We learn more from examples than from principles

This is from a book review on the ‘birth of cool’, by Robert Eaglestone in the THE.

Despite laying out some principles (“cool is…”), the book focuses on honed case studies of “the saints of cool” (as Hannah Arendt argues, we learn more from examples than from principles).

This little gem was new to me —but not the concept, or the principle…..

Academia tends to love rules, and formal systems, but for some domains of competence, they are grossly overrated. Formal logic is often not what is need, and we may seem more with a metaphor. Alan Kay’s aphorism: a different perspective may be as valuable as 80 IQ points.