You might have caught this on slashdot already, but Paul Graham has an essay on the nature of essays that I found to be fascinating.

In particular, I found his observations strikingly comparable to the scientific method, philosophical discourse, and open source development all rolled into one. It certainly made me wonder about much of what I was taught of my eructation...erp...that is to say, erudition.

I've noticed essays right here on Meditations that embody many of his observations.

It's a lucid piece on the nature of essays without the jargon of PhD academic obfuscation.

Cheers,
Matt

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Re: Assay an Essay
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Sep 08, 2004 at 16:30 UTC

    Thanks for bringing this up.

    Surprises are things that you not only didn't know, but that contradict things you thought you knew. And so they're the most valuable sort of fact you can get.

    Almost an axiom to live by. Works for code too. Try reinventing a wheel sometimes. If nothing else you'll appreciate the efforts of those that wrote it. Occasionally, you may surprise yourself.

    Examine what is said, not who speaks.
    "Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
    "Think for yourself!" - Abigail
    "Memory, processor, disk in that order on the hardware side. Algorithm, algorithm, algorithm on the code side." - tachyon
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