Sometimes find myself agreeing with the emperor in Amadeus, that sometimes there can be 'too many notes', that somehow saying less, using fewer, more carefully chosen words or notes, can open up spaces in our minds, for our imaginations - or that a few detailed examples can illustrate much wider and more universal truths. The other day, for example, I was lucky to be present at a talk by a world expert on Japan, who chose as his theme the 18 months that the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg spent in Japan in 1775-6, most of them cooped up on Dejima, but he managed to get up to Edo for 3 weeks. "A fascinating, engaging and entertaining talk in the true tradition of British academic thought", in the words of the Swedish ambassador in his vote of thanks. A couple of days later I attempted to give a talk myself, and ridiculously had chosen to speak on 'A Brief History of London', and waffled away without managing to make a single coherent point, other than an awful lot of 'foreigners' had made London whatever it is. Too many notes, not enough points.Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Notes
Sometimes find myself agreeing with the emperor in Amadeus, that sometimes there can be 'too many notes', that somehow saying less, using fewer, more carefully chosen words or notes, can open up spaces in our minds, for our imaginations - or that a few detailed examples can illustrate much wider and more universal truths. The other day, for example, I was lucky to be present at a talk by a world expert on Japan, who chose as his theme the 18 months that the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg spent in Japan in 1775-6, most of them cooped up on Dejima, but he managed to get up to Edo for 3 weeks. "A fascinating, engaging and entertaining talk in the true tradition of British academic thought", in the words of the Swedish ambassador in his vote of thanks. A couple of days later I attempted to give a talk myself, and ridiculously had chosen to speak on 'A Brief History of London', and waffled away without managing to make a single coherent point, other than an awful lot of 'foreigners' had made London whatever it is. Too many notes, not enough points.