A hearing or a reading

From: Gil Lawton (gillawton_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 03/04/05 

Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 14:43:13 -0500 (EST)

(Words of jimmenegay)

I'm mostly going to avoid the Gould pro-and-con debate, except to totally
endorse the above comment about Dennett. In "Darwin's Dangerous Idea",
Dennett completely misrepresents Gould, and then demolishes a straw man of
his own (de)construction.

I thought that the "brick" was a useful and interesting commentary on
evolutionary theory, but I agree with the anti-Gould contingent that
it is inappropriate as a survey of evolutionary theory.

(Gil's response)

Thank you, Jim. Your comments above strike me as mature, objective,
dispassionate
 and absent any polemical windmill jousting.

My love of books is like the love I had and have for my deceased older
brother, a bona
fide genius, who, though he had the most sweeping comprehension of many good
and
valuable things in this world (including a phenomenal rate of survival of
his thoracic
surgical patients, the most irascible of tempers and a seeming lack of
regard for
personal relationships and for handling his finances of any man I've ever
known.
He lived and died both heroically and tragically, both creatively and
destructively --
tearing down all that he built up, beyond his professional results.

What should I do with imperfect people and imperfect books, throw out the
silverware
with the garbage?

My choice is to reject a book on one basis, only -- that being if it do
nothing but paint
a polemical blindness, or if it merely state the obvious, or if it simply is
predictable and
lukewarm warm.

One thing I hope to avoid is condemning too assertively a person I have not
given a
hearing to, or a book I have not given a read.

g

Relevant Pages

  • Recently read: Oltion, Wilhelm, Wynne Jones, F. White
    ... Note that, except for the Oltion, this list is basically Books to Avoid. ... Jerry Oltion, Anywhere but Here, Tor 2005. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Pop Quiz!
    ... Tom Kratman ... their books. ... others avoid it; ... audience reading it, then it's extremely bad. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Cristmas kitchen gift survey.
    ... but a whole bunch of books. ... We don't exchange gifts for Xmas, and we do avoid malls, so ... "Xmas" presents usually involve things bought in October that will help us ... and the first season of Ugly Betty on DVD. ...
    (rec.food.cooking)
  • Re: To the writers of the Talk.Origins website
    ... 498 books that I chose not to read on the grounds that one cannot read ... The only thing by Dennett I've read that I think could be called ... and Freedom Evolves would count as ostentatiously superficial, ... some house remodeling and which books are accessible changes from time ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Chairmaking for an experience Newbie
    ... This would also allow you to avoid ... that doesn't require so many tools and skills. ... has dozens of cabinet makers and virtually no chair makers - and it's ... I would say that you are doing well to get some books on the topic. ...
    (rec.woodworking)