[ExI] The Importance of Clear Writing

[Jef Allbright]

On 10/7/07, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:

> But is it really necessary to try to *communicate* that way?
> Why can't you try writing without all the potential ambiguity?
> I hope that you're not afraid of appearing dumb just because
> your writing is transparent.

No, I'm not concerned that I'd appear stupid if my writing were more
concrete and simpler to unpack.

My writing on these forums tends to be abstract and metaphorical to a
fault.  The reason is simple:  I'm trying to convey big pictures, but
with very limited bandwidth.

By bandwidth, I mean the bandwidth of the medium of email discussion
lists, constrained by the communication channel as well as human
attention, and my own personal bottleneck due to most of my available
resources going to my business, my studies, and my relationship with
Lizbeth.

But I persist in monitoring and occasionally engaging in this and
other forums; the payoff being some very rewarding offlist contacts
and relationships; the payment being the Pareto  problem of dealing
with the 80% (or more) that is crap.

If you'd like to continue this thread (never mind the aborted thread
about the failings of lower-dimensional models of social
decision-making) I'd be interested in your thoughts as to the
possibility that you habitually approach these discussions as if they
were chess games, thus your apparent tactics of disruption, isolation,
misdirection and so on.

- Jef