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by PradeetPatel 1529 days ago
>The levels of dumbing down is near endless

This is the kind of patronising attitude that will further the gap between engineers and product people.

Being able to articulate technical details with the right level of abstraction, and without "dumbing it down" is an essential skill when engaging with stakeholders of varying levels.
2 comments
wfme 1529 days ago
Agreed. When talking to a doctor, you expect to communicate in terms you understand, or at least have essential terms explained in a non-condescending manner. It doesn't matter if they know a technically correct term for something if it means nothing to you - you expect to be communicated with, not communicated to.

The same expectations carry across to most jobs in tech. It is rare that you work in isolation, so being able to communicate details without going over the head of the other person is an invaluable skill to master.

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verve_rat 1529 days ago
I agree with you... mostly. I do find it frustrating that almost all the effort is expected to be on the technical personnel. I don't care if you are a "business" person (aren't we all?), I don't care if your job is sales, or product management, if you deal with software all day, you should put the effort in to understand it.

There is an expectation that the technical person has to explain everything at 100 different levels of detail, depending on the composition of the people in the room. But there often isn't the reciprocal expectation that the non-technical people put some effort in. If you work with a technical subject and you can't understand it, past a certain point, that is on you.

It's your job to understand this stuff, do your fucking job.

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majkinetor 1529 days ago
In what universe doctors communicate in terms you understand? They even write freeking diagnosis on Latin that nobody knows.

Coming out of doctor that explained things to you is once-in-life event.

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nulbyte 1529 days ago
Not sure where you are located, but I've lived in many places in the Midwest and Florida, and almost every doctor I have interacted with is fully capable of explaining things and does it well. This is not a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but a basic requirement. If your doctor isn't doing this, maybe you should ask more questions. If your doctor can't do this, find another one.
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majkinetor 1529 days ago
No its not. The commenter is right. There are schools that teach people how to transmit knowledge to other people. Not only it is not for everybody but even those that finish those schools usually suck.
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