On 7/21/06, Arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, if the motivation is lacking.... > > Anybody writing anything worth reading needs to assume an interested reader. >
Well no. It's a luxury to assume that actually. Many people have day jobs writing for presumably uninterested readers. I'm thinking of advertising in particular. > I don't really believe much in Programming for the Uninterested, or > Geometry for the Uninterested- which has always been one of my problems > with Computer Programming for Everyone. I'd rather find effective ways I do. I believe in the old American art of selling or pitching a topic, letting someone's obvious passion for the stuff rub off on skeptical/clueless newbies. Yes, there's the danger of snake oil getting into the mix. On the other hand, in the case of Python, that's not entirely inappropriate (we can make fun of unprincipled huckstering, as in Yes Men). I think maybe where you and I part company is you see academe as a huckster free zone, whereas I see an academic as a type of huckster. "Running a racket" is built in to my model's base class, for any type of professional -- meaning "racket" needn't have any excessively derogatory connotations, any more than being a Toon in Toontown. It's possible to run a racket without being to smarmy about it (sorry Gregor, for all the idioms). > to teach the interested, than turn somersaults to interest the > uninterested. And CP4E could be interpreted as the commitment to these > somersaults. Presumably those not interested in geometry or programming That's right. Cirque du Soleil, move over (don't go away though). > are interested in something else - maybe even something more interesting > than either. Those not interested in anything are the domain of social > workers and psychiatrists, not educators. Ah, but you haven't solved the problem then. Psychiatry may be overkill. We don't need to write scripts for phamaceuticals most times, just apply some good old fashioned spin. > I personally find projective geometry (it is there even during power > outages ;) ) more interesting than programming , and actually more > essential to an understanding of what makes "modern" thinking modern.. > I think Bucky might even agree. But I have also found that having the > ability to program as part of my arsenal has been essential in allowing > me to explore the geometry. It is second best to the kind of > imagination that might allow one to *see* without having to see. > Lacking that level of imagination, I need to see in a more literal > sense, to see. Nobody had really created a tool to allow me to see what > I needed to see. So I did. You're a poster boy for what it's all about, including in your willingness to freely share your result, versus making it a closed source proprietary tool available only for money. Making it "for money only" helps keep the value of money high, but doesn't do much for education world at this point, where money is out of reach, especially if you're unlucky enough to be paid in a "soft" currency. I applaud your generosity and hope other projective geometry buffs come to realize and admit their good fortune, in having you joining their camp. > See? > > Art I sure do. Your story is very clear and I don't see any reason it should change. In saying that CP4E is indeed about reaching out to some of the militantly apathetic (what has Python Nation to do with *me*?!), I'm not thereby saying *you* need to switch gears and see your job as writing for the uncaring. You write for readers who care. I think that's the most a lot of writers ever attempt, and I don't begrudge them their fun, nor their readerships. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
