Will they please stop publishing great books!

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by nitro, Jun 15, 2005.

  1. nitro

    nitro

    I understand what you are saying. I will start a thread just for you and Larr G Wang here:

    http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55691

    nitro
     
    #31     Sep 18, 2005
  2. Bad book?? What's that? I can't believe you miss my point. There is no such thing as a bad book only "bad" readers. That is to say a [bad] reader has no insight.

    LGW
     
    #32     Sep 18, 2005
  3. nitro

    nitro

    I don't disagree with that either. I do get your point more each time, but again, I don't see how that applies to this thread.

    For those that want to become good "insightful" readers, here is the classic on the subject:

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-6924341-9312168?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

    "How to Read a Book"

    nitro
     
    #33     Sep 18, 2005
  4. What is the underlying cause?
    In order to discuss this in any useful manner, let's limit ourselves to SCIENTIFIC knowledge.

    Till about 50 years ago, the training of engineers and scientists was such that many (not all) still had a reasonable grasp of what constitutes knowledge of a scientific kind. The general public, politicians included, generally realized that this kind of knowledge resided with these trained few.

    These days, any kid in the street 'goes to school' and is taught in the most rascally manner. Many come out and can't even read. The grownup general public has been brainwashed in believing that science is something to be shared by all in our democratic everyday Disneyland, process diligently fostered by our slick politicians. Science and Religion are even treated as some kind of a unified theory, used by some to disprove the existence of God, by others to prove the existence of God, both in a most scientific gobbledygook manner.

    In fact, these days many (most?) engineers and scientist will gladly entertain you by mouthing off about 'science' without having the foggiest notion about what is meant by 'scientific knowledge'. Worse, few university professors would be able to give you a cogent answer, so don't blame their students.

    If you ever wondered about the tower of Babel predicament in biblical times, looking at our today's situation may help you understand. This is in my opinion the message Prof. Kapitza tried to convey to the current generation when referring to 'pollution of information'.

    nononsense
     
    #34     Sep 18, 2005
  5. It applies because YOU made a statement about your highly developed sense of smell. I disagree, you may have developed a great crap detector in matters of trading due to your years of devotion, but in very little else. There is no such thing as a "general crap detector", all are specific to an endeavour or context.

    LGW

    ps I have that book; it's a good one
     
    #35     Sep 18, 2005
  6. nitro

    nitro

    On the contrary!!!! I became a good trader because of my prior experience and success with dealing in the mastery of subjects using the scientific method! That is all the "crap detector" means - maybe a very scaled down version of it...

    I have acquired expertise in several "fields" and each time I have acquired new expertise, it is easier because I have learned to learn. Part of that skill is the "crap detector."

    I treat the acquiring of all knowledge in the same dialectical manner. It works for me.

    nitro
     
    #36     Sep 18, 2005
  7. NN

    You know what dad reckoned was the biblical tower of Babel in todays society?

    The internet! The whole lot has so many protocols, is so fragile and if something happens to it today then it will affect most aspects of "modern" life in the western world. That is out achilles heel!

    Waste, water treatment plants in the UK, electricity grids in the US controlled from some obscure business in India? If something goes down then no-one knows how to fix it. In this light it will be interesting to see how the future of New Orleans is shaping up.

    Dad could not believe it when a number of years ago in Auckland, New Zealand the electricity grid failed and the centre of the business district went without power for months (with subsequent business faliures). He was at the time in Manilla and there power off was a weekly occurence. No problem, they all had their own little emergency generator and up it was started and life went on. The Philippinos were laughing at New Zealands inability to cope with an incovenience while they in a third world country had no problems with such an occurance at all.
     
    #37     Sep 18, 2005
  8. What you are saying [with reference to your "scientific method"] is that you have merely learned to apply a loose set of practical rules to gain leverage on the complexity of the subject matter.

    (For the simple reason you have no true comprehension of the subject in first place)

    Don't confuse your "scientific" approach with specific insight in the subject matter. It's not the same thing..

    LGW
     
    #38     Sep 18, 2005
  9. Hi Maria,

    The internet! Yeah!
    Continuing in the same vein, some have observed that up till Guthenberg in the 15th century, a scholar used to be kind of alike to a beggar. Book printing changed all this in the most radical way. We are still riding on the coattails of Guthenberg's contraption. If I understood it correctly, these days, you even need to buy a book explaining you how to read books. (Book Reading for Dummies?)

    If they ever had internet in Babel, it must have gotten lost with the collapse of the tower project.
    :D

    nononsense
     
    #39     Sep 18, 2005
  10. Banjo

    Banjo

    There is much flatulance here, perhaps that is what is being sniffed out. I am an recognized expert on flatulance and plan to someday write a book. I think I'll do it with scratch and sniff augmentation. I may even write a how to book about properly scratching and sniffing. Hmmm, some interviews may be in order for this project.
     
    #40     Sep 18, 2005