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<\/a>Recently, an academic friend expressed the view that the internet is \u2018dumbing down the discourse\u2019.\u00a0 (I think she liked the alliteration.)<\/p>\nHer main concern seemed to be the lack of formality with which educated people \u2013 \u2018people who should know better\u2019 \u2013 write when they write for the internet.\u00a0 \u2018Most of what is posted on the internet would never see the light of day in a proper journal. \u00a0Too casual, too simple by far.\u2019<\/p>\n
Interestingly, she wasn\u2019t concerned about the content of the essays, etc.\u00a0 She acknowledged that even in a \u2018properly controlled\u2019 peer-reviewed journal the content is often up for debate.\u00a0 What she was worried about was what she called \u2018the chattiness of internet prose\u2019.<\/p>\n
As someone who usually begins the day by reading an essay or two online, I think she\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 Yes, there is a simplicity and informality about much of the writing on the internet.\u00a0 But, no, that\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing.<\/p>\n
Too often, formal writing is used as a cover for lazy thinking. \u00a0If you are not too sure what you want to say, you can always try dressing up your mumble-worthy half ideas in big words and elaborate convoluted constructions.\u00a0 (Just don\u2019t expect too many people to read right to the end.)<\/p>\n
But if you want to say something simply, then you had better have a very clear idea of exactly what it is that you want to say.\u00a0 Simplicity is not dumb.\u00a0 Simplicity comes from discipline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.\u2019 \u2013 John Ruskin Recently, an academic friend expressed … Continue reading