The science/humanities dichotomy; list demographics

[Dicentra spectabilis]

--- In HPFGU-Feedback at yahoogroups.com, "Doriane" <delwynmarch at y...> wrote:

> Heh heh :-) ! When I read "hyperbole", the first thing that comes to 
> my mind is the mathematical concept, not the literary one. Always 
> gives me quite a jolt ;-) And it's just another example of how one 
> word can translate into different concepts for different people.

There seems to be a contiuum of "ways of thinking" that has hard
science at one end and art & humanities at the other.  Notice that I
didn't use the terms "concrete" and "abstract."  Mathematics may have
plenty of practical applications, but it's also got all kinds of
theoretical/hypothetical elements to it. Using numbers and symbols to
express math is another form of abstraction and metaphorizing. (I
couldn't grasp theoretical mathematics with an industrial vise).

I lean toward the art end of the continuum, but my profession
(technical writer) necessitates communication with people at the other
end (harware/software engineers).

The interactions are sometimes rather comical.

For example, I was to write a technical white paper for Novell's new
"ZENworks for Servers" software.  Unlike most product managers (who
think that a few PowerPoint slides give us enough information to write
a detailed description of proprietary technology), the ZFS folks
invited me down to Novell to see the product for itself.  After two
hours of demo, I still had no idea what the product did or why.

So a few days later they drove up to my office, set up the software in
our lab, and spent another two hours messing with it and asking
questions.  Finally, I got what they were talking about.  After they
left, my colleagues came in to see what the deal was, and I was able
to explain it to them in 5 minutes. 

Had I been a software engineer or a network administrator, I would
have known what the Novell folks were talking about after five
minutes. They didn't know how much I knew about network
administration, so they just started talking about the details, when
what I needed was a big-picture explanation of the problem and how
their product addressed it *before* the details would make sense.  

On another job, I was working on a software process improvement
journal for the Air Force.  One of the journal staff had a little "Zen
garden" toy (no relation to ZENworks) that comprised a shallow box of
sand, a few small rocks, and a wooden rake.  The idea is that to
relieve stress or boredom, you rake the sand into patterns and place
the rocks artistically.  (I've uploaded two pics to the photos section
of this group to show what I mean.)

A couple of software engineers wandered in from the other room and
look at the little sand box.  "What's this?" asked one. "A Zen
garden," my colleague replied. 

He studied it for a minute. "What are the rules?" 

Well, there aren't any rules, you just rake the sand and place the
rocks at your own whim and pleasure, but I suspect that the engineer
wouldn't find that terribly interesting. 

I think that we're all in agreement that having thinking styles from
both ends of the spectrum makes the list that much more interesting,
not to mention educational.  I know I've learned TONs from the main
list, and not just about Harry Potter.

As for what Del said about diverse backgrounds on the list, I agree
that we can't assume that we all have the same cultural/literary
background as JKR.  I am a fairly well-read person in the "WCAS"
tradition, but I majored in Spanish lit, so there are some
considerable gaps in my English lit knowledge, such as the alchemical
symbolism and the "Inklings" tradition.

To see what our list demographics were, I went to the main list and
found a closed poll wherein people had indicated their world region. 
There were 1012 respondents, and the results are as follows: 

8.99%  United Kingdom (England/Scotland/Wales) and Ireland 	
8.99%  Continental Europe 	
0.40%  Middle East/North Africa 
0.10%  Africa, sub-Saharan   
0.49%  Russia and former Soviet Union 
0.30%  Asia, China/Japan
1.48%  Asia, Southeast/Indonesia/Pacific Islands
4.25%  Australia
2.87%  North America, Canada (Western) 
3.06%  North America, Canada (Eastern)
6.82%  North America, US (New England)
11.76% North America, US (Eastern Seaboard) 
13.44% North America, US (Southeast)
16.01% North America, US (Midwest)
1.19%  North America, US (Great Plains)
2.77%  North America, US (Rocky Mountains)  
5.43%  North America, US (Southwest)
9.78%  North America, US (Pacific Coast) 
0.10%  North America, Mexico
0.40%  Central America/Caribbean 
1.09%  South America
0.30%  India and Pakistan

When you total Great Britian, Australia, Canada, and the U.S., you get
86.37%.  Adding continental Europe puts it at 95.36%.

I know this is hardly a scientific poll, but I think it demonstrates
that most of the readership will share *most* of JKR's cultural
assumptions. However, being an extremely well-read and well-educated
woman, JKR has an intellectual background that is still beyond the
reach of most of the English-speaking world.  That's so totally cool I
can hardly stand it.  There's nothing like New Stuff To Learn to get
my boat floating.

Anyway.  I'm glad we're articulating this argument here, though I
suspect Del might be more comfortable demonstrating the problem with a
solid set of equations. :D

--Dicentra