skzbrust ([info]skzbrust) wrote,
@ 2006-07-10 12:24:00
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The Line Fairy Commeth
One of the very best things about this job is when you're chugging along, and you look at something you've just written and go, "Hey. Cool. I like that."

This came out of my fingers yesterday (which I preserve here in case, by the time the book is done, it doesn't belong in it any more):

"A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless."

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[info]labyrinthman
2006-07-10 07:33 pm UTC (link)
Now that is highly quotable.

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[info]tfbretz
2006-07-10 07:36 pm UTC (link)
My god. You've just summed up my workplace in two sentences. Thank you.

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[info]emacspirate
2006-07-10 07:38 pm UTC (link)
Ha!

Now that's awesome! :)

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[info]slitterst
2006-07-10 07:42 pm UTC (link)
Brilliant! For which book is that destined?

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[info]ronebofh
2006-07-10 07:45 pm UTC (link)
STOP SPYING ON ME.

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Yes
[info]markiv1111
2006-07-10 07:57 pm UTC (link)
So thoroughly right on target!

Nate

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[info]phyr_nyt
2006-07-10 07:59 pm UTC (link)
that is so very, very true. ^_^ love it.

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[info]cakmpls
2006-07-10 08:06 pm UTC (link)
Nicely done!

The problem for truly smart people is, I think, that not only do they have boundless scope for idiocy, they have the capacity to recognize, always an instant too late, when they have committed such idiocy. And, to judge from my truly smart friends, they beat themselves up about it forever after.

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[info]gandalfe
2006-07-10 08:20 pm UTC (link)
This dovetails in nicely with a bit from Stanislaw Lem's "His Master's Voice" that I just read:

"Literature, from the beginning, has had a single enemy, and that is the restriction of the expressed idea. It turns out, however, that freedom of expression sometimes presents a greater threat to an idea, because forbidden thoughts may circulate in secret, but what can be done whne an important fact is lost in a flood of impostors, and the voice of truth becomes drowned out in an ungodly din? When that voice, though freely resounding, cannot be heard, because the technologies of information have led to a situation in which one can receive the message of him who shouts the loudest, even when the most falsely?"

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[info]shiba_inu
2006-07-10 10:08 pm UTC (link)
The period of time (not quite zero) between the moment you realize you screwed up and the moment it's too late to do anything about it is called an "ohnosecond".

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[info]skylarker
2006-07-11 01:10 am UTC (link)
I have trouble parsing it into 'stupid people' vs 'smart people.' In my experience everyone has areas of competence, and sometimes brilliance, and, at the same time, areas of limitation. Some people can be blinded, by their own brilliance, to the existence of other important areas of thought, which results in a kind of idiocy, but it's not a necessary blindness: one can recognize the limits of one's scope.

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[info]darthparadox
2006-07-10 08:14 pm UTC (link)
Reminds me of a Dumbledore quote. Something like "I am cleverer than most men, so my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger". Can't recall the exact words - I haven't read the books quite that many times.

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[info]tunxeh
2006-07-10 08:51 pm UTC (link)
"But you think you're right?" said Harry.

"Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."

From Chapter 10 of HBP, at the start of Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore.

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[info]minnehaha
2006-07-10 08:24 pm UTC (link)
I have moments like that.

B

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[info]theronin
2006-07-10 08:44 pm UTC (link)
Beautiful!

I have an Einstein quote tacked up in my cubicle that reads "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."

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[info]thegeminifactor
2006-07-10 08:48 pm UTC (link)
Ha! Awesome. And true, too.

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[info]charles_midair
2006-07-10 09:27 pm UTC (link)
Mind if I quote you (with proper attributes) on my journal? I know many of my friends would get a kick of out it!

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[info]skzbrust
2006-07-10 09:35 pm UTC (link)
Feel free

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just to say hi
[info]tati_twitch
2006-07-10 10:24 pm UTC (link)
Hey there! I've been wanting to add a comment here for some time but have either been unable to think of anything to say (a common problem of mine) or came too late to post. So I just wanted to say that I love your books. (and the quote!)

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[info]thesigother
2006-07-10 10:30 pm UTC (link)
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha. That is so true, and I am afraid I have been hoisted by my own petard enough to verify its truth. Of course, it is so much fun to watch someone else make that kind of mistake.

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[info]pameladean
2006-07-10 11:11 pm UTC (link)
That is not a Vladian sentence. What are you writing?

I know, you don't want to say yet.

P.

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[info]shadowflyer
2006-07-11 02:24 am UTC (link)
Not a Vladian sentence, no, but so very much a Vladian principle - indeed, the principle that seems to have driven much of the series. Id est, what keeps an otherwise pretty scary guy human and likeable.

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[info]skzbrust
2006-07-11 02:45 am UTC (link)
Not really sure yet, Pamela. It might sputter and die and turn into nothing. At the moment, I know there's a guy in it named, Phil, and I'm pretty sure that at least some of it is set in the near future. It's driving me to research, however, which I rather resent. At least until it promises to turn into something.

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[info]foomf
2006-07-11 03:21 am UTC (link)
Beware the 'Phil of the Future' subconscious sneakery.

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[info]peaceheather
2006-07-14 05:10 pm UTC (link)
Oh, I dunno. Vlad might not ever say it, but Sethra could.

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[info]snarkactual
2006-07-10 11:24 pm UTC (link)
I'm not certain this is entirely true. In my experience one can never underestimate the power of human stupidity or the stupidity of humans. Now the opportunity for error increases as the native intelligence of a person and their responsibilities increase, which may be what you're addressing. But I work with some extremely stupid people who are too stupid to realize it and their ability to "screw the pooch" is only limited by the intelligence and competence of their subordinates who make herculean efforts to limit or even eliminate the effect of what ought to be terminally stupid people.

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[info]ilcylic
2006-07-11 12:46 am UTC (link)
So unbelievably, egregiously, painfully true.

-Ogre

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[info]martinfrommd
2006-07-11 02:17 am UTC (link)
For someone who's ordinarily fairly smart, a moment of complete stupidity is a great exercise in humility. Especially when it's not monumental "used the wrong catalyst and lost three weeks of work" stupidity, but everyday, pedestrian, "reached into a moving fan and needed six stitches" stupidity. Not that I'm speaking from experience, of course...

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[info]eldritchzephyr
2006-07-11 03:16 am UTC (link)
Truly a quote of great magnitude.
Though ilcylic put it better.

Oh right, the following is the obligatory fan ness:
Your Taltos series is a work of art, a source of inspiration, escape, self-exploration, self-indulgence, sin, and some of the best memories I will ever have. Thank you.
-Z

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[info]chrismclaren
2006-07-11 04:14 am UTC (link)
I should figure out a way to mail that quote to 18 year-old me. If he paid attention, he might not have been such a prick.

But, of course, he wouldn't have paid attention.

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(Anonymous)
2006-07-11 04:45 am UTC (link)
I like the thought, but don't agree. The best example I can think of is Homer Simpson.

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[info]skzbrust
2006-07-11 02:18 pm UTC (link)
Um. Are you aware that Homer Simpson is, not to put too fine a point on it, fictional?

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[info]zizban
2006-07-11 02:58 pm UTC (link)
You mean there isn't a place where everyone is yellow, has big round eyes and don't age at all?

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(Anonymous)
2006-07-13 12:24 am UTC (link)
Thinking about it, Homer looks like a jaundice jenoine with a growth defect.

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[info]ajbr_sar_51305
2006-07-11 05:12 am UTC (link)
Just yo let you know your sister made it safe to her house! Thanks for letting her come, she sounded like she had a great time.

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[info]skzbrust
2006-07-11 04:12 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for letting me know. Now...get down to business and make me a great-uncle! Hurry up. Vite, vite!

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[info]ajbr_sar_51305
2006-07-11 05:36 pm UTC (link)
Well hoping by this weekend the weather will help me with labor. Its supposed to be in the 100's! I am walking but not sure what else to do since the "advise" from the MD's hasn't helped.

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(Anonymous)
2006-07-11 11:28 am UTC (link)
For some reason, reminds me of Ionesco's =The Leader=: "What's he need a head for when he's got--genius!? Love live the Leader!"

Snarkhunter

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[info]howardbrazee
2006-07-11 12:43 pm UTC (link)
I learned a long time ago - a "stupid" person who thinks comes up with a lot more good ideas than a "smart" person who doesn't think.

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(Anonymous)
2006-07-13 12:18 am UTC (link)
Yeah that actuall makes sense. A 'stupid' person who thinks a lot may have litte chance of coming come with good ideas. However, a 'smart' person who doesn't think at all would have no chance would they?

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4 types of people....
(Anonymous)
2006-07-11 07:23 pm UTC (link)
Very similar to an analysis of the types of employees:

Draw a 2 x 2 grid, with one axis being "smart", "dumb". The other axis is "lazy" and "motivated". You have 4 boxes:

Smart, motivated employees are what you want - they do the heavy lifting.

Smart, lazy employees are candidates for management - they delegate well.

Dumb, lazy employees won't help you, but won't actively hurt your progress.

Dumb, motivated employees are the ones that can do *lots* of damage.

ed

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Dreamcafe
(Anonymous)
2006-07-12 12:22 pm UTC (link)
I went to dreamcafe.com and found its a dead link. I'm assuming then your old site is forever dead and buried?

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Re: Dreamcafe
[info]martinfrommd
2006-07-12 12:26 pm UTC (link)
It appears to have been revivified :)

http://dreamcafe.com/main.cgi

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Re: Dreamcafe
[info]howardbrazee
2006-07-12 12:54 pm UTC (link)
Every time I go there, I'm told I'm at the wrong place. It's not obvious to me what the right place is.

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Re: Dreamcafe
(Anonymous)
2006-07-13 06:16 am UTC (link)
>Every time I go there, I'm told I'm at the wrong place.
> It's not obvious to me what the right place is.

I think you'll find it's a joke, a suggestion no one would want to read his web site.

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Re: Dreamcafe
(Anonymous)
2006-07-13 11:35 pm UTC (link)
I think it implies that if you were after a website for a business called the 'Dream Cafe', this is not the place. Anyway, the third last paragraph on the site explains the title.

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Re: Dreamcafe
[info]skzbrust
2006-07-14 03:47 am UTC (link)
Well, you're right about the suggestion; I'm not sure it's a joke. :-)

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[info]joelrosenberg
2006-07-16 04:45 pm UTC (link)
Sounds like an insight from SJ Simon's "Why You Lose at Bridge," with respect to Futile Willy, a player whose brilliance allows him to invent bad plays that wouldn't occur to somebody less clever.

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