Information
Dec. 29th, 2004 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguistNumber 6: What do you want?
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information.
Number 6: You won't get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
I have a friend who writes a lot of papers about books she hasn't read. At first I thought she was just too lazy, or too busy, or too apathetic to read the books ... and maybe she is, but she also told me once that she actually preferred to write from what she read on the back of the book or what she heard in class. If she actually read the book, she said, she'd have too many thoughts running around her head, too much to worry about to be able to write well.
I was dubious about the notion of having too much to think about ... but I seem to remember that later another person told me something similar or at least agreed with her assessment of the situation, so perhaps there's something to this unorthodox method of working. Either way, she did better on her papers than I did.
But I'm still dubious. Too much information? I like information. I want information. When LJ friends say they're making a filter for "TMI" and they want to know who's signing up, I almost always do, even if i don't know them well. I like to say I don't think there's such a thing as too much information (but it helps that I'm not easily disturbed; when someone had a wound or scar to show off on the playground, I was the kind of kid who said "Cool!" instead of "Ew!" and I'm still like that, only with additional topics besides flesh wounds).
That's not the only kind of information I mean, though. In fact, sex and secrets get old sooner than, say, the information I get from books or the Science Channel or even sometimes NPR. Sure, I have my favorite subjects, like anybody else, but I also will, at least sometimes, sit still for power tools or geology if there's no readily-available baseball or astronomy or linguistics. I can usually find something interesting about whatever it is. I like information for its own sake, and I like having a variety.
My dad says I read the dictionary when I was little. I don't remember that, but I suppose he's telling the truth. (I do remember that I used to have a hard time looking up stuff in the dictionary because I'd so often get distracted by words i saw as I was flipping through to find whatever it was I was supposed to be looking up.) It sounds like something I could have done.
And now I've become a person known for knowing things: my mom will ask me how to spell "potpourri" (and then not believe me anyway; she's sure there's not a t in it, there can't be). It makes me good at Trivial Pursuit: my brother despairs of playing against me. The recognition isn't really why I like to learn new things (it can't be, because there's not enough of it to make an exciting incentive, and anyway if you're looking for a way to get noticed, being able to name the pitcher who threw what would become Mark McGwire's 62nd home run is not really going to get you very far), but it's sometimes fun.
When I get out of the realm of trivia and textbooks, though, things sometimes get more complicated. I write much and often in my journal, and I think one of the reasons for that is that once I get started, everything I write wants to be about everything I know.
I think this is partly due to the fact that I forget there are many people who don't share my conviction that there's no such thing as too much information (too much in terms of volume if not intensity), but there's also the fact that everything I know and think wants to connect itself to everything else I know and think.
This is a very long way of saying that the relative lack of activity in my journal recently (well, the sparsity of things that are actually about what's going on with me, at least) belies the high-traffic zone my brain has become in recent weeks.
I guess the things I'm thinking about aren't fit for public consumption. Some of them probably never will be, and some just need to work themselves out first. My life now feels very much like I'm just waiting for the next thing. I don't know if that's right, though, or what the next thing is ... but that's what I mean about not being able to talk about stuff yet: I don't know enough about it to describe it.
Because describing things can be hard sometimes. They say that to teach something to someone else, you have to really understand it yourself. As someone who's been asked for help in everything from giving directions to my own house to programming things in the stupidest programming language ever, I'm well aware that explaining a thing to another person requires you to have a relatively good understanding of it yourself. And recently it seems that I'm in one of those situations where asking "How are you?" is a question that I can't really answer. Like my friend when she writes papers, I can see that there's just too much to hold in my head at once, and that can make it hard to do anything.
Of course I can (and do) always just say "fine." That's all anyone expects anyway. And it's not even wrong, really; I am doing pretty well, overall. But it's a boring answer; it contains no information. I always want information.
And I know, eventually, some more will show up--by hook or by crook--and my life will make more sense.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information.
Number 6: You won't get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
I have a friend who writes a lot of papers about books she hasn't read. At first I thought she was just too lazy, or too busy, or too apathetic to read the books ... and maybe she is, but she also told me once that she actually preferred to write from what she read on the back of the book or what she heard in class. If she actually read the book, she said, she'd have too many thoughts running around her head, too much to worry about to be able to write well.
I was dubious about the notion of having too much to think about ... but I seem to remember that later another person told me something similar or at least agreed with her assessment of the situation, so perhaps there's something to this unorthodox method of working. Either way, she did better on her papers than I did.
But I'm still dubious. Too much information? I like information. I want information. When LJ friends say they're making a filter for "TMI" and they want to know who's signing up, I almost always do, even if i don't know them well. I like to say I don't think there's such a thing as too much information (but it helps that I'm not easily disturbed; when someone had a wound or scar to show off on the playground, I was the kind of kid who said "Cool!" instead of "Ew!" and I'm still like that, only with additional topics besides flesh wounds).
That's not the only kind of information I mean, though. In fact, sex and secrets get old sooner than, say, the information I get from books or the Science Channel or even sometimes NPR. Sure, I have my favorite subjects, like anybody else, but I also will, at least sometimes, sit still for power tools or geology if there's no readily-available baseball or astronomy or linguistics. I can usually find something interesting about whatever it is. I like information for its own sake, and I like having a variety.
My dad says I read the dictionary when I was little. I don't remember that, but I suppose he's telling the truth. (I do remember that I used to have a hard time looking up stuff in the dictionary because I'd so often get distracted by words i saw as I was flipping through to find whatever it was I was supposed to be looking up.) It sounds like something I could have done.
And now I've become a person known for knowing things: my mom will ask me how to spell "potpourri" (and then not believe me anyway; she's sure there's not a t in it, there can't be). It makes me good at Trivial Pursuit: my brother despairs of playing against me. The recognition isn't really why I like to learn new things (it can't be, because there's not enough of it to make an exciting incentive, and anyway if you're looking for a way to get noticed, being able to name the pitcher who threw what would become Mark McGwire's 62nd home run is not really going to get you very far), but it's sometimes fun.
When I get out of the realm of trivia and textbooks, though, things sometimes get more complicated. I write much and often in my journal, and I think one of the reasons for that is that once I get started, everything I write wants to be about everything I know.
I think this is partly due to the fact that I forget there are many people who don't share my conviction that there's no such thing as too much information (too much in terms of volume if not intensity), but there's also the fact that everything I know and think wants to connect itself to everything else I know and think.
This is a very long way of saying that the relative lack of activity in my journal recently (well, the sparsity of things that are actually about what's going on with me, at least) belies the high-traffic zone my brain has become in recent weeks.
I guess the things I'm thinking about aren't fit for public consumption. Some of them probably never will be, and some just need to work themselves out first. My life now feels very much like I'm just waiting for the next thing. I don't know if that's right, though, or what the next thing is ... but that's what I mean about not being able to talk about stuff yet: I don't know enough about it to describe it.
Because describing things can be hard sometimes. They say that to teach something to someone else, you have to really understand it yourself. As someone who's been asked for help in everything from giving directions to my own house to programming things in the stupidest programming language ever, I'm well aware that explaining a thing to another person requires you to have a relatively good understanding of it yourself. And recently it seems that I'm in one of those situations where asking "How are you?" is a question that I can't really answer. Like my friend when she writes papers, I can see that there's just too much to hold in my head at once, and that can make it hard to do anything.
Of course I can (and do) always just say "fine." That's all anyone expects anyway. And it's not even wrong, really; I am doing pretty well, overall. But it's a boring answer; it contains no information. I always want information.
And I know, eventually, some more will show up--by hook or by crook--and my life will make more sense.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 03:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 05:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 04:44 am (UTC)So it's weird; it's like I have to be constantly updated and like nothing else could possibly fit in my brain. I'm weird.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 05:54 am (UTC)And, I was wondering: how well did your friend end up doing on her papers? I was always tempted to take a test without studying for it to see how well I'd do, but I never had the guts to do so. I was afraid my grade would suffer horribly. :) In 10th grade, I actually got an A on a paper where I compared and contrasted the writing styles of the same author in 2 books by just reading snippets here and there of each book. I was pretty impressed by that feat. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 06:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 03:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 06:47 am (UTC)Just wanted to say though, that I adore this post. It's just.. it feels right. resonates. well-written, captivating, makes you think.. 10 out of 10. Seriously.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 07:24 am (UTC)SNAP!! :)
I've had a similar thing over the last few months, although I guess I'm not waiting for the next thing, I think I've found it, and am now trying to build a foundation beneath it. It's strange to have spent so long with confidence in my understanding of myself and my opinions, and then to go to a point where I'm not even certain what my opinions are, let alone the foundation that supports them. It certainly makes having a rational and meaningful arguments about human nature and politics and stuff quite difficult, as I discovered last night.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-31 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 02:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 06:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 04:26 pm (UTC)(Incidentally, children's author Gordon Korman wrote his first book when he was in school because he figured it would be easier to do a book report if he just made up a book)
Your posting hasn't been sparse at all. Mine on the other hand...
But yes, lots of mental activity. If I wasn't half-asleep right now, I'd have lots to write about.
I should re-read this post when I'm more awake.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 06:42 pm (UTC)I know, but it's about something in the news or some dumb thing my brother did, not so much about what I'm actually thinking about. I suppose it hasn't seemed like a dearth of posting to anyone else, but it's felt like it to me.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-31 04:16 am (UTC)Either way, we like you.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 04:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 06:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-30 07:30 pm (UTC)I checked out Jeroo. I see why you hated it.
[warning, warning, geekiness ahead!]
The first computer "language" I learned was the instruction set of an HP 9100B (http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp9100.htm) programmable calculator with plotter. This was followed by PDP-8 assembler, FORTRAN (including the pseudo-block-structured variant from UM), Pascal, PLZERO (a brain-dead Pascal used in a compiler-writing class), PDP-11 assembler, VAX assembler, BLISS and C. It's so much easier understanding things like pointer dereferencing when you know what's happening at the register level.
If you know a real language, Jeroo would be difficult to teach, especially if the audience had no clue. It reminds me of rap - music for the tone-deaf. It also reminds me of me talking to people about the web - I talk about IP, DNS, web servers, etc., when most people want to know what to do with a URL that doesn't start with "http://www.".