[logsr]

language is one of the basic mechanisms for social differentiation and status. in academia specialized language is how different disciplines are differentiated and abstruse literary references are how people demonstrate their knowledge and status in the field.

knowing how to read ("knowing your letters") is not literacy. from an academic perspective the majority of the population is illiterate.

[mrangle]

Knowing how to read is partial literacy and the first step toward literacy, regardless of anyone's lust for pretense. From an academic perspective most academics are illiterate.

[satyrun]

This is just wrong.

Ordinary language is highly ambiguous, so specific domains have to use words that have been disambiguated for the domain so that people inside the domain can clearly communicate with each other.

Two chemist aren't doing performance art talking to each other because I am uneducated in chemistry so can't follow the conversation.