wedrifid comments on Imperfect Levers - Less Wrong
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Counterexample: Very few great works of literature were written by committee. The King James Bible may be the one example of one that was. (Note that I'm explicitly excluding "literature" meant to be performed by actors instead of read from a page.)
I would dispute that (based on the opinions and information I held when I was religious). The King James Bible is overrated.
Well, yeah, there's a lot of stuff in the Bible that, when considered as literature, is actually pretty bad by any standard, such as the extensive listing of the laws of ancient Israel. And there have been a lot of changes in the English language since the King James Bible was written, so it's hard to judge it as a translation by reading it today, but it's supposed to have had some really good poetry in it - for a translation, at least.
That's a good point. I'm also comparing it to other translations done by committees. Better committees with more education, superior technology and with more early manuscripts to work with. That doesn't leave much to be impressed with.