Luke, over at the Sonlight blog is on somewhat of a roll, both in what he is writing and what he is linking in his Other posts of note list. He went away for a week on a road trip and now I have several new blog posts that need to be written based on his stuff. Especially surprising was a link to an article on a humanist pop-scientist named Steven Pinker. Steven Pinker regularly says ridiculous things about science and is just as regularly slapped down by people with deeper understanding of the things on which he pontificates. That being said, the last line in the article about Pinker caught my attention and actually makes me want to read his book. It says,
Scholars who argue for the beauty of language over the correctness of it always win my heart.
To my way of thinking, that is high praise. New York Magazine wrote an article about all this titled Steven Pinker on Why It’s Okay to Dangle Your Participle. It is quite a good interview article and I recommend it in spite of the venue. Steven Pinker, amazingly, has a coherent idea or two, at least on the topic of writing.
Maybe Luke should try to go away for a week more often. Week long road trips are awesome for those taking them and, under the right circumstances, very educational for those stuck at home.
I appreciated the “beauty over correctness” element as well. I was unfamiliar with Steven, but — like so many of the noteworthy posts people write — I’ve learned a lot! [smile]
~Luke