Disclaimer: this is not a dig at honest people like Wong Chin Huat. Ph.D. programs have fostered a culture that glorifies arcane unintelligibility while disdaining impact and audience.... academics seeking tenure must encode their insights into turgid prose. As a double protection against public consumption, this gobbledygook is then sometimes hidden in obscure journals — or published by university presses whose reputations for soporifics keep readers at a distance. -- Nicholas Kristofs column at the Sunday NYT. Note, hes arguing *for* more academicians to *write for the public*, not actually criticising their writing abilities. On a related note, I used to get complaints from academicians pooh-poohing what we write, for being superficial and lacking citations (!). Arcane gobbledegook seemed to be hallmark of good writing in their view! nytimes/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-professors-we-need-you.htm
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 01:04:09 +0000
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