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I'm hung up on the title's use of the word elegant, which ordinarily has a positive connotation, to describe a very sad and deadly process. When something is el
by jawns 3y ago
I'm hung up on the title's use of the word elegant, which ordinarily has a positive connotation, to describe a very sad and deadly process. When something is elegant, it means we recognize something beautiful in its form, such as an elegant gown or an elegant solution to a vexing problem.
I would rather see a word such as grotesque or monstrous used, or a phrase such as brutally efficient. That indicates a similar type of imposing magnitude, but also a lack or distortion of beauty.
- rho138 3y agoElegance is less of a positive descriptor and more of a way to describe precision of craft in this connotation. Where the evolutionary pattern of malignant melanoma is very deft at adapting to its situation.
- airstrike 3y agoAgreed. "Efficient" would have been a much better word. "Elegant" just feels like ragesadbait
- greyface- 3y ago"Elegant" is an aesthetic judgment, not a moral one. Ugly things can be good, and beautiful things can be bad.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago> Ugly things can be good, and beautiful things can be bad. This is indeed very common in the real world, and often talked about in one way or another on HN. So much so that the parent almost certainly has seen multiple examples after nearly 15000 comments and 13 years on HN.
- folli 3y agoAs any molecular biologist will attest, the mechanism is indeed very elegant. The outcome not so much.