Missing Malaysia Jet MH370 Weeks Away from Keeping Secrets Forever

Post by hengheng » Tue, Feb 16, 2016, 11:19 PM UTC

baddox wrote: post #96

tcpekin wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just read for the pleasure of it? Do you every read anything from The New Yorker, or Esquire, or The Atlantic, etc.? There can be great stories that are enjoyable to read, while still being nonfiction.

My point is that long-form journalism isn't pleasurable to read. The writing style is incredibly belabored, and I am fairly convinced that this is the intention of the authors. It clearly works for many readers, but not for me, and I wish there was always a clearer upfront distinction between traditional news articles and long-form articles.

Post by st3v3r » Tue, Feb 16, 2016, 11:30 PM UTC

baddox wrote: post #82

notatoad wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing wrong with long form journalism if you have a complex story to tell with lots of information to convey. The problem is not with the format, it's with journalists trying to pad out a tweet's worth of information into a long-form article.

I'm much less forgiving of the format. Every example I've seen has been a colossal and seemingly deliberate waste of the reader's (my) time. Even when it is reasonably skillfully written and contains information on a subject I'm interested in, I vastly prefer the writing style of, say, Wikipedia.

Post by monk_e_boy » Tue, Feb 16, 2016, 11:43 PM UTC

7952 wrote: post #100

rwhitman wrote: post #55

The MH370 tracking problem is unfortunate but what I'm most fascinated by in all of this is the continuing reminder of how powerless we are as a civilization when it comes to the oceans. A plane crashes in an area with no landmass and we lose it. We've overfished many species to near-extinction because we completely failed to understand exactly how many fish there actually are. The sea acts as a natural eraser for hu…

> the continuing reminder of how powerless we are as a civilization when it comes to the oceans. That is symptomatic of our child like relationship with the environment. We are deeply dependant but have little understanding or agency. It is obvious that high fish stocks will allow more catches than near extinction levels. Catching 1% of 1 billion is better than 40% of 1 million. Yet we continue to treat fish as a sho…

Post by caf » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 12:04 AM UTC

pm24601 wrote: post #102

mariuolo wrote: post #48

"Forever" is a long time. It could be found in a few years or in a few decades. Although reading the flight recorders by then could be problematic. It's not the first time anyway, a British plane disappeared on the Andes in 1947 (after sending a cryptic Morse message BTW) and was found 50 years later, so I wouldn't despair.

Andes are dry and cold and will preserve things. People hike the Andes. People can see things from above in the Andes. The ocean is deep. Sediment drifting down from above layers the debris. Ocean currents disperse the light aluminum fragments that remain from the ocean impact. An undersea landslide covers the fuselage or it slides down into an underwater canyon, separating and breaking apart. I vote "forever".

Post by Macsenour » Wed, Feb 17, 2016, 12:17 AM UTC

pm24601 wrote: post #102

mariuolo wrote: post #48

"Forever" is a long time. It could be found in a few years or in a few decades. Although reading the flight recorders by then could be problematic. It's not the first time anyway, a British plane disappeared on the Andes in 1947 (after sending a cryptic Morse message BTW) and was found 50 years later, so I wouldn't despair.

Andes are dry and cold and will preserve things. People hike the Andes. People can see things from above in the Andes. The ocean is deep. Sediment drifting down from above layers the debris. Ocean currents disperse the light aluminum fragments that remain from the ocean impact. An undersea landslide covers the fuselage or it slides down into an underwater canyon, separating and breaking apart. I vote "forever".