Monday, May 02, 2005

The Red Flag Of Techno Babble

People in technical fields routinely use highly technical language to explain a situation or problem. Sometimes they use a lexicon that is only familiar to themselves as a form of arrogance. They believe that using sophisticated words and concepts will convince the listener to turn off his own mind and blindly follow what they say.

The Chazon Ish wrote that, "The simple meaning is always the true meaning." That is, truth can be found in simplicity. A red flag should go up your mind when something seems overly complex to you, alerting you that either what the person is telling you is not true, or that he needs to explain himself in a manner that is more easily understandable.

It is not unreasonable to think that a common person will be confused by computer terminology, advanced scientific principles, or complex mathematics. A true genius is the person who can take these disciplines and explain them in way that even a small child can understand.

2 Comments:

At May 2, 2005 at 8:33:00 AM EDT, Blogger TRK said...

Spot on. It's a common malaise, especially in academia. I heard of one person who went for maximum unreadibility in their philosophy doctorate.

TRK

 
At May 2, 2005 at 12:32:00 PM EDT, Blogger Stacey said...

"A true genius is the person who can take these disciplines and explain them in way that even a small child can understand."

Exactly!

 

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