Cultural differences

[davewitley]

> Amy 
> who was an arts-and-humanities major whose eyes glaze over when she 
> reads terms like "quadratic," but who at least knows how to do 
ratios
Sorry, I did rather blind with science there.

Quadratic just means that if n is the number of the book (so for OOP, 
n = 5), then the formula for the number of pages looks like

a times n-squared plus b times n plus c

where a, b and c are constants which I got the computer to work out 
from Devin's numbers.

I get the reverse experience here too.  I have learnt a lot, reading 
the posts of those with a background in the humanities.

I think this cultural difference is probably more significant than 
that across the Atlantic (or Pacific, Tabouli?), or between liberal 
and conservative, for our discussions.  As scientists here, we are 
guests in the natural territory of the artists/humanitarians, and 
sometimes struggle to cope with the habits of thought assumed 
natural.  This is particularly the case when we discuss the processes 
that are involved in reading and interpreting the books.  IMO, the 
scientists view it as mostly passive, sitting at JKR's feet to 
understand her world, so to speak, while the artists see it as 
active, where the readers use canon to invent their own world.

In consequence those with a scientific background tend to make a 
sharp distinction between interpreting canon and writing fanfic; 
those with a humanities background don't and indeed can't.

It has been interesting getting to grips with a different way of 
looking at fiction, and very enriching, but I cannot deny it has been 
painful at times, as I slopped my rat's spleen into the cauldron at 
the wrong time.

David