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Original Seeing — LessWrong

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Since Robert Pirsig put this very well, I’ll just copy down what he said. I don’t know if this story is based on reality or not, but either way, it’s true. He’d been having trouble with students who had nothing to say. At first he thought it was laziness but later it became apparent that it wasn’t. They just couldn’t think of anything to say. One of them, a girl with strong-lensed glasses, wanted to write a five-hundred word essay about the United States. He was used to the sinking feeling that comes from statements like this, and suggested without disparagement that she narrow it down to just Bozeman. When the paper came due she didn’t have it and was quite upset. She had tried and tried but she just couldn’t think of anything to say. It just stumped him. Now he couldn’t think of anything to say. A silence occurred, and then a peculiar answer: “Narrow it down to the main street of Bozeman.” It was a stroke of insight. She nodded dutifully and went out. But just before her next class s

x Original Seeing — LessWrong Seeing with Fresh Eyes Cached Thoughts Writing (communication method) Original Seeing Practical Frontpage 211 Original Seeing by Eliezer Yudkowsky 14th Oct 2007 2 min read 30 211 Since Robert Pirsig put this very well, I’ll just copy down what he said. I don’t know if this story is based on reality or not, but either way, it’s true. He’d been having trouble with students who had nothing to say. At first he thought it was laziness but later it became apparent that it wasn’t. They just couldn’t think of anything to say. One of them, a girl with strong-lensed glasses

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