Annoyance comments on Recognizing the Candlelight as Fire: Joshu Washes the Bowl - Less Wrong
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Comments (21)
feet strive for balance
I cross the rope with great care
March winds aren't desired
I know why I wrote my haiku reply, but I don't know why you wrote yours.
Ditto.
There are two realities to that tree, the seen and the unseen. The unseen is much larger, much more powerful as an explanation - the entire weight of human society and industry bears down on a point to plant one ornamental tree. It's a counterargument to Joshu - sometimes the abstract is larger than the concrete, and a person too focused on attending to the here-and-now can miss the real action.
The abstract is always constructed from the concrete; it is a subset of the larger reality. The emulated is always smaller than the emulator.
Rationality is a delicate balancing act. Uncompensated emotions or misunderstood passions can overthrow it. Errors wrapped in beautiful packages may be well-intended, but a Trojan Horse isn't a good gift even if it's meant well.
Your poem is rather lovely. Your use of the seasonal reference is far more elegant than my own, which was a brute-force selection. But it's inaccurate, and the fact that it's beautiful makes the error more dangerous.