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What a strange essay! To try to find out what makes a good (sorry "THE BEST") essay without any reference to any of the great essays that have actually been wri

by tomgp 3y ago

What a strange essay! To try to find out what makes a good (sorry "THE BEST") essay without any reference to any of the great essays that have actually been written? It feels a bit like the head of a university's English department setting out to discover "the best computer program" but without talking to or refering to the work of any of the thousands of people who've made it their life to study and practice the craft.

lukas099 3y ago
There's value in people trying to derive things from first principles sometimes. It can lead to something unique, like outsider art.
- hef19898 3y ago
  Most of the time so, this approach leads to very deep discoveries of the kind other people learned in the first days of a 101 lesson studying said subject, at university or during some formal training of trade or craft.
  - lukas099 3y ago
    Yes. But society on net benefits from it.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      From people studying a subject through formal training? I agree, more people should do that!
      - lukas099 3y ago
        No, from having many people try to do something brand new, most of them fail miserably, and a tiny number of them creates something revolutionary. Also what you said, but they aren't mutually exclusive.
barbariangrunge 3y ago
> For example, Darwin first described the idea of natural selection in an essay written in 1844. [1] Talk about an important topic you could tell people something surprising about. If that's the test of a great essay, this was surely the best one written in 1844. I think he's speaking broadly about what counts as an essay, and does have at least one example in there to illustrate his point. He's also an esteemed essay writer, and I think it's fair for him to talk about what he values in an essay without needing to justify any of it by saying "and also, this person that some people respect did it like that"
- noqc 3y ago
  That "essay" written in 1844 was 233 pages long. This doesn't really fit with his thesis.
jimbokun 3y ago
I just assumed this was generated by an AI. Do we have verification this is really PG?

by tomgp 3y ago

lukas099 3y ago

There's value in people trying to derive things from first principles sometimes. It can lead to something unique, like outsider art.

hef19898 3y ago
Most of the time so, this approach leads to very deep discoveries of the kind other people learned in the first days of a 101 lesson studying said subject, at university or during some formal training of trade or craft.
- lukas099 3y ago
  Yes. But society on net benefits from it.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    From people studying a subject through formal training? I agree, more people should do that!
    - lukas099 3y ago
      No, from having many people try to do something brand new, most of them fail miserably, and a tiny number of them creates something revolutionary. Also what you said, but they aren't mutually exclusive.

barbariangrunge 3y ago

> For example, Darwin first described the idea of natural selection in an essay written in 1844. [1] Talk about an important topic you could tell people something surprising about. If that's the test of a great essay, this was surely the best one written in 1844. I think he's speaking broadly about what counts as an essay, and does have at least one example in there to illustrate his point. He's also an esteemed essay writer, and I think it's fair for him to talk about what he values in an essay without needing to justify any of it by saying "and also, this person that some people respect did it like that"

noqc 3y ago
That "essay" written in 1844 was 233 pages long. This doesn't really fit with his thesis.

jimbokun 3y ago

I just assumed this was generated by an AI. Do we have verification this is really PG?