- which he professes not to know. > I read the original article as an attempt to share some similar kind of feeling. The way he opened his article and continued trying to pick at linguistics is what kept me from feeling that kind of thing. His own credentials and the location of the article also contributed to that. If it were a personal blog and he were talking about subjective feelings, that's one thing -- but when he is writing an article on lithub and starting with numbers and apparently scholarly linguistic analysis, that's a completely different thing to me. Edit to add: And one other point is that this is all to publicize a book of his called "A Beginner's Guide to Japan," which sounds very authoritative.

xelxebar 7y ago
> To me, I'm judging the article based on what it's claiming to be. Rather what you, the reader, are judging it to claim to be. > He starts it with a faux linguistic analysis including numbers, faux cultural comparisons, and an analysis of the Japanese language -- which he professes not to know. There's a lot of flexing that goes on with expats here in Japan. Whoever speaks the best Japanese has the most social cred in many ways. Nonetheless, speaking a languages and performing linguistic analyses on the same are quite different tasks that require less overlapping skills than one might imagine at first blush. Are you a linguist in Japanese? If not, then why does your opinion on his linguistic analysis matter? Are you an anthropologist on modern Japan? If not, then what are your credentials for judging his ability to make "cultural comparisons?" Those are intended as rhetorical questions. I dunno. Your and 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments just stike me as meta-inconsistent. I'm trying to inject a little self-awareness into the discussion. In particular 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments about the Japanese language don't line up with my own experience, having used it as the primary language in my personal and professional life for several years. Someone with only a beginning grasp of Japanese flaying someone else with a tad less Japanese; that just strikes me as... harmful.
- sdrothrock 7y ago
  > Rather what you, the reader, are judging it to claim to be. Sure. I'm picking up what the writer is putting down; he puts down numbers and linguistic claims, so I pick those up and say "hmm, this looks like a scholarly article" -- that's the tone I perceive and I can't say for sure whether that's what the author intended. > In particular 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments about the Japanese language don't line up with my own experience, having used it as the primary language in my personal and professional life for several years. Someone with only a beginning grasp of Japanese flaying someone else with a tad less Japanese; that just strikes me as... harmful. I'm not sure where this comes from at all -- now it seems like your judgment of our opinions is stemming from your judgment of our Japanese ability, but I'm not sure how you're even doing that.
  - xelxebar 7y ago
    > ...now it seems like your judgment of our opinions is stemming from your judgment of our Japanese ability... Yeah! Yeah! That's the exact kind of feeling I got from both of your comments. Anyway, thanks for the back and forth. This subject apparently got me engaged too!

xelxebar 7y ago

> To me, I'm judging the article based on what it's claiming to be. Rather what you, the reader, are judging it to claim to be. > He starts it with a faux linguistic analysis including numbers, faux cultural comparisons, and an analysis of the Japanese language -- which he professes not to know. There's a lot of flexing that goes on with expats here in Japan. Whoever speaks the best Japanese has the most social cred in many ways. Nonetheless, speaking a languages and performing linguistic analyses on the same are quite different tasks that require less overlapping skills than one might imagine at first blush. Are you a linguist in Japanese? If not, then why does your opinion on his linguistic analysis matter? Are you an anthropologist on modern Japan? If not, then what are your credentials for judging his ability to make "cultural comparisons?" Those are intended as rhetorical questions. I dunno. Your and 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments just stike me as meta-inconsistent. I'm trying to inject a little self-awareness into the discussion. In particular 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments about the Japanese language don't line up with my own experience, having used it as the primary language in my personal and professional life for several years. Someone with only a beginning grasp of Japanese flaying someone else with a tad less Japanese; that just strikes me as... harmful.

sdrothrock 7y ago
> Rather what you, the reader, are judging it to claim to be. Sure. I'm picking up what the writer is putting down; he puts down numbers and linguistic claims, so I pick those up and say "hmm, this looks like a scholarly article" -- that's the tone I perceive and I can't say for sure whether that's what the author intended. > In particular 9nGQluzmnq3M's comments about the Japanese language don't line up with my own experience, having used it as the primary language in my personal and professional life for several years. Someone with only a beginning grasp of Japanese flaying someone else with a tad less Japanese; that just strikes me as... harmful. I'm not sure where this comes from at all -- now it seems like your judgment of our opinions is stemming from your judgment of our Japanese ability, but I'm not sure how you're even doing that.
- xelxebar 7y ago
  > ...now it seems like your judgment of our opinions is stemming from your judgment of our Japanese ability... Yeah! Yeah! That's the exact kind of feeling I got from both of your comments. Anyway, thanks for the back and forth. This subject apparently got me engaged too!