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I think this is PG's worst opinion. The man is undeniably intelligent, undeniably successful, and undeniably talented in business (and deserves huge credit for
by nlh 6y ago
I think this is PG's worst opinion.
The man is undeniably intelligent, undeniably successful, and undeniably talented in business (and deserves huge credit for his contributions to the startup community).
But I just thing he's deeply wrong here. His simple writing style (and those that have inherited/copied it) is a detriment to the community.
It's the take of a (talented!) engineering mind. It's the same attitude that engineers often take with building digital products ("we don't need a designer - just present the UI elements simply and people will get it.")
Design is an art. Communication is an art. Writing is an art. Essays are an art. They have function, of course, and a simple straightforward style is, indeed, a style that is more functional for some.
But it also diminishes the joy of reading and purees it into the blandness of an economics textbook. I've tried to read his essays and yes, they have some great ideas, but they're just....bland.
They're like Soylent for the mind. Does it deliver nutrition to your body in an maximally-efficient vehicle? Sure. Do you enjoy drinking that Soylent shake?
shiver
EDIT: I should explicitly clarify something: I'm not arguing that one should use jargon or unnecessarily complex words in their writing. That's obviously bad. But there's a gap between the "simple writing style" and "enjoyable rich prose".
- andy_ppp 6y ago“The gap between most writing and pure ideas is not filled with poetry.” It’s a simple sentence, filled with ideas, humour even. And it comes across vividly for me as some prone to over elaboration. It always comes back to “as simple as possible” being a rule to live by, write code by.
- curiousllama 6y agoYou ever try to read some social science papers? Or a consultant's slide deck? They're quagmires of "wtf does this even mean?" In college (and then consulting), I was basically trained to write like I'm trying to convince someone I'm smart. It only got in the way once I left and started trying to communicate real ideas. Graham's advice is very good for mundane, day-to-day writing.
- randomsearch 6y agoI would guess such writing in the humanities is exactly the sort of style he’s taking aim at.
- nitrogen 6y agoI think it depends on where you are from and what you read growing up. I hail from a place that most outsiders would describe as unsophisticated, so naturally I rebelled in my youth by reading the most technically and prosaically dense language I could find. While I do still enjoy that type writing -- fiction books where I have to keep a dictionary, calculator, and pad of graph paper handy -- for professional communication pg and Feynman and all the advocates for simplicity are right. There is no benefit to insiders or outsiders in a field to unnecessary use of jargon when simpler forms of expression are available. I greatly the prefer the no-nonsense, practical, straight talking, ignore the eggshells on the floor, git-r-done communication of a classical sci-fi engineer.
- randcraw 6y agoWriting is also a craft, generally the work of an artisan more than an artist. The first purpose of a well tempered sentence is the communication of an idea, while the plucking of heartstrings comes second or not at all. PG's emphasis is clearly on exchanging facts efficiently and effectively in text-based non-fiction forums where creatively engaging the reader's emotions would divert the narrative a bit off topic.