A note in passing while I read this: I really wish you would try and write in a plain and terse way, avoiding fancy words and constructions …. sentences like this:
Those discussions miss the underlying reason for most of the superficial disagreement about risks from AI, namely that there is no disagreement about risks from AI in and of itself.
… are hard to parse (does “in and of itself” correspond to a common word in German?).
(A bit that could have been skipped are those explaining infix operators)
Sorry for only commenting about the form, not the content—I’m not done reading the post yet; I find it somewhat laborious to read and am taking a breathing pause.
If I encountered this straightforward German translation with the same structure in a German text:
Diese Diskussionen ignorieren den wahren Grund für viele der scheinbaren Meinungsverschiedenheiten über KI-Risiken, nämlich dass es keinen Streit über KI-Risiken an sich gibt.
I wouldn’t even have blinked. Totally normal amount of complexity to me. These embedded explanations and minor remarks are very typical for German writing (and Japanese, as far as I can tell).
Maybe some advice to German writers: every time you want to add a comma, end your sentence instead. Yes, really.
That’s a perfect translation. It is expresses exactly what I tried to state. I will think about how to rephrase it as to make it more digestable for others.
This is not meant as an excuse, just an explanation. I never learnt English in school, only the very basics (Abgangszeugnis Hauptschule Klasse 9). And I am not yet at the point where I perceive a course in formal English (or German) to be a priority. I am concentrating on learning math right now (just started with Calculus a while ago).
For what it’s worth, I didn’t think you were doing it on purpose—your post doesn’t have the use-fancy-words-to-get-a-good-grade vibe one sometimes encounters on the ’net from people whose writing has been warped by the education system.
French writers have a similar problem of accidentally sounding too formal: many French word have a direct equivalent (cognate) that is more formal (e.g. “mortal” instead of “deadly” though in that case there’s also a subtle change of meaning).
I didn’t find your style to be difficult to read. The quoted sentence is fine and in no way fancy. I review and write academic papers all the time so I know bad prose when I see it.
A note in passing while I read this: I really wish you would try and write in a plain and terse way, avoiding fancy words and constructions …. sentences like this:
… are hard to parse (does “in and of itself” correspond to a common word in German?).
(A bit that could have been skipped are those explaining infix operators)
Sorry for only commenting about the form, not the content—I’m not done reading the post yet; I find it somewhat laborious to read and am taking a breathing pause.
Huh, interesting observation.
If I encountered this straightforward German translation with the same structure in a German text:
I wouldn’t even have blinked. Totally normal amount of complexity to me. These embedded explanations and minor remarks are very typical for German writing (and Japanese, as far as I can tell).
Maybe some advice to German writers: every time you want to add a comma, end your sentence instead. Yes, really.
That’s a perfect translation. It is expresses exactly what I tried to state. I will think about how to rephrase it as to make it more digestable for others.
This is not meant as an excuse, just an explanation. I never learnt English in school, only the very basics (Abgangszeugnis Hauptschule Klasse 9). And I am not yet at the point where I perceive a course in formal English (or German) to be a priority. I am concentrating on learning math right now (just started with Calculus a while ago).
See the translation by muflax, “an sich” is what I am looking for. The best translations I could find are the following:
None of the above really express the German connotation though. I’ll see what I can do.
I didn’t do it on purpose. I will try to express myself in as simple terms as possible in future.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t think you were doing it on purpose—your post doesn’t have the use-fancy-words-to-get-a-good-grade vibe one sometimes encounters on the ’net from people whose writing has been warped by the education system.
French writers have a similar problem of accidentally sounding too formal: many French word have a direct equivalent (cognate) that is more formal (e.g. “mortal” instead of “deadly” though in that case there’s also a subtle change of meaning).
I didn’t find your style to be difficult to read. The quoted sentence is fine and in no way fancy. I review and write academic papers all the time so I know bad prose when I see it.