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A friend of mine -- a literature major -- in college asked me why we Engineers didn't want to "acknowledge the origins" of the work we studied. He said that he

A friend of mine -- a literature major -- in college asked me why we Engineers didn't want to "acknowledge the origins" of the work we studied. He said that he thought he would much rather read the original works of Newton or Leibniz to understand calculus as opposed to the "dry" textbook I was reading. I think the issue is that the original work is not the clearest explanation. You have to invent new vocabulary for the context, new notation and explain it at the same time. The textbook is a much more efficient delivery mechanism for understanding and it is honed over time. The original texts are often inscrutable, and they have a different rhythm to them. It reminds me of watching the great movies. Occasionally there will be one that has not aged -- like the Godfather. More often, I can't believe people enjoyed this (examples withheld).

jobigoud 5y ago
> read the original works of Newton or Leibniz Thete is also the little problem that the actual original works of these two are in Latin.
lenzm 5y ago
100%. The context has changed, we live in a different world and have different expectations. If you've spent years studying philosophy you'll understand Kierkegaard, if you've listened to music from the 50s you'll understand why the Beatles were so revolutionary, if you watched sitcoms from the 80s you'll understand why Seinfeld was so off the wall. We as a culture have absorbed these great works into our expectations. Most people couldn't explain existentialism, pop song structure, or postmodern humor but they understand it now at some gut level.
- periphrasis 5y ago
  We’ve also absorbed the Protestant Reformation, the Counterreformation, the Thirty Years War, and the English Civil War into the background of our culture: see the implicit suspicion of the Pope and global organizations in any right wing YouTube video. One can be completely ignorant of the world historical events of early modern Europe and still have absorbed their cultural impact. But that doesn’t make you any less ignorant of the sequence of historical events, new ideas, and great works that form the rational account of why our present culture and experience is the way it is. Sure, one can be ignorant and still function in human life, being carried along by the undercurrents of the time and culture in which accident assigned your life span. The question is why a thinking person would consider it acceptable to leave it at that.

jobigoud 5y ago

> read the original works of Newton or Leibniz Thete is also the little problem that the actual original works of these two are in Latin.

lenzm 5y ago

100%. The context has changed, we live in a different world and have different expectations. If you've spent years studying philosophy you'll understand Kierkegaard, if you've listened to music from the 50s you'll understand why the Beatles were so revolutionary, if you watched sitcoms from the 80s you'll understand why Seinfeld was so off the wall. We as a culture have absorbed these great works into our expectations. Most people couldn't explain existentialism, pop song structure, or postmodern humor but they understand it now at some gut level.

periphrasis 5y ago
We’ve also absorbed the Protestant Reformation, the Counterreformation, the Thirty Years War, and the English Civil War into the background of our culture: see the implicit suspicion of the Pope and global organizations in any right wing YouTube video. One can be completely ignorant of the world historical events of early modern Europe and still have absorbed their cultural impact. But that doesn’t make you any less ignorant of the sequence of historical events, new ideas, and great works that form the rational account of why our present culture and experience is the way it is. Sure, one can be ignorant and still function in human life, being carried along by the undercurrents of the time and culture in which accident assigned your life span. The question is why a thinking person would consider it acceptable to leave it at that.