On Jargon

Richard Feynman famously said:

“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing — that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”

 

We are all familiar with that problem. Sometimes people use fancy terms to impress other. But far more often, what people are really doing is using the jargon of their field, as Seth Godin points out:

“If it’s important, conceptual or frequently discussed, there’s probably a domain-based word that experts understand. The precision of a special vocabulary allows them to do better work.”

 

Godin agrees with Feynman in that knowing the jargon doesn’t necessarily mean one is an expert in that domain. On the other hand:

“If someone doesn’t know the word for it, it might be worth investigating what else they don’t know.”

 

After all, he rightly points out:

“Domain knowledge and experience are powerful tools.”

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