May 2, 2009

"No doubt I would be a more holistic person if I bound my own books and sold them at the farmers' market."

Roy Blount Jr., in "Alphabet Juice" — discussing the word "artisanal."

9 comments:

rhhardin said...

Does he discuss "breezy."

Bissage said...

In a world where beer is “hand-crafted” all bets are off.

Peter V. Bella said...

I saw a help wanted ad looking for an artisinal bartender. I could not stop laughing.

traditionalguy said...

I'll settle for someone defining the uses and root meaning of "holistic".

Unknown said...

Yes, and he must try to be more enchanting.

JAL said...

Some South African guy (Smuts?) "introduced" holism in the 1920s (though I think Aristotle has the original idea philosophically). You know -- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The butterfly effect... The monkey thing (which was a fabrication anyway ...)

Everything is bigger, more complex and intertwined than one might superficially conclude.... so to really do or understand anything intelligently these days one has to "think holistically." If one does not they are reductionist (4 letter word, so to speak. Bad. Bad Bad.)

It's used in a lot of disciplines, but one sees it used popularly especially in health (body / minid / spirit).

It's one of those words that pings my radar when I hear it because there is usually (in these days anyway) an agenda tied to it.

Yup. I am a cynic.

Trooper York said...

I am afraid you are mistaken JAL. Jan Smuts was the guy who invented pornography. He started out with playing cards with naked tribeswoman and graduated to little nickelodeon features staring Lily Langtry and a zebra.

It was the actual root cause of the Boer War.

Wince said...

Aptly, obsessing over whether binding one's own books and selling them at the farmers' market would make him a "more holistic person" does sound rather artis-anal.

Freeman Hunt said...

I thought "holistic" was shorthand for "here comes the weird."