Friday, March 04, 2011

Mazer

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike," is a key phrase in the history of computer games. Unfortunately, some days as I edit my dissertation, I feel that way. Last night, one of my best friends pointed this out at length.

A person who does research constructs a maze and shows people how to navigate it. Such a person can be called a 'mazer', and what he does, logically, is amazing. That is not just a bad joke; historically, the idea of being mazed = being deluded, confused, or bewildered preceded the idea of a physical construct that does such things by about a century.

For that is what 'amazing' means: to amaze someone is to baffle and astound, to confuse or delude. If my dissertation is doing that to people, it's time for me to find the way out as quickly as possible!

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3 Comments:

Blogger boonleong said...

Your dissertation might not just be a mazer to readers, it might even wreck 'em. ;)

Sunday, March 06, 2011 6:42:00 am  
Blogger nothing rhymes with gideon said...

i keep thinking ender's game, as in 'mazer rackham'

Monday, March 07, 2011 3:01:00 am  
Blogger Trebuchet said...

That would certainly end der game. :D

Monday, March 07, 2011 3:42:00 pm  

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