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I think an otherwise interesting point is obscured by your construing of a strawman argument: >I don't feel like telling people that they shouldn't say anythin
by throwawaylolx 7y ago
I think an otherwise interesting point is obscured by your construing of a strawman argument:
>I don't feel like telling people that they shouldn't say anything wrong or potentially unimportant is the right way to go. That's a perfectionist attitude that stifles people's ability to explore, experiment, be wrong, learn, improve, and act.
It is dubious to imply that the author is trying to police what people can say and consequently how they can act: he's explicitly talking about _essays_, a literary form typically used for advancing arguments. By reframing his argument as an attempt at "telling people that they shouldn't say anything wrong," you're arguing against a much less interesting argument and sidestepping the central theme of _essays_ altogether.
In other words, I think the claim that good essays must not necessarilly show novelty, correctness, strength, and importance is a much more interesting argument, and, against correctness at least, one can probably find intellectual companionship among early 20th century futurists, dadaists, and later on fascists.
- alexandercrohde 7y agoAgree. Also ironic how this is the top-voted comment on an essay that, itself, spends so much time talking about the inevitability of misrepresentation. I could write an essay on that myself.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]