READING

Much of the material assigned for my classes has made for engaging reading. I find it very enjoyable.

And some ... well, some of the books are a slog. 

I used to assume that the books I had difficulty reading were simply over my head.

That is undoubtedly true for some, but now I recognize that some books are a slog for me primarily because they are poorly written.

I think scholars in particular can be some of the worst writers. They have incredible thoughts but struggle to communicate them in a way that non-academicians can grasp and appreciate. 

Take this sentence from today's reading:

"To bring home the severity of the impact of the replacement of first philosophy with scientism on the Western worldview and how we conceive of the purpose of philosophy, look at the following list of commonsense beliefs that philosopher Daniel Stoljar rightly claims to be inconsistent or in tension with a physicalist worldview funded by scientism:"

Good grief.

For one thing, that's 11 prepositional phrases in a single sentence. There has to be a simpler way to say it. 

And this is after the author's editor "went far, far over and above what is required of an editor" as he says in the acknowledgements. I can't imagine what it looked like before. 

This is on my mind because I am one year away from starting work on my dissertation. 

I will be greatly depressed if all I produce in the end is a bunch of unreadable gobbledygook.