Discerning JKR's intentions

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 36407

OK, this is carried over from OT-Chatter.  See 9946, 9951, 9952, 9953 
there.  The thread suffered from a degree of confusion between 
myself, Heidi, and Amy, so I am going to try to reformulate my 
original question here.

The specific example at issue is the possibility that Neville is 
under a memory charm.  Heidi's view is that:

> ... it's obvious that JKR wanted it to be a reasonable conclusion 
for people to draw [that Neville is under a memory charm] ... she's 
written the story in such a way as to cause the reader to think "Ah-
hah! That's what she's getting at with this juxtaposition!"

My view is that while it may be true that JKR does want us to think 
that, it's *not* obvious that she does. (Please note that we are 
*not* debating whether it's obvious that Neville is under a charm: 
it's the degree to which JKR's intentions are visible.)

My immediate question is 'Why is it obvious?'

The question I really want to know the answer to is, what is it about 
us that makes things that are obvious to one person obscure to 
another?

On OT-Chatter I theorised that it has, at least in part, to do with 
the 'two cultures' divide between scientists and humanists.

Thoughts?

David

The mathematician Hardy was giving a lecture, and in the course of a 
particularly difficult proof, he stated that 'It is obvious from this 
that... '.  A student put up his hand and asked 'Is it obvious?'  
Hardy stopped for a moment and said 'I need to think about that' and 
walked out of the theatre.  After half an hour's absence he returned, 
said 'Yes', and continued with the proof.