From: Gordon Worley (redbird@rbisland.cx)
Date: Sun Aug 05 2001 - 18:33:40 MDT
At 2:50 PM -0400 8/5/01, Eliezer S. Yudkowsky wrote:
>Gordon Worley wrote:
>>
>> This whole post really illustrates my frustration in trying to
>> communicate about the Sysop. I've worked through it in my mind and
>> have a good idea of what it should be like (though I hope to refine
>> it more and eventually have the actual Sysop really refine it (yes,
>> Eli, this is simplified wording because I'm lazy, but I probably
>> spent more effort to explain myself than to say the correct thing
>> clearly)), but explaining this complex idea in a way that makes sense
>> and doesn't scare people is tough. Good thing I have the list to
>> warn me when I start sounding like 'Uncle Joe' Stalin. ;-) Oh, and
>> maybe a few more years to write about the Sysop and come up with good
>> wording before lots more people start to notice doesn't hurt, either.
>
>There is, I believe, a rule to the effect that you must write a million
>fully polished words to throw away before you can sell anything. Writing
>has become considerably easier for me with time, but despite having sold,
>I sometimes have the feeling I'm still working on my million words. If
>you haven't read a few how-to-write books, you should probably do that as
>well. (If you already have, then you probably know most of what you need
>to know... I grew up reading "How to write science fiction" books, which
>formed most of my knowledge base for writing, plus "The Elements of Style"
>later on.) Just keep plugging and remember that polished sentences are
>only the first step toward good writing...
That sounds about right. When I write I generally throughly massage
my words before publishing them. With this, though, I need to get my
ideas out there before I go back and refine my language so that it is
more concise and precise because this is a complex topic and I know
that I can leave things out if I'm not careful. Thus, you're all
getting the beta version of paper to make sure I include everything
(i.e. spark discussion and figure out what I still need to write
about).
Oh, and yes, I know quite a bit about writing (even if my e-mails
don't always reflect that ;-)). Polished sentences are easy, but
diction that doesn't send even SL4ers running for the hills, that's
what's hard. Maybe it's time I released /Gordon's Unabridged
Dictionary/. ;-)
>Brian Phillips wrote:
>>
>> try using an economic analogy..contrasting the Sysop with the InvisibleHand.
>> It's just there in the background you know..... (flawed yes, soothing..also
>> yes)
>
>Disagree, that one's even worse than analogizing between the Sysop and the
>Tao.
Agreed, but I do see how the ideas connect (both are supposed to be
underlying forces of the universe, and that's what the Sysop is in
Sysop Space, but the similarities end there).
-- Gordon Worley `When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty http://www.rbisland.cx/ said, `it means just what I choose redbird@rbisland.cx it to mean--neither more nor less.' PGP: 0xBBD3B003 --Lewis Carroll
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