After skimming through the linked article I am quite confused by its author’s bizarre writing style. And almost complete lack of order among its many conclusions and assumptions (hard to tell them apart). Isn’t there a clear way to state the same thing without forcing the reader to wade through silly dialogues and pointless digressions?
It’s his standard writing style. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I find it captivating. It creates a sort of mental soundscape that other ideas can echo off of.
Also, he makes the assumption that you’ve read other stuff by him, which creates a decent sized inferential distance. This alllows him to cover more material per post. This is a pretty common trope among blogs, including this one. But it can be confusing.
I tend to just ride the wave of confusion until something later clarifies it, but that makes skimming nearly impossible. I like styles that make me read every word as important as it helps me remember what I’m reading.
After skimming through the linked article I am quite confused by its author’s bizarre writing style. And almost complete lack of order among its many conclusions and assumptions (hard to tell them apart). Isn’t there a clear way to state the same thing without forcing the reader to wade through silly dialogues and pointless digressions?
It’s his standard writing style. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I find it captivating. It creates a sort of mental soundscape that other ideas can echo off of.
Also, he makes the assumption that you’ve read other stuff by him, which creates a decent sized inferential distance. This alllows him to cover more material per post. This is a pretty common trope among blogs, including this one. But it can be confusing.
I tend to just ride the wave of confusion until something later clarifies it, but that makes skimming nearly impossible. I like styles that make me read every word as important as it helps me remember what I’m reading.
A style altogether unfamiliar to LessWrong, I assure you.