Carpetry and the Academic Writer

I have to replace the flooring in my house. It is amazing what kind of damage a simple 30 or 40 gallons of water will do if you don't notice it. So, it is time to look at flooring. There are more types than I ever expected: wood, linoleum, pergo, tile, carpet . . . and each of those has a variety of sizes, shapes, colors, etc. Personally, I like something soft under my feet in the morning, so I always go for carpet. However, price is always an issue, so it has to be cheap. Thus, I don't have any Persian rugs, but if I could afford it, it would be perfect for me. Why? Well, let me tell you.

Down through the centuries, Persian rug makers have been considered the best in the business. There artwork is of the highest quality, and rugs can sell for thousands of dollars. This raises a question, though. What is the meaning of the famous term, "Persian flaw"? Well, it goes like this . . .

Persian weavers recognized that their skills was renouned throughout the world. Many cultures considered their rugs to be perfect. They realized, though, that only God could make anything completely perfect in every respect. Thus, they would purposely put a flaw into every carpet they made so that there was no chance that anybody--including themselves--would think they had made something perfect.

In a similar way, every person has something that prevents them from being completely perfect. (Of course, we all have more than a single flaw, but go with me on this for the sake of the analogy). This term is often used to describe something that is not major but that is still noticeable. This would be considered that person's Persian flaw.

My Persian flaw is proofreading. It doesn't matter how many times I proofread something I have written, there is always a single error that slips through. Either I accidently type a singular when I want a plural, or I add an extra consonant or vowel, or I put an extra period between sentences. This especially happens when I have written something that is going to somebody in an important position. I have realized this, so I regularly have someone else proofread anything significant. (Of course, it seems that my Persian flaw includes picking people who also miss just one thing).

As an academic writer, you, too, have a Persian flaw--something that you need to watch out for in your writing. Knowing what that is will help you take steps to overcome the problem. I guess that there is only one Persian flaw in academic writing that can't be easily fixed: the belief that you don't have one.

P.S. Did you notice the Persian flaw in the first sentence of paragraph 3? It wasn't put there on purpose--honest. It just got by me.