Wow. That article is pure gold: the kinds of mistaken explanations they talk about are exactly what I hear from people who give unhelpful explanations—they don’t see the limits of their own understanding of the phenomenon, and obviously can’t convey what they lack. And so any explanation they give is thus extremely brittle, as they can’t do much more than swap in other terms for the mysterious concepts they invoke.
(This is not to say they’re completely unhelpful—a partial explanation is better than none at all. But in that case, it’s preferable that you clarify that your understanding is indeed limited, and can’t connect it to a broader understanding of the world.)
Wow. That article is pure gold: the kinds of mistaken explanations they talk about are exactly what I hear from people who give unhelpful explanations—they don’t see the limits of their own understanding of the phenomenon, and obviously can’t convey what they lack. And so any explanation they give is thus extremely brittle, as they can’t do much more than swap in other terms for the mysterious concepts they invoke.
(This is not to say they’re completely unhelpful—a partial explanation is better than none at all. But in that case, it’s preferable that you clarify that your understanding is indeed limited, and can’t connect it to a broader understanding of the world.)