In this insightful discussion, Steven Pinker, a Harvard Professor and renowned author, delves into the intricacies of effective writing. He addresses 'The Curse of Knowledge,' emphasizing the need to simplify language for broader audience connection. Pinker also reflects on the value of childhood perspectives in enhancing creativity and humor. Furthermore, he explores the impact of AI on writing, contrasting human creativity with AI's structured outputs, and urges writers to embrace clarity and brevity in their craft.
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insights INSIGHT
Curse of Knowledge Hinders Clarity
Bad writing often stems from the "curse of knowledge," where writers can't imagine not knowing what they know.
This causes them to use jargon, acronyms, and abstractions that confuse audiences unfamiliar with their field.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Diverse Readers for Clarity
Show your writing to diverse readers outside your specialization to catch unclear language.
Empathy alone isn't enough because the curse of knowledge blinds you to what others don't understand.
insights INSIGHT
Visual Imagery Enhances Writing
Thinking visually enriches writing since the brain relies heavily on sensory and motor imagery.
Writing should help readers form vivid mental images rather than rely on abstract jargon and concepts.
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In *Crazy English*, Richard Lederer delves into the illogical aspects of the English language, highlighting unusual phobias, the longest words in dictionaries, and the shortest sentence containing every letter of the alphabet. The book offers a lighthearted look at the language's eccentricities, including food metaphors and palindromes.
Elements of Style
E. B. White
Strunk, William, Jr.
Roger Angell
Originally written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, 'The Elements of Style' is a comprehensive guide to writing in English. The book was later revised and expanded by E.B. White in 1959. It covers elementary rules of usage, principles of composition, matters of form, and commonly misused words and expressions. The guide is renowned for its emphasis on clear, concise, and vigorous writing, advising writers to omit needless words, use the active voice, and employ parallelism appropriately. The book has become a staple in U.S. high school and university composition classes and is widely regarded as one of the most influential non-fiction books written in English since 1923.
Enlightenment Now
Steven Pinker
In 'Enlightenment Now', Steven Pinker presents a comprehensive argument that the values of the Enlightenment—reason, science, and humanism—have been instrumental in the progress of human society. He challenges the prevailing pessimism in modern discourse by presenting empirical evidence that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise globally. Pinker uses data and graphs to illustrate improvements in various aspects of human life, such as increased life expectancy, reduced child and maternal mortality, and advancements in medicine and technology. He also addresses the psychological biases that lead people to underestimate these improvements and emphasizes the importance of continuing to uphold Enlightenment ideals to ensure further progress.
Anguished English
Richard Lederer
I’m here at Harvard in the office of Steven Pinker. He’s written nine books and spent his life studying language, cognition, and writing. In this interview, we started with the practical: the rules of writing. But what makes him unique is that he’s been thinking about AI since the 1980s. So if you’re interested in doing great non-fiction writing in the age of LLMs, this interview is for you.
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
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