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by dkdcwashere 445 days ago
the author ironically uses a lot of words to say very little, though I agree with the conclusion. it’s already annoying to have someone use a lot of words to say very little (especially in a business context). now it’s free and easily accessible for anyone, whereas before it at least took some social stamina

so people will do it, people will be annoyed by it, people will prioritize to more efficient communicators

7 comments

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief. Your noble son is mad.

or

“That,” replied Hardin, “is the interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Houk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications—in short all the goo and dribble—he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out. Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn't say one damned thing, and said it so that you never noticed.

A perfect summary: https://marketoonist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/230327.n...

It's lossy expansion. The worst of both worlds!

and society requires efficiency as attention spans have been reduced to near 0 with tiktok videos and youtube shorts being the norm now.

maybe we end up back at hieroglyphs.

We should invent a language like stenography or algebra, in which it would be impossible not to express something if it is not either a fact or an implication. Then we can see at first sight whether it’s dense or not.
> it’s already annoying to have someone use a lot of words to say very little

Totally agreed. I'd like to cut to the point with a bit of pleasantry at the beginning just because I have to.

> now it’s free and easily accessible for anyone

at least everyone can also let it be summarized for us then

It's still terser than a pg essay!
“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
"more time shorter letter"