Clarity of communication versus niche terminology...

 

...it sure is a work in progress.

I was in a meeting the other day with the group representing a particular subset of the disabled population and as the various discussions progressed I noticed a lot of niche terminology being used consistently. This group was verily big and a diverse in age as well so I found it amazing that the people using the terminology didn't check in with everyone to make sure that the definitions for the words were all clearly understood. I can't remember the exact phrase which really stood out to me, and I wish I could right now, because I would write the presenter of the meeting a letter asking "What the heck were you talking about?" Again it was in a very trendy context. Sometimes I do wish that people would speak directly especially when dealing with the larger public. If they are in a group of professionals that I can understand because specialized terminology can make things more efficient when you know your audience. It was even more surprising therefore when no one in the crowd asked for definitions or clarification. We all sat there rather quietly, not wanting to show our ignorance. But I'm telling you that is not a good thing to do. I'm a little mad at myself upon reflecting on this incident. I should've stood up and articulated my thoughts.

This is obviously going to be an opinion piece. But I really do think that as a society tries on one hand to be more inclusive and understanding of their fellow human being. it is on the other neglecting clarity and true communication. I wonder then, if this is just an indication that we are attempting to hide our own biases and prejudices. We use ambiguous words and acronyms to gaslight ourselves into thinking we are more open. But I'm not supposed we are more open now days… Society seems to be on the whole easier to offend and now days that outrage gets broadcast awfully quickly,and not necessarily dealt with just reacted to. So in some cases we are not really dealing with the issues at hand. An analogy would be, scratching an itch but not considering why one is itching in the first place. While short-term relief is achieved the underlying issues just fester away and as they get buried farther and farther down the problem gets more abstract.

My goodness this all sounds rather pessimistic and that is not like me. But on the other hand this issue has bothered me for a while and it was at this meeting that it really became obvious. How to move forward is the question: How does humanity finally begin to resolve some of these behaviours which can cloud clear communication?  if it were me, I would just speak directly deliberately avoiding all trendy terminology because my goal would be to convey information and encourage communication and understanding.

My hypothesis therefore moving forward would be that an over reliance on niche terminology or other unclear language is to hide something so that the speaker doesn't have to deal with it directly. This could be almost anything from a deliberate, act to subconscious motivations. -- Who among us, really knows themselves?  --   It is at best a journey of discovery for each of us.

 Let me know what you think.  Have a great day and take care.
Patrick