5 ms·

I've had a blog post rolling around in the back of my head for years regarding how "obviously" is the absolute worst word to use in any kind of technical contex

by anm89 5y ago

I've had a blog post rolling around in the back of my head for years regarding how "obviously" is the absolute worst word to use in any kind of technical context. And then go through some of the most egregious things labeled as obvious in various peer reviewed research or blog posts.

gumby 5y ago
Me: new (to me) high school, 1978. In the headmaster’s western civ class. In the first test (three questions, answer one, use as many blue books as you need) I wrote, “Obviously...”. When the results were handed back I looked at my book. Where I had written, “obviously” he had crossed out that word and a lot of subsequent text. He wrote, “since it was obvious I didn’t bother to read it.” Forty odd years later I have never forgotten the lesson which affected me not simply in regards to the word “obviously”. (The whole class failed that test and there followed quite a bit of instruction on how to to do schoolwork. I now wonder if it even counted against our grade?)
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  Sometimes an obvious thing needs to be brought up as context for a future statement. His reasoning there is blatantly wrong. And omitting the word "obvious" wouldn't make the statement any less obvious. Wouldn't his explanation demand he cross out any basic true statements, no matter how you worded them? There are good arguments for avoiding the word "obviously" in many circumstances... but I don't buy that argument.
Animats 5y ago
"Obvious" in mathematics is seldom defined. It does, though, have a specific meaning. Something is obvious if applying standard solving techniques without planning ahead will work. That is, backtracking will not be necessary. In this sense, symbolic differentiation is obvious, but symbolic integration is not.
swalladge 5y ago
I've had a draft for a similar post lying around for a long time too - this would be about the word "just". It's used too often to undervalue work (just a hobby project, just a webapp...) or be misleading about the complexity of things (just set the dns entry, just solve the halting problem).

by anm89 5y ago

gumby 5y ago

Me: new (to me) high school, 1978. In the headmaster’s western civ class. In the first test (three questions, answer one, use as many blue books as you need) I wrote, “Obviously...”. When the results were handed back I looked at my book. Where I had written, “obviously” he had crossed out that word and a lot of subsequent text. He wrote, “since it was obvious I didn’t bother to read it.” Forty odd years later I have never forgotten the lesson which affected me not simply in regards to the word “obviously”. (The whole class failed that test and there followed quite a bit of instruction on how to to do schoolwork. I now wonder if it even counted against our grade?)

Dylan16807 5y ago
Sometimes an obvious thing needs to be brought up as context for a future statement. His reasoning there is blatantly wrong. And omitting the word "obvious" wouldn't make the statement any less obvious. Wouldn't his explanation demand he cross out any basic true statements, no matter how you worded them? There are good arguments for avoiding the word "obviously" in many circumstances... but I don't buy that argument.

Animats 5y ago

"Obvious" in mathematics is seldom defined. It does, though, have a specific meaning. Something is obvious if applying standard solving techniques without planning ahead will work. That is, backtracking will not be necessary. In this sense, symbolic differentiation is obvious, but symbolic integration is not.

swalladge 5y ago

I've had a draft for a similar post lying around for a long time too - this would be about the word "just". It's used too often to undervalue work (just a hobby project, just a webapp...) or be misleading about the complexity of things (just set the dns entry, just solve the halting problem).