2 - Thinking And Writing Clearly
A ranking minister in the Japanese government indicated that UFOs definitely exist, which seems a bit foolish and controversial, until you consider what he meant: an "unidentified flying object" means any object in the airspace whose precise identity is not known. It is not necessarily an alien spacecraft - a child's balloon is a UFO until you have identified it as such, at which point it is no longer unidentified.
We find this occurs in debates quite frequently: two people might disagree vehemently about the existence of UFOs, or they may appear to agree when they do not, based on the definition of the concept. It's not always so frivolous as the UFO example: consider that regulators debate, and pass laws that affect the lives of a great many, over what constitutes a "free" economy and what constitutes an acceptable degree of "regulation."
A such, defining ideas clearly is critical to avoiding mistakes in your own thinking, and communicating ideas clearly to others is necessary to avoid misunderstandings.
There is, of course, a line to be drawn: we are not omniscient and it is not worth our time to seek to have a deep understanding of everything. We do not need to understand the physics of radiation to use a microwave oven - what is important is understanding things to the degree they need to be understood.
Literal Meaning
Our primary method of understanding statements is to consider their literal meaning, but to recall at the same time that people do not always speak literally.
A person might observe "it's cold" as a cue for you to close the window beside which you are sitting. A person might "love books" in the sense of aesthetic appreciation or an investment, rather than having a love of reading. They might say "I'll try to come" to an even they have no intention of attending, just to be social. Everyday language is sloppy, and people often count on things rather than their words (gestures, expression, tone of voice) to communicate the full meaning.
But when we are exploring things intellectually, partially when the outcome is important, it's important to revert to literal meaning. Figurative language is precise and can be easily misinterpreted. This is why there is so much poring over contracts and legal documents, picking apart phrases to ensure there is a common understanding and the disputes that might arise from it.
The author provides some examples from advertising to show how language can also be contrived to be imprecise, such that someone can later claim to have been honest (or should not be held culpable) based on one interpretation of the language they used.
Connecting Ideas
Some people are attracted to obscure ideas they cannot explain - they may consider them to be profound. Others seem to delight in being obscure in their explanation of ideas, as they feel it makes them seem profound and gives them status over others. Both are essentially dysfunctional. The value of an idea is in being understood, and to be understood an idea must be connoted to other ideas, deriving meaning in context. Otherwise, it is an unrelated idea, and likely irrelevant.
In some instances, the literal meaning is not enough: knowing that the speed of light is about 300,000 kilometers per second is not meaningful. If you explain it's fast enough to go around the world seven times in a single second, people are better able to appreciate its meaning. An example that illustrates a meaning contributes to understanding.
In western thinking, we often leverage definitions to communicate the meaning of a term - its full meaning, or the breadth of its possible meanings.
You must also consider the implications, not just of language, but of the theories of logic. Consider that the theory of utilitarianism literally means that a choice that benefits the majority of people is essentially the correct one - but which also implies that something that is harmful to 49.9% of the population is perfectly acceptable. In other instances, knowing the implications is necessary to perceiving the full scope of the outcomes - such as the environmentalists' claim that there will be a 5-degree increase in temperature over the next century, which doesn't sound like much until you consider that a change of that minute degree will cause polar meltdowns and flood the planet.
It is also important to know how a given term is differentiated from others. For example, acceleration is very often confused with velocity. Velocity is the speed of motion, whereas acceleration is the rate at which speed increases. An object travelling at a very fast velocity can have zero, or negative, acceleration. Another example on clarity is that not all nonprofit organizations are charitable. A country club that aims to benefit only the wealthy members of a society is not charitable, even if it is not operated for a profit.
Definition can also help to understand an idea more clearly by breaking it down. For example, this book divides critical thinking from creative thinking. The difference between them is significant and important to understand the subject.
The author cautions against tedium - it is not necessary to be painstakingly distinguishing if the discernment is not relevant to the matter at hand.
Five Tips For Effective Writing and Presentation
There's more to good communication than using the correct words and obeying the rules of grammar. Good writing presents ideas in a way that makes them easy to understand. It communicates. To which end, the author offers a few tips.
Tip 1: Know Your Audience
Effective writing focuses on the needs of the reader for information, not the desire of the writer to express himself. Some critical questions:
- How much does the audience already know?
- What benefit do they get from reading?
- What most effectively communicates the information?
- How will the document be used?
Tip 2: What is Your Central Message and Why is it Important?
Avoid nattering on by considering what message you're trying to get across - see if you can phrase it into a single sentence, and decide what must be said to provide only as much context and detail as are necessary. People don't remember the things that bore them, and tune out a message that seems irrelevant - so rather than building slowly to a conclusion state your moist relevant point early, and leverage their interest to carry them through the rest.
Tip 3: Organize Your Ideas
Good writing is not like an extemporaneous speech - it is carefully executed and organized to facilitate reading. Develop a habit of writing to an outline that organizes the ideas.
Consider the organization of the whole piece (an article or essay): introduction, key statements (each with supporting evidence) and a conclusion,
Each paragraph must also have a clear function: you may be trying to explain a definition, illustrate the significance of data, address a potential objection, etc.
Tip 4: Be Simple and Direct
There is the misconception that important matters must be communicated in long-winded and difficult explanations, in the way that students attempt to appear more intelligent by using more complex sentences and larger words. Meanwhile the author cites a study (Oppenheimer, 2006) that indicates people who used plain and simple language were believed to be more intelligent.
Social factors aside, some people fail to write in a straightforward manner because they want to provide as much information as possible, rather than limiting it to information that is germane to the specific topic. This is the author's suggestion for clarity: remove anything that isn't necessary to understand.
(EN: There's a bit more on this, but it's turning into a freshman writing lecture rather than a book on thinking, so I'm cutting it out. And yes, it's entirely ironic given what the author just stated)
Tip 5: Revise and Rewrite
Good writing doesn't pour out in flawless condition immediately. The "first draft" is generally very rough and needs a lot of rework. Considering the example of Ernest Hemmingway, who calimed to have rewritten the ending chapter to "A Farewell to Arms" thirty-nine times before he felt he had it quite right. The author also advises setting a fresh document aside and giving it a cold read later