tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post112753309163277517..comments2023-10-31T07:32:11.739-04:00Comments on Wormtalk and Slugspeak: Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566889846240013567noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-1127827649574663002005-09-27T09:27:00.000-04:002005-09-27T09:27:00.000-04:00Gee, isn't the construction of an edifice of ideol...Gee, isn't the construction of an edifice of ideologicially-invested cynicism something to be proud of? That seems to be the true fruit of Derrida et al.Derek the Ænglicanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11625110461660458291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-1127746460060970512005-09-26T10:54:00.000-04:002005-09-26T10:54:00.000-04:00This may not be right, but what I remember learnin...This may not be right, but what I remember learning from S. J. Gould in my undergraduate years was that immature or sparse systems are unstable, but become less so as they grow and mature. His famous example was that batting averages would never be so high again in major league baseball as they were when there were fewer games and players to be averaged against in the early years of baseball. But then he applied it to the idea of exotic speciation in evolutionary populations, to suggest that entire new genera, classes or families of organisms were now highly unlikely to originate, since the earth's ecosystems are mature.<BR/>To apply this to your question, perhaps the sheer size and complexity of the intellectual/academic endeavor today works by its very nature to prevent major intellectual breakthroughs or paradigm shifts. It seems wrong to me to conclude simply that "there were giants then" -- I don't accept that genius is a simple function of time periods.squirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14280609151416389163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-1127735658121132212005-09-26T07:54:00.000-04:002005-09-26T07:54:00.000-04:00I started to post a response, but it got rather lo...I started to post a response, but it got rather longish ... ok, it got huge ... so I posted it on my own blog instead.<BR/><BR/>http://unlocked-wordhoard.blogspot.com/2005/09/professionalization-and-our-arid.htmlDr. Richard Scott Nokeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3571309.post-1127714584667527252005-09-26T02:03:00.000-04:002005-09-26T02:03:00.000-04:00Have no insights to offer about the "drought" (and...Have no insights to offer about the "drought" (and, yes, I'm smiling when I say that), but just wanted to say that your philology (potential) project sounds very interesting. <BR/><BR/>I have one question, though, that has always bugged me: just what IS philology? Dictionary definitions and such don't seem to be much help, at least to me. I can never quite wrap my head around it and was hoping you could enlighten me.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03301077496668834657noreply@blogger.com