Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Ineffectual
I reject the idea that you should speak in unconfident ways, be afraid of putting forward an argument strongly, without hedges... Are you doing your readers any favors by being suspicious of your own ability to say what you have to say? This clotted, ultra-meta discourse that so many people use is not necessary. The last two speakers in peninsular we've brought, Jim Fernández and Sebastiaan Faber, gave talks that anyone coming off the street would be able to understand.
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Well, my father, a professor, was on my case from 6th grade on about saying "is" rather than "may be," and the like. There's a time and a place for hedging but in his case I think it was laziness, not doing research. If you say "may be" you can just state your opinion without justifying it or being able to if asked. I've never liked it and it is why I prefer journalistic writing. I do not have a great deal of respect for the kind of academic who is forced to say "may be."
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