I am nearing 50 posts on this little blog so an important question naturally
arises after having written so much. Does anything I write or say make sense?
Do people just nod along with it and then when I finally stop and leave think,
“man that guy is crazy, what is he talking about?” I like to think I am
Brain, but do
others just hear Pinky?
An example for context. I am talking about acting to some friends, and how I
am rubbish at it. So bad people would be asking “why did the filmmakers use
actors from Home Depot?”. That is not the exact line I said, but it is close
enough. I thought it was clear enough, but all I could see were confused faces.
The thing is, this is my humor. Anyone can make a joke about a person acting
wooden. You have to go to that next level, where you understand everyone knows
that. You build on that knowledge and layer a joke on top. A person is acting
wooden, wood comes from Home Depot. Simple right? Blank stares, no laughing,
failure to communicate.
It is not just jokes though. Jokes can be excused. The issue at play here is
I might think I am being clear, but actually not being so. Imagine a carpenter
made chairs in a sealed room. Wood comes in one side, the carpenter sends the
finished chair out the other. She does this for many years and things, “I make
so many chairs, I am a skilled carpenter.” Meanwhile, outside the sealed room,
the chair inspector keeps rejecting them and burning them for firewood. Without
feedback how can any of us know if we are making a worthwhile product? I just
happen to be making collections of words here though so we are even further
removed from my example. Not everyone is a carpenter, but, as the internet
teaches us, everyone can write.
So what is to be done? How can I know if I am clear or not? It helps if I
write without error in spelling or grammar. I think I am doing that well, I
have no proofreader, but myself to confirm. I study logical fallacies so that
should help with my arguments, but it is so easy to fall prey to them.
Discussing issues with others seems to help. Easy to establish a feedback loop.
See what is working, adjust, see if it works better. If anything I am going to
blame others for being too polite and not calling me out when I say something
dumb or make no sense.
I hope, dear reader, you are not expecting a sudden insight with a solution
to this problem because I have none. Which is why this is tagged ‘Musings’ and
not ‘Philosophy’. Just thoughts on a continuing process.