In a coffee shop with an old friend on Friday, we found ourselves speculating about the intersection between math and language. It is the peculiar place on the left-right brain spectrum where my mind often settles, for some reason.
When it comes to math, I like the logic and the specificity, and the certainty that there will be an answer, once enough patience kicks in.
When it comes to language, I like the cadence and trajectory, but also the Old Germanic specificity of English. Well, actually, I also like the layers of meaning and adaptability of English, thanks to the Norman invasion and other historical events that altered the course of the Anglo-Saxon dialect with French diversions.
Maybe, when it comes to it, what I really like most about English is using it to achieve ambiguity, which is quite unlike math. Whenever I can convey multiple meanings with my words, that suits me just fine.
There is a very specific, math-like reason for this. As a journalist, I prefer to avoid being placed in a position where I’m expected to tell people what they should think. That is simply not my job.
My preference is to present the facts as we’ve discovered them to be and let my readers draw their own conclusions.
That’s what I aspire to. Let the math of language meeting the language of math. Where certainty meets its polar opposite. Of course I fail as often as I succeed. It’s the law of averages.
NEWSLINKS:
Trump, Reacting to Pending Jan. 6 Subpoena, Repeats Election Lies in Letter (NYT)
Donald Trump, January 6th, and the Elusive Search for Accountability (New Yorker)
Footage shows congressional leadership at Fort McNair on January 6, scrambling to save the US Capitol (CNN)
VIDEO: Jan. 6 Panel Shows Documentary Footage of Roger Stone as Evidence (AP)
Texts Show Oath Keepers Coordinated With Other Far-Right Groups (NYT)
Secret Service knew of Capitol threat more than a week before attack (WP)
Jan. 6 Panel Proves Again Trump Must Be Held Accountable (Bloomberg)
Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has vowed to fight a nearly $1 billion defamation verdict against him, but experts say neither bankruptcy nor an appeal of a Connecticut jury’s findings are likely to salvage his personal fortune and media empire. (Reuters)
Inflation Is Unrelenting, Bad News for the Fed and White House (NYT)
British PM Liz Truss fires finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng (CNN)
Britain’s finance minister fired after his policies shocked the economy (WP)
15-year-old suspect killed 5 in Raleigh, North Carolina, mass shooting, police say (CBS)
Death Toll Rises as Russia Bombards Ukraine’s Cities for a Fourth Day (NYT)
EU official: Russian army will be ‘annihilated’ if Putin uses nuclear weapons (CNN)
Afghanistan’s money and economy are crumbling (LAT)
Investors with classic "60/40" portfolios are facing the worst returns this year for a century, BofA Global Research said, noting that bond markets continue to see huge outflows. (Reuters)
Protesters Arrested for Throwing Soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ Painting in Gallery (WSJ)
Thousands of people across Australia's southeast were asked to evacuate their homes, including some in a western suburb of Melbourne, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks. (Reuters)
Record numbers of people risking lives to cross Darién Gap to US (Guardian)
TikTok isn’t a silly dance app. It has won the internet, and it knows us eerily well. (WP)
Robbie Coltrane, Hagrid in ‘Harry Potter’ films, dead at 72 (CNN)
British Government In Shambles After Liz Truss Fires Minister Of Sausages (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment