Thursday, April 21, 2011
Amazingly shallow?!
OPENING SENTENCE OF THE ABOVE LINK STATES: "Barack Obama is a creature of the modern university and therefore an amazingly shallow man."
Does this sentence strike anyone as a bit odd, confused: "Barack Obama is a creature of the modern university and therefore an amazingly shallow man." Obama is a person but I assume the author wants to demean him by saying he is a creature. The sentence would seem to imply that the modern university produces shallow CREATURES (why does the sentence suddenly, unexpectedly switch from creature to man.) But MODERN as compared to WHAT? Compared to Yale in 1900 or Oxford in the 1700s? But now the author tosses in AMAZINGLY. Hmmm... does that mean that all denizens of MODERN Universities are shallow but Obama has exceeded them all? I assume the author of this sentence is not the product of a "modern university" or they would consider themselves shallow. Seriously, I am not trying to be cruel or snarky but what sort of sentence is this and what sort of person opens an essay, speech, blog or editorial with such a sentence? I suppose I should read the entire post and puzzle this out.
