Dumbing-down or wising-up?

[duroz]

Bah he is not mean. He is direct. Using words as weapons sometimes those weapons.......

Well for crap's sake, Cuppycake.....(yes-a rhyme!)

I KNOW he's not mean.....I surely wouldn't be giving him s**t about being a BIG MEANIE, and generally harassing him all the time if he WAS.
(I would probably avoid him, and all the topics he posts to, if that WAS the case)

[falcon9]

I KNOW he's not mean.....I surely wouldn't be giving him s**t about being a BIG MEANIE, and generally harassing him all the time if he WAS.
(I would probably avoid him, and all the topics he posts to, if that WAS the case)

There is nothing to fear, not even fear itself, (phobophobia). 

[champak97]

I enjoy reading your posts falcon9. . I dont think you are mean, you just enjoy showing off your articulateness, through your posts.

[walksalone11]

Huh?.......

[falcon9]

I enjoy reading your posts falcon9. . I dont think you are mean, you just enjoy showing off your articulateness, through your posts.

Thanks but, I'm not "showing off" - I actually speak this way out loud, (sometimes to the dismay of people I'm speaking with).  All of my employment opportunities have required a certain degree of articulation, (whether textual or verbal), so I began acquiring that ability at an early age and am always refining it.

[falcon9]

Huh?.......

That's hilariously concise, 'walks'.  

Now aren't you glad your ancestors weren't riding elephants and charming cobras out of baskets to confuse Columbus as to where he actually ended-up?
{... although that would have been extremely hilarious ...}

[walksalone11]

Huh?.......

That's hilariously concise, 'walks'.  

Now aren't you glad your ancestors weren't riding elephants and charming cobras out of baskets to confuse Columbus as to where he actually ended-up?
{... although that would have been extremely hilarious ...}

They weren't??? humm.

[falcon9]

Huh?.......

That's hilariously concise, 'walks'.  

Now aren't you glad your ancestors weren't riding elephants and charming cobras out of baskets to confuse Columbus as to where he actually ended-up?
{... although that would have been extremely hilarious ...}

They weren't??? humm.

Sorry, I did assume they didn't take the long way around in getting to the north american continent and that they didn't ride elephants, (carrying baskets of cobras), with them.  If, however, you happen to be directly from India - disregard the previous.

[loulizlee]

"Out of curiousity, were they any particular ones which tickled you?' - Falcon9


Falcon9, Is this sentence dumbing-down or wising-up?  loulizlee

It's a question, (a sentence ends in a period). <-- that was a 'wising-up' encouragement.  Falcon9"


Oops, sorry.  I wasn't referring to whether it was a declarative sentence or a question.  My bad!!  I just thought it should be 'were there' instead of 'were they."

[Abrupt]

You should speak to your audience.  

In my writing courses I was often advised to "eschew verbosity", but I still find myself often exhibiting that tendency.  I think we 'post' like we tend to speak (and in forums such as these when working with reply style posting it is more common to write in the manner you typically speak as you don't get the voice feedback and visual cues that you would in person that causes you to adjust your speech to who you were speaking to.  If your audience doesn't comprehend what you are saying it is more likely that you are using poor communication skills (even if your words might be precise and fitting in other venues).  If you wish to communicate your ideas, it is up to you to do this, not the audience to interpret them.  Being overly complex or using words unfamiliar to the audience can only cause your message to be lost.  Speaking in a manner that your target understands should never be considered as "dumbing-down" and such would actually count as "wising-up".

Some people might think the excessive use of 'big words' (as they are often called) is a sign of arrogance, and in person it might be as there would be cues that could be observed to indicate adjustments were needed.  On these forums, though, such things are not evident and even if one or two people mention something along the lines suggesting difficulty comprehending it is often the case that such things are stated in a way that doesn't encourage their target to adjust.

[falcon9]

'Out of curiousity, were they any particular ones which tickled you?' - Falcon9


Falcon9, Is this sentence dumbing-down or wising-up?

It's a question, (a sentence ends in a period). <-- that was a 'wising-up' encouragement.

Oops, sorry.  I wasn't referring to whether it was a declarative sentence or a question.  My bad!!  I just thought it should be 'were there' instead of 'were they."

It should have been "were there", yes.  You missed several more of my typos, (these stem from a mild form of dyslexia, rather than 'dumbness', which is relatively common in those with above-average I.Q.s). Since you typed the question and posted it, my reply was relevant to your error, whether you were referring to it or not, the reply was.

Thanks for pointing the one out though, did it make you proud?  It certainly did nothing to remove the patina of religious superstition which taints your motivation for posting tangentially to the context of this thread, (neither does it constitute 'evidence' of wisdom nor, 'dumdum').

 

[walksalone11]

Huh?.......

That's hilariously concise, 'walks'.  

Now aren't you glad your ancestors weren't riding elephants and charming cobras out of baskets to confuse Columbus as to where he actually ended-up?
{... although that would have been extremely hilarious ...}

They weren't??? humm.

Sorry, I did assume they didn't take the long way around in getting to the north american continent and that they didn't ride elephants, (carrying baskets of cobras), with them.  If, however, you happen to be directly from India - disregard the previous.

Well according to my Nations creation stories, it was indeed a very long trip.....no elephants cobras or any of that, just a bit of space travel

[falcon9]

You should speak to your audience.  

I'm not a paid speaker nor do I consider FC participants to be 'my audience'.  They're members of FC who may or may not choose to read or reply to forum posts.  I don't treat the forums as a 'soapbox', as you seem to do.

In my writing courses I was often advised to "eschew verbosity"...

There's a certain 'irony' to that specific advice, (I presume you know of it since you wrote it - never mind redefining "irony").
 

... but I still find myself often exhibiting that tendency.

Yep, that goes for the both of us.  That's usually called, "being windy", aye?
 

I think we 'post' like we tend to speak (and in forums such as these when working with reply style posting it is more common to write in the manner you typically speak as you don't get the voice feedback and visual cues that you would in person that causes you to adjust your speech to who you were speaking to.

I can essentially concur with that observation.
 

If your audience doesn't comprehend what you are saying it is more likely that you are using poor communication skills (even if your words might be precise and fitting in other venues).  

That contention, I don't concur with completely.  That is, communication is a three-part process consisting of the transmission of the communication, the medium in which that transmission is communicated and the receiver of the communicated transmission.  The responsibility of the 'transmitter', (the one sending the first part of the communication), is to send it in an intelligible form.  That form may consist of colloquial English, (or other language), or varying degrees of precise/complex language.  The "medium" of transmission in this regard is the language itself.  The sender assumes the receiver can understand that language otherwise, no communication is possible.  If the receiver generally understands the language but, not the specific usage or wording involved, the sender can either "dumb it down" colloquially or, not do so.  At this point, it's the responsibility of the one receiving the communication to make sense of it, (how could this be otherwise?  The sender is hardly responsible for the receiver's comprehension abilities - even if they personally taught the receiver how to comprehend the language, it's still up to the receiver to learn and incorporate such knowledge within their own mind).

If you wish to communicate your ideas, it is up to you to do this, not the audience to interpret them.

Obviously, I've disagreed with your declaration and stated why, above.
 

Being overly complex or using words unfamiliar to the audience can only cause your message to be lost.  Speaking in a manner that your target understands should never be considered as "dumbing-down" and such would actually count as "wising-up".

As I previously stated, I don't consider those who read posts to be a 'target audience' when I'm replying to their posts.  Nor do I agree with your contention which inverts "dumbing-down" and "wising-up" because it's illogical.  Changing a message from what someone else might consider to be 'too complex/using words which are too large' certainly is "dumbing-down" a message, (and condescending to boot).  My perspective being that you're not "wising-up" someone else if they aren't expending the effort to 'wise-up' themselves; you're spoon-feeding them.
  

Some people might think the excessive use of 'big words' (as they are often called) is a sign of arrogance ...

That assumption would be unwarranted unless there were evidence to support such a conclusion, (which excludes mere subjective perceptions and any resulting 'opinions' stemming from such internal bias).  Conversely, it is more generally common for people who complain about others using "big words" to be somewhat insecure about being unable to completely comprehend what is actually being said, (even if they have some vague idea, this 'feeling' can lead to another one; inadaquacy).  

Go ahead and be a proponent of 'spoon-feeding'; I'll stick with the, (possibly unrealistic), process of encouraging others to get their own 'spoons'. Remember The Matrix; there is no spoon, there is only you. <--paraphrasing

[falcon9]

Well according to my Nations creation stories, it was indeed a very long trip.....no elephants cobras or any of that, just a bit of space travel

Anasazi Pueblo ancestors?

[walksalone11]

Well according to my Nations creation stories, it was indeed a very long trip.....no elephants cobras or any of that, just a bit of space travel

Anasazi Pueblo ancestors?

No, I am Tsalagi, although I do live among the Pueblos now.....Taos Pueblo being the nearest...about 12 miles or so.