Acquiring a gift of tongues

So, I've been reading some blogs on the high brow/low brow discussion, and I think I agree with the general consensus that high brow tends to be more difficult and tedious, and low brow, though it is not lesser, presents the same material in an easier light; but I don't think high brow necessarily contains more depth in terms of thoughtful themes and meaning. It's just that high brow uses a language that we don't always see, so it's more difficult to comprehend. So I guess it would use more thinking, because we don't understand the medium or the text, but the meaning isn't more complex than something written in more presentable terms.

For example: I have to read this really dense book about cosmology for Origins. I know very little about physics and about math and science in general, so reading this book has been tedious and aggravating, because I don't speak that language very well. I don't see the beauty in it very often, but this book kind of makes you see it, because the scientist men who wrote it are deeply in love with how their language describes the universe. Every now and then, I see it, and it translates into the kind of poetry I can relate to. . .it's still work, but I kind of like looking at the world through that lens. Maybe this is a poor example for others, but for me, it's like this book is high brow and a movie like "Star Dust" or something that explains the beauty above in English terms is low brow.

Anyway. . .I guess high brow and low brow for this class is determined by how an author or playwright or director creates his message. I don't know that Joyce meant to make his book so difficult to read (if he did, he's kind of a jerk), but he just wrote it in a different type of "language" or something, that's difficult for most people because we don't think or see the world in that way. In that respect, even low brow texts that carry so much meaning could be hard to grasp if we don't have that deciphering or filter thing/mindset in our heads.

If that sense is kind of right, I think this class will look at the high and low, and see that in quantity of meaning, the two can be the same, but how we dig that meaning out or how we find it will be the challenge we focus on. But, I guess we will find out tomorrow. I can't wait to get in the classroom see everyone again. I like that Rio calls this a reunion; it should be an amazing atmosphere with great minds and great ideas.