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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009interpretation of a sentence
"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular regions of thought..." Here, is the author meaning that the discovery has been made and the this is a terrific fact, or that the discovery has yet to be carried out and it's is a big task for the modern world? Thanks for your help! > Here, is the author meaning that the discovery has been made and the > this is a terrific fact, or that the discovery has yet to be carried out > and it's is a big task for the modern world? Almost certainly the former. The discovery is an established fact, as I read it. In message <a9c8bf0a-9cd5-4a28-9c9c-773f9d43b16a@x5g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, Yilaner <yilaner@gmail.com> writes >"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of >the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Thanks for your help! The use of 'confronting' suggests a third possibility. The 'great fact' could be a problem - professionals being trained in narrower and narrower specialities, unable to see the big picture.  SignatureJohn Ritson >"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of >the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >this is a terrific fact, or that the discovery has yet to be carried >out and it's is a big task for the modern world? Is it really a characteristic of professionals to specialise in particular regions of thought? Professional soccer players get transferred for huge sums of money, but I thought they specialised in kicking a ball rather than regions of thought, though I suppose they must think about where to place the ball. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >>"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of >>the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >thought they specialised in kicking a ball rather than regions of thought, >though I suppose they must think about where to place the ball. The mental aspect of the skill of successful soccer players perhaps falls in the category know informally as "native cunning". Casual observation suggests that it is separate from "intellectual ability". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>>"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of >>>the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >falls in the category know informally as "native cunning". Casual >observation suggests that it is separate from "intellectual ability". As I get older I begin to wonder whether all of these various professional or trade skills sufficient enough to make a living from, rather than just do as a hobby, are some form of knack that we're born with. Some people have a knack for playing basketball, for example, which is probably spotted at school and then developed by training and practice. Maybe passing exams is just another knack. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England > >"Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of > >the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > thought they specialised in kicking a ball rather than regions of thought, > though I suppose they must think about where to place the ball. Surely ninety percent of the game is half mental, just like baseball. SignatureRoland Hutchinson He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba," ... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy. --Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ ) > "Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of > the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular > regions of thought..." The writer is not a native speaker, that's obvious to me. Here's what I think he meant: Another great problem confronting the world is how to train people in all professions. > The writer is not a native speaker, that's obvious to me. Alfred North Whitehead, OM (February 15, 1861, Ramsgate, Kent, England – December 30, 1947, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.) was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education. He co-authored the epochal Principia Mathematica with Bertrand Russell. You don't get much more "native" than that, I would have thought, Bob G. > > The writer is not a native speaker, that's obvious to me. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > You don't get much more "native" than that, I would have thought, Bob > G. Well paint me yellow and call me a cab! I used to have Alfred and Bertie over for tea regularly and taught them all they knew. >> The writer is not a native speaker, that's obvious to me. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >You don't get much more "native" than that, I would have thought, Bob >G. I tend to confuse him with A,N. Wilson (lit. crit.), and have to look them up. But one would think that someone who wrote about logic could string together words to make a sentence that is more logical than that, unless he has been misquoted. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >> The writer is not a native speaker, that's obvious to me. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > You don't get much more "native" than that, I would have thought, Bob > G. Well yes, but this is not the only quotation from Whitehead we've been treated to in the past week that suggests a non-native writer. Signatureathel > "Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of > the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Thanks for your help! Any chance of having a bit more of the quote? I ask because I'm sort of with John Ritson on this one with regards to the third possibility, ("- professionals being trained in narrower and narrower specialities, unable to see the big picture.") but from a different angle; It's the bit that goes; "discovery of " that I wish to question. Might 'realisation that ' not have been a better choice? Or even 'discovery that'? |
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