Measuring the Marigolds: Difference between revisions

[[File:abstrusegooseworldview_519abstrusegooseworldview 519.png|frame|link=http://abstrusegoose.com/275|Lots of people think scientists view the world this way.]]

''[[Trope Namer|Measuring the Marigolds,]]

''You and your arithmetic,

''Will certainly go far.<br />

''Inchworm, Inchworm,

''[[Title Drop|Measuring the Marigolds]],

''Seems to me you'd stop and see,

''How beautiful they are.''|'''Frank Loesser''', "The Inch Worm", from the musical ''Hans Christian Anderson''}}

Of course, in [[Real Life]] -- despite—despite the somewhat popular opinion that those who analyze things for a living are boring, stilted, unemotional, and closed minded -- mostminded—most mathematicians and scientists would be quick to correct such assumptions, saying that discovery and understanding doesn't remove any magic from the equation for them; in fact, one still can love the beautiful qualities of a rainbow while knowing why they happen, but you also have the additional awe in knowing what a complex and delicate interplay of factors allows it to exist. Discovery and learning, in short, chasing after the ever elusive "why?", can bring their own magic. Indeed, many mathematicians and scientists themselves dabble in the creative arts. Scientific inventions even brought us awesome things.

== Straight Examples: ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131118233214/http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~richie/poetry/html/poem162.html "since feeling is first"] by [[E. E. Cummings]] includes lines like "who pays attention to the syntax of things will never wholly kiss you" and "kisses are a better fate than wisdom".

** In ''[[Discworld/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', Brutha is shown some color illustrations of plant life at the Library of Ephebe, in a book about the useful qualities of plants. Deeply moved by the images, he remarks "they're beautiful...", and the fellow who's showing him the book replies that that's one use the book's author had entirely overlooked.

* One of the things critics of trope wikis might cite would fall into this [[Trope]]: [[Tropes Will Ruin Your Life]] because, after a particularly long [[Wiki Walk]], you'll start seeing [[Trope|Tropes]]s every time you watch a [[Film]] and they'll distract you from enjoying the [[Plot]].

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20090901170638/http://blog.toonzone.net/blogs/39/crowning-moment-of-annoyance--tv-tropes/ This blog entry] -- the—the last paragraph directly accuses [[TV Tropes]] of this:

* On [[TV Tropes]] itself, complaints about [[Did Not Do the Research]] are usually put forward more because of a demand for accuracy rather than for intrinsic entertainment. [[Artistic License]], [[Rule of Cool]]/[[Rule of Fun]]/whatever, will often be dismissed as 'the easy way out', neglecting the fact that good fiction uses these [[Trope|tropestrope]]s just as often as bad fiction. And, well, it is ''fictional'' - there's no prizes for getting every detail correct. They don't seem to get that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], and that we're here to ''celebrate'' popular fiction. Indeed, half of the Wiki is now [[Awesome Moments]], [[Funny Moments]], [[Heartwarming Moments]] and their kin, which is basically the internet's repository of stuff people like just because they like it.

** ''[[Loading Ready Run]]'' made a full [https://web.archive.org/web/20130206023857/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/loadingreadyrun/1629-Scientists-Rebuttal-to-ICP rebuttal.]

* Early editions of ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' had comparatively fewer rules than later editions for character actions other than combat and spellcasting. Back then if, say, you wanted to throw your drink in a villain's face to blind him, jump from a balcony, swing on a chandelier, somersault through the air, land on your feet, and run out of the room, your DM would have to figure out exactly how that would work - probably an attack roll with a small penalty, some Dexterity rolls, and a decision about whether you've generally played your character as a guy who would do that kind of thing. Now, your GM has extensive rules for how far you can jump, how for you can move, how much damage you take when you fall, what difficulty the Acrobatics check should be based on your level, oh, and if you don't have an attack power that blinds (or at least stuns or dazes) you can forget the drink-throwing having any useful effect. The new version makes everything much more standardized, predictable, easy to run, and fair, but many old-timers argue that the "rules instead of rulings" style of modern editions take all the heroism and excitement out of the game.

== Subversions and Aversions: ==

* In ''[[Discworld/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]'', Stewart and Cohen use the example in the [[Trope]] description; pointing out that understanding how rainbows work doesn't stop them being beautiful; it means you know ''why'' they're beautiful.

=== Live -Action TV ===

* Rarely explicitly stated, but in ''[[Big Bang Theory]]'', the [[Nerd|Nerds]]s - even Sheldon on occasion - are amazed at the beauty and wonder that exists around them and quickly point out that there's amazing things that you wouldn't even know existed without the aid of science - Astronomy appears to be their poison of choice.

* The author of [https://web.archive.org/web/20131030162524/http://www.aycyas.com/ And You Call Yourself A Scientist], picking apart movie pseudoscience, says something about this in her [http://www.aycyas.com/jurassicpark.htm examination] of ''[[Jurassic Park]]''.

* The creators of ''[[Extra Credits]]'' say they frequently receive comments saying that by analyzing games they are sucking the fun out of them. Their response can be found [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3818-Art-Is-Not-the-Opposite-of-Fun here]{{Dead link}}.

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}Alliterative Trope Titles]]