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ciphergoth comments on Rationality Quotes July 2013 - Less Wrong
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“Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.” - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Original for Reference: "Gelehrsamkeit schießt leicht in die Blätter, ohne Frucht zu tragen."
Thank you! Or as Google Translate has it, "Scholarship has slightly into the leaves, without carrying fruit."
Who says fruit is to be prefered to foliage ?
I often wonder about something along this line when speaking of education. Are students learning for getting a job (fruit) or for culture (foliage) ? Choosing between one or the other should it be the choice of the student or of the society ? I believe the most common answer is : we study for job and the choice is made by society. But I, for one, cannot so easily dismiss the question. It has too much to do with meaning of life: are people living to work/act or to understand/love.
That's obviously not the only way to interpret this quote, the obvious one would probably be a simple statement that knowledge can be flashy but still sterile. Anyway, as most good quotes it is ambiguous, henceforth may lead to fruitful thinking.