It’s a balance. An ex read every book in a small town library and spent a lot of college and early twenties relearning to say things right. By 28 she hardly ever got something wrong but if the subject ever came up she had plenty to say.
Someone once ranted about people using big words, “having a crush on their high school English teacher they never got over.” I knew exactly what he meant. I spent my childhood hiding how smart I was and part of my 20’s reveling in it. It’s off putting. Wisdom comes from everywhere, and the smartest often have the least. Now I’m solidly in the Feynman camp: if you can’t explain your domain to college freshmen then you don’t know what you’re talking about (yet).
When I’m refactoring code and introduce a new concept that’s like another one but different rules, I jump straight to a thesaurus. The word I pick out of the air might be good enough, but I guarantee you there’s a better one out there. Not fanciest or longest word, the most concise one. (Example: kind vs type in some circles of Type Theory). Some people act like that’s a crutch, but I’ve reviewed or refactored their code so I know that opinion and $5 isn’t worth a cup of coffee.
Someone once ranted about people using big words, “having a crush on their high school English teacher they never got over.” I knew exactly what he meant. I spent my childhood hiding how smart I was and part of my 20’s reveling in it. It’s off putting. Wisdom comes from everywhere, and the smartest often have the least. Now I’m solidly in the Feynman camp: if you can’t explain your domain to college freshmen then you don’t know what you’re talking about (yet).
When I’m refactoring code and introduce a new concept that’s like another one but different rules, I jump straight to a thesaurus. The word I pick out of the air might be good enough, but I guarantee you there’s a better one out there. Not fanciest or longest word, the most concise one. (Example: kind vs type in some circles of Type Theory). Some people act like that’s a crutch, but I’ve reviewed or refactored their code so I know that opinion and $5 isn’t worth a cup of coffee.