Monday 9 January 2012

NiTwitter

The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.

The Rhetorical Use Of Obscurity


The rhetorical use of obscurity is, however, a vice. It is often said … that the purpose of obscure or difficult writing is to create the illusion of profundity … in its more subtle usages, obscurity can be used to create the illusion of deeply reasoned discourse.
— Peter Medawar

… no-one who has something original or important to say will run the risk of being misunderstood; people who write obscurely are either unskilled in writing or up to mischief. The writers I am speaking of are, however, in a purely literary sense, extremely skilled.
— Peter Medawar

Style Without Substance


Style has now become an object of first importance, and what a style it is! For me it has a prancing, high-stepping quality, full of self-importance; elevated indeed, but in a balletic manner, and stopping from time to time in studied attitudes, as if awaiting an outburst of applause. It has had a deplorable influence on the quality of modern thought in philosophy and in the behavioural and ‘human’ sciences.
 — Peter Medawar