tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post1545434334654622093..comments2024-03-27T14:50:47.345-04:00Comments on <center>Sandwalk</center>: Why are academics such bad writers?Larry Moranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-62773171775008125632016-09-19T04:34:12.152-04:002016-09-19T04:34:12.152-04:00Not all the academic writing services suck, just m...Not all the <a href="http://pro-academic-writers.com/" rel="nofollow">academic writing services</a> suck, just most of them are typical and its seems like copy pasteAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02036141162168507103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-4639575073203141332016-08-16T00:53:15.820-04:002016-08-16T00:53:15.820-04:00Comprehensible and comprehensive.
Pick one.Comprehensible and comprehensive.<br /><br />Pick one.aluchkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14185521272093659332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-35211891727087353112016-08-09T14:24:12.439-04:002016-08-09T14:24:12.439-04:00I had to write a business case while back; my grad...I had to write a business case while back; my grad student and I were looking for a grant to develop an crazy idea. The grant was aimed at commercialisation, and not science, although the money would be spent on R&D. I hated every minute of the process.<br /><br />The reviews from the innovation office at the university kept coming back to dumb it down. But there came a point when it was just full of half-baked analyses, market research pretty much made up whole cloth, and pie-in-the-sky promises. <br /><br />The dichotomy of the two styles of business writing and science writing really hit hard. It really felt awful to write such dreck and a finish a series of related research papers at the same time. <br /><br />Under the guidance of the innovation office, it got funded. Take a step back and the final result was pretty slick, though the old adage about sausage making really applied.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11178983155785076595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-26354120323216625482016-08-06T06:54:04.608-04:002016-08-06T06:54:04.608-04:00Recently, we were told that we must refer to ourse...Recently, we were told that we must refer to ourselves in the plural when writing a single author paper, so we did. But now look what's happened to us.<br /><br />Almost all the biology we know is self-taught. For molecular biology, that mainly means Alberts et al, which we think is a great text book. Yes, it's a 1300-page monster, but there are more pictures than pages. It's odd, and sad, that most books aimed at the general public have so few. <br /><br />We like the notion of Lies-to-children (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie-to-children). "We happily teach children that 'you cannot take 3 from 2' because we are confident that someone will later introduce them to negative numbers." If you're writing for adults you can't be confident they'll ever revisit the subject you're writing about, so you have to be much more upfront about your lying, but we still think it's a good strategy.<br /><br />Graham Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212540504498321504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-62240411245420803802016-08-05T18:01:42.162-04:002016-08-05T18:01:42.162-04:00Yes, his later essays run on and on. I liked the ...Yes, his later essays run on and on. I liked the earlier ones, though, a lot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-90705199217865320092016-08-05T17:16:51.769-04:002016-08-05T17:16:51.769-04:00I have heard that he had a deal with Natural Histo...I have heard that he had a deal with Natural History Magazine that he would not be subject to any editing whatsoever. That sounds great, but what it led to was that he became more and more wordy. A review of his late book <i>The Structure of Evolutionary Theory</i> was rude about his prose and said "can you say logorrhea?"Joe Felsensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06359126552631140000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-18203608503999569842016-08-05T16:28:18.665-04:002016-08-05T16:28:18.665-04:00A friend was asked to show how she would present a...A friend was asked to show how she would present a topic to beginners. She made a very simple, clear presentation. One of the people on the committee thought she shouldn't get the job because she didn't know the materal well enough. <br /><br />Fortunately, the other committee members knew her (from before the interview), understood what she'd done and why, and insisted on hiring her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-84298280746934143112016-08-05T14:30:46.741-04:002016-08-05T14:30:46.741-04:00I once got a grant review that said "the prop...I once got a grant review that said "the proposal is clearly written" followed by comments that indicated the reviewer regarded that as a negative.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634273226514511948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-47587548944360780952016-08-05T08:31:27.343-04:002016-08-05T08:31:27.343-04:00I think part of the problem is trying to make an i...I think part of the problem is trying to make an idea seem important, by which I mean, something that makes a difference in everyday life. Or something that changes the way we look at the world. Bestselling writers do this, possibly at the expense of exaggerating.<br /><br />Titles reflect the desire to capture the imagination, and titles often scream.Petrushkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02343702725399620404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-48396380280528266672016-08-04T22:11:33.131-04:002016-08-04T22:11:33.131-04:00I'm not a fan of stephen Pinker either but the...I'm not a fan of stephen Pinker either but the point about hedging, humming i find very real in the great number of pappers i have read on geomorphology.<br />Its like they are afraid to commit even though they are writing to make/offer new ideas with punch. Yes afraid. <br />i think writing is a skill also and agree that considering they are not writers its not that bad. Science types, on a curve, are sharp enough to write well though not writers.<br />It is a skill. people complain about my 'skill' even though i write as I think and speak. 9if that helps explain it).<br />Robert Byershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05631863870635096770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-24900291293409812082016-08-04T15:09:50.691-04:002016-08-04T15:09:50.691-04:00Stephen Jay Gould is one example of an academic wh...<em>Stephen Jay Gould is one example of an academic who does not fall prey to this fault but the result is a level of writing that's way beyond the average reader and even beyond most scientists. This is one reason why he is criticized so vehemently: he writes about complex issues in a complex way so it requires a bit of effort to understand. </em><br /><br />I liked a lot of what Gould wrote, but if anything I think the opposite criticism of him was more common -- that his description of biology was too simple and that he glossed over the complex mathematical aspects of evolution such as population genetics (perhaps because he wasn't that familiar with them). He did like to use what my grandfather used to call "$10 words" though.Jonathan Badgerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04921990886076027719noreply@blogger.com