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In Obscurity

droctothorpe.github.io

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Re: In Obscurity

#11

Post by neilk »

Side note, Max Brod claims to have told Kafka while he was alive that he had no intention of carrying out his instructions. Kafka did not make alternate arrangements.

I interpret Kafka’s statement as a kind of performative self-abnegation.

> Although Kafka stipulated that all of his unpublished works were to be burned, Brod refused. He justified this move by stating that when Kafka personally told him to burn his unpublished work, Brod replied that he would outright refuse, and that "Franz should have appointed another executor if he had been absolutely and finally determined that his instructions should stand."

– https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Brod

Re: In Obscurity

#12

Post by drieddust »

I will get down voted for saying it. But Newton most likely didn't invent Calculus. Circumstantial evidence suggest that Kerala School of mathematics passed the knowledge to the Jesuit missionaries who in turn might have passed it on to the Newton. Link to the research on this topic[0].

[0] https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/indians-predated-...

Re: In Obscurity

#13

Post by [deleted] »

drieddust wrote: post #12

I will get down voted for saying it. But Newton most likely didn't invent Calculus. Circumstantial evidence suggest that Kerala School of mathematics passed the knowledge to the Jesuit missionaries who in turn might have passed it on to the Newton. Link to the research on this topic[0]. [0] https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/indians-predated-...

[deleted]

Re: In Obscurity

#14

Post by starkd »

neilk wrote: post #11

Side note, Max Brod claims to have told Kafka while he was alive that he had no intention of carrying out his instructions. Kafka did not make alternate arrangements. I interpret Kafka’s statement as a kind of performative self-abnegation. > Although Kafka stipulated that all of his unpublished works were to be burned, Brod refused. He justified this move by stating that when Kafka personally told him to burn his unp…

If he truly wanted them destroyed, there was also no reason it had to wait until after his death. Kafka could have easily done it himself. No need for another executor. It always seemed to me to be something of a legend.

Re: In Obscurity

#15

Post by olvy0 »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #5

> What would you create even if no one ever saw it? I pretty much do that, every day. I write stuff that I want; whether or not anyone else does, and I don't really bother to don a sandwich board. The one thing that I did for other folks, has taken off, but it took ten years. One reason was that I didn't spend a whole lot of time, tubthumping.

I too create, but very small things and not very often. Things I never show to anyone else, except, sometimes, to my SO. I'm not on any social media platform except here on HN.

Short poems which I write on my phone, once in a month or two. A small utility that does something new and novel once in a couple of months, which is kept on my hard disk and never uploaded anywhere.

These are not enough for me to feel very creative. I try to limit my passive consumption of HN/tv/movies/dev news/games and keep my FOMO in check, but it's difficult.

Re: In Obscurity

#16

Post by [deleted] »

drieddust wrote: post #12

I will get down voted for saying it. But Newton most likely didn't invent Calculus. Circumstantial evidence suggest that Kerala School of mathematics passed the knowledge to the Jesuit missionaries who in turn might have passed it on to the Newton. Link to the research on this topic[0]. [0] https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/indians-predated-...

[deleted]

Re: In Obscurity

#18

Post by longrod »

In those days the channels of discovery were so few and privileged that a common man couldn't even imagine something like publishing. You didn't have social networks with huge number of followers. You didn't have blogs or dedicated platforms where you could go and broadcast your discoveries. Whatever there was required genuine struggle for years and years.

This changed the important & value of time. Nowadays, we are running after things and very few here could say they worked over a thing for years and years. For us things are fleeting, our attention spans are ridiculous, and we don't have patience.

Moreover, getting fame and recognition is relatively easier in today's world that we can't even imagine doing something just for the sake of doing something because it is so easy to be materialistic about everything, and measure it on the money-made-fame-earned scale.

Even when we are working on that secret project, in our minds we can't help but think about it's materialistic value. I wonder how many of us will leave this world with truly groundbreaking projects behind...

Re: In Obscurity

#19

Post by HWR_14 »

longrod wrote: post #18

In those days the channels of discovery were so few and privileged that a common man couldn't even imagine something like publishing. You didn't have social networks with huge number of followers. You didn't have blogs or dedicated platforms where you could go and broadcast your discoveries. Whatever there was required genuine struggle for years and years. This changed the important & value of time. Nowadays, we are…

> In those days the channels of discovery were so few and privileged that a common man couldn't even imagine something like publishing.

Isaac Newton was a fellow at Trinity (which required a special exemption by King Charles II concerning legal religious restrictions) and a fellow of the Royal Society for several decades before he published his work. He was not a "common man".

Re: In Obscurity

#20

Post by mdp2021 »

starkd wrote: post #14
neilk wrote: post #11

Side note, Max Brod claims to have told Kafka while he was alive that he had no intention of carrying out his instructions. Kafka did not make alternate arrangements. I interpret Kafka’s statement as a kind of performative self-abnegation. > Although Kafka stipulated that all of his unpublished works were to be burned, Brod refused. He justified this move by stating that when Kafka personally told him to burn his unp…

If he truly wanted them destroyed, there was also no reason it had to wait until after his death. Kafka could have easily done it himself. No need for another executor. It always seemed to me to be something of a legend.

> easily done it himself

No need to dispose of your property until the last moment - when you will probably be impeded.

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