

An open letter to Edward Tufte - chmullig
http://www.whit537.org/et/

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baconner
Interesting but the main point seems to be that tufte shouldn't be making so
much money off of his work anymore. Ok, but why not? What am I missing?

He did the research, wrote the books, and on the first one took a big
financial risk self publishing. Seems to me that he's provided a lot of value
and has rightly reaped the benefits. No?

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whit537
His overt message is: science is better than pitching, public interest is
better than private interest. Is his art career consistent with that?

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whit537
The main meme I want to spread is that Tufte should invest his money in a non-
profit Foundation for Beautiful Evidence.

~~~
whit537
And I've tacked this onto the top of the page: <http://www.whit537.org/et/>

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GHFigs
"I have _followed_ your work for a decade." "I have followed _your_ work for a
decade." "I have followed your _work_ for a decade."

But...

Here are some suggestions for what to do with your money.

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whit537
The suggestions are Tufte's own. He spent six hours telling me to do science
instead of pitching, and to work in the public interest instead of a
commercial interest.

~~~
GHFigs
That was completely unclear from the text. It might be clear if I were Edward
Tufte, and in that sense it works as an open letter. But for a broader
audience (I've read two of his books, if that matters) the supposed
contradictions or hypocrisy aren't apparent. His 'sins' are presented, but the
covenant being violated can only be guessed at. Even if it comes down to your
own personal dashed expectations, elaborating on exactly what those were would
make it easier to connect the dots in the way you intend.

As it is, it comes across as though there is something inherently wrong with
him having what you think is a lot of money. Why should it matter? If you
believe that a "Foundation for Beautiful Evidence" _should_ exist, there must
be reasons. But just going by the text that's there, it sounds like the main
reason is that you think Tufte can afford to endow one. That may be a useful
practical detail, if true, but it's not really a _reason_ for him to do it.
Remember: you're also asking him to do something with his time and attention,
which he has no more of than you do. Why would he? Why would anybody? It might
be understandable to someone who attended the course, but it could be
elucidated to someone who hadn't by being direct about what you think such an
enterprise could accomplish.

~~~
whit537
Yeah, I can see that. Thanks.

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whit537
tl;dr--Tufte, you're brilliant. You worked hard to build a powerful brand, and
now you're very intentionally using that brand to make a crap-ton of money on
the contemporary art market. Well played, sir.

But didn't you say that people working in the public interest are inherently
more credible than salesmen? Weren't you saying that science is inherently
better than advertising?

