Over the past few years as I taught basic college and developmental writing to both new writers and non-native English speakers, I stopped imbuing any sort of absolute set of rules about what good writing is or isn't. That doesn't mean I abandoned standards, or just said that everything was wonderful (because there really are some turds in there as people take risks and try).
I explained that writing was contextual, and some rules applied to some situations. You'd want to use "proper" English in a professional setting, but in a casual or other situation it's perfectly reasonable to depart from what are largely arbitrary customs that do not necessarily become critical to meaning. Students who struggled to write in English switched sometimes mid essay to their dialect of Spanish, creating some very interesting and beautiful prose. Not because it perfectly adhered to a standard, but because the struggle was evident in the construction. To bring this back to origami, I think it is very important to show examples of what you feel is elegant, and give a little bit of "story" or context that explains why. There are going to be some legitimate judgments as we move from elegance to appropriateness for specific purpose. I'd wager Robert Lang isn't going to make a bunch of water bombs out of construction paper for his next talk on complex origami. Despite his dubious judgment on the superior Doctor Who (Pertwee, then Eccleston, are of course the top), Robert understands fundamentally that an audience of mathematicians aren't going to be impressed as he colors and blows up paper balloons. The final lesson I impart to students is this: you can't argue preference or belief. Period. It's futile, and often such arguments are pointless and generally distractive. It is, however, very interesting to hear the belief and learn how the believer thinks or feels or experiences origami. Me? I made infinity of the Fuse butterfly spiral because it looked super neat and because mastery of the precision required to make it work out was a very satisfying feeling. Rob. -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
