Against interpretation

In any case, I stopped believing that "theo-ry" had the power to ruin literature for anyone, or that it was possible to compromise something you loved by studying it. Was love really such a tenuous thing? Wasn't the point of love that it made you want to learn more, to immerse yourself, to become possessed?

- Elif Batuman,

The Possessed

There are two modes of experience: appreciative, and evaluative.
Concrete example: let's say you're listening to a piece of music. Are you sinking into it, awash in emotions? You're in the appreciative mode.

Are you the mixing engineer, listening to the snare hits to make sure they're consistent? You're in the evaluative mode.

Much of sanity, and ha