So when I decided to start writing these things I made a conscious decision to use more common language. I wanted to write in a way that everyone could understand. There are many intelligent people out there. They have these brilliant ideas. The have these amazing vocabularies that would make anyone envious. However, they also have the communication skills of a rock in my front yard. As a teacher myself I don't want anyone in my classes left behind. I want everyone to grasp what I'm saying. That's why I'm constantly working on communication skills and better ways to get my point across.
I remember years ago when I started studying philosophies and various social problems I went the the Stanford Dictionary to look something up. Stanford is a really prestigious school so I thought they'd have the answer. Well, they did but the explanation was so convoluted I had to get another dictionary to try and understand their dictionary. It isn't just me that has noticed it. Actor Alan Alda founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University for this exact reason. These people know a lot but no one knows what the hell they are talking about. Now maybe it's just that they live in a bubble and only work with like minded people everyday so they lose the skills to communicate with everyday people. However, there is also another way of looking at it that is a little bit darker.
Some of these professors may argue that people just need to be better educated so that they can understand these ideas and concepts. The problem with that statement is that it's their job to educate them and they are failing. An average person who works 40 hours a week or more and has a family they spend time with when they get off work doesn't have the privilege of sitting around pondering shit all the time. They have other things they need to be doing. So when you speak to them it needs to be simple and concise in a way that they can understand. You can masturbate to a thesaurus on your own time. The real question is who are you trying to teach?
Knowledge is a powerful thing and everyone should have access to it. Now it's true not everyone can afford college, but they can damn sure google a blog for free. Language can be a real barrier. I know what it's like to try and read something and not understand it. To get frustrated when it's overwhelming and your brain just shuts down. Sometimes I think that is what the author actually wants though.
Author Charles Bukowski once spoke on his belief in the differences between artists and intellectuals. To paraphrase he basically said that intellectuals take something that's easy to understand and explain it in a difficult way so that it can only benefit elitists such as themselves, but artists take things that are hard to understand and make them simple so that they can benefit everyone. If you think about it what he's saying makes sense. If you read some of this literature out there it seems like the author is having a chat session with others such as himself. What about everyday people that could benefit from that knowledge? I tend to not like conspiracy theorists because I think it's lazy. I do have to admit thought that part of me thinks they don't want everyday people to be as informed as them.
If everyone was as informed as them then they wouldn't feel special. They wouldn't get to feel superior to everyone else. Maybe if they speak in such ways people will believe they are smarter and give them more power. Maybe there is something to that, but I'm really not sure. It could be the whole bubble thing.
In future writings of mine I'm going to attempt to write in a way that makes my stuff accessible to everyone. If someone reads my stuff and thinks I write on a 3rd grade level I'll take it as a huge compliment. I don't ever want anyone to read a commentary of mine and be as flustered as I was reading many of the others back when I was learning.
Thanks for stopping by everybody. Soon I'll have commentaries on Society, Collectivism, Individualism, Culture, Relativism, and all sorts of other crazy shit. Feel free to share any of this and don't forget to upvote. I'm trying to raise enough money to self publish a book so it all helps. Thanks
Refreshing, thank you! I think similarly to you, especially your comparison with artists who express something complex and the suggestion of complexity gives birth to more understanding than expressing oneself in a complicated way and leads one into a mental narrow corridor. Art and poetry have always been the best at allowing people to see for themselves. I would think that as a teacher, you are probably the one in the room who learns the most by working with your students :)
That is very true. I've learned a lot over the years from my students just by hearing different perspectives on the same theme. Sometimes you can both say the same thing but one resonates more than the other. It's made me a better teacher
Maybe they don't know what the hell they're talking about. Some time they told me that if I knew something, I had to know how to explain it with pears and apples, and that if I couldn't do that, I really didn't know what I was talking about. And if it is a very complex subject you can always use examples, fables, parables, allegories, and the like, there is always a way to make the complex simple.
That is also an alternative.
But what do I know?
I agree that is why I sometimes think they are doing it on purpose and there is an elitist motive behind it