Great quote, Johanna!  

So the cat may or may not be dead or both, but nobody really cares.

Herb

Subject: pithy quote for linguists

My dept. chair found this quotation and passed it on to us. It's 
especially pertinent to those in the linguistics community who have 
chosen to undervalue participation with the education community.


". . . there is a tendency to forget that all science is bound up with
human culture in general, and that scientific findings, even those which
at the moment appear the most advanced and esoteric and difficult to
grasp, are meaningless outside their cultural context.  A theoretical
science unaware that those of its constructs considered relevant and
momentous are destined eventually to be framed in concepts and words
that have a grip on the educated community and become part and parcel of
the general world picture--a theoretical science, I say, where this is
forgotten, and where the initiated continue musing to each other in
terms that are, at best, understood by a small group of close fellow
travelers, will necessarily be cut off from the rest of cultural
mankind; in the long run it is bound to atrophy and ossify however
virulently esoteric chat may continue within its joyfully isolated
groups of experts."

-- from Erwin Schroedinger's "Are There Quantum Jumps" in Ilya 
Prigogine's Order out of Chaos.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  * San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  *  Fax: (805)-756-6374 * Dept. Phone.  756-2596
* E-mail: [log in to unmask] *      Home page: 
http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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