I don't know why coffee shops work better for writing a thesis but they do. maybe it is the forced minimalism when writing. Regardless. Found out the Starbucks nearby opens at 5am. Pretty much going to be here every day lol.
Just learned a fun fact:
Fulton Sheen gave a talk at a conference sponsored by the 'Abendland' Journal in the interwar period. crazy.
it is a good thing to just check where you started today when writing and realizing "holy smokes, I actually wrote 4 pages so far today and should be able to squeeze out a couple more".
6 ain't too shabby for a day's work!
One of the annoying things about doing historical research into various obscure German thinkers is finding out current critiques of Neo-Scholasticism (such as: they took on Kantian epistemology) was already made by German theologians. In the 1850s.
“an ideal and pure Church, separated from the earth, does not exist; only the one Church of Christ, embodied in history." Pope Leo XIV
AMEN
Kinda weird and amazing how central the concept of analogy has become the driving 'word' of my doctoral thesis. It's been pretty exciting to find that concept become so important, since it was so unexpected!
after doing this set up. I wrote a new major section intro (about 3-4 pages) in an hour. was so easy, directional, and narrowing in. huge massive victory.
btw, saw your email. I am just....in the throws of major revamping to my huge section and just trying to give most mental attention to that. hopefully....Wednesday I can send it to supervisors. I'm behind on ALL email because of this.
we need you to remain sarcastic!
weirdly, I've encountered a few. but also it has demonstrated to me that they are missing something with Balthasar. And usually comes from something much deeper and unannounced that they may not even be able to give word to.
I wish I figured this out like 2 years ago. I would have saved myself soooooo much heartache. because boy oh boy. as I move along, I notice issues, where I'm stretched too far, etc. I am narrowing hard and fast in ways I could never do when I just wrote things in a Word doc hoping it would work.
Addendum: and the best part is, as each substructure gets constructed, I can see pretty quickly if there is a higher level issue. For example, 1.1.2 and 1.1.2.1 (and even 1.1.1) kinda are all the same thing so I can simplify the structure later on in review.
Essentially looks like this. then under each numbered paragraph, I write the actual paragraph. The visualness keeps me focused. The 'type' of paragraph I've got on a side list as 6 different types. Then when I edit, I don't need to worry about structure or connection: it's already been done! 3/3
1) Major Section Checklist: Lay out the claims (subsections of major section) that need to be proven for the major section's claim
2) Minor section movements: what are the steps needed to demonstrate this claim
3) Paragraphs to execute movement: type of paragraph and its 1 sentence purpose
2/3
I think I've cracked the nut of for my thesis writing.
Issue was never conceptual grasp or ark. It was granular argumentation & linear articulation. My brain doesn't work that way.
Developed a system in the last 48 hours that I think will save me a ton of time in the next four months.
1/3
The swings between hopelessness and exhilaration when writing a thesis is kinda wild.
Each of you is saying, "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to the evangelical ethos of Bishop Barron," or I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."
Is Christ divided? Was the evangelical ethos of Bishop Barron crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of his evangelical ethos?"
I think it's a bad idea to have multiple publishers authorized for the new Liturgy of the Hours, for this reason alone:
differing page numbers
We will no longer be able to say to a group of people (especially of those new to the breviary) go to page ___.
i was really struck by the first reading today.
the invitation to return to God implies the love is offered when we have turned away. the love is offered precisely when we probably feel we deserve it least.
😭
thus, for example, while translation work may die off more and more, literary expertise in foreign language lit and just knowing languages I think will grow.
I know :(. it is very weird time. soooo many things are going to be upset....but at the same time...the need for humans to build up internal skills will grow. we've been so...instrumentalized/computerized in skills the last 75 years. time to rediscover 'spirit'.
thanks to Gemini I've now read the entire Habilitationsschrift in English in a pretty readable fashion. I've got my areas I need to do more granular work in now. Crazy how much this stuff works.
I am starting to fool around with the api so I can just throw up entire books for it to translate for me. I think ive almost hit it.
I can send you some samples if you want
you could probably get away with just Gemini since you are fluent in German
I use gemini for brute force translation (large loads of text) to make it readable in English. I use claude to finesse things when needed for citation.
claude. + gemini > chatgpt
irony is musk is saying his mono-culture is multicultural. Funny he skips Roman and Greek, too. British culture is nothing without the Roman at least! and the Roman is the definition of a cultural hodgepodge!
I may finally have a grasp on section 1.1 of my thesis. probably the hardest section of writing. it may be ready to send to my supervisors by tomorrow evening finally!
