Easy Information vs TL:DR Content
TL:DR is quite prevalent in today's society and the idea pervades much of our information sources. The idea of concise and to the point has taken precedence and people appreciate getting good information easily.
And herein lies the problem.
I have been criticised quite heavily over the years for speaking around subjects, hinting at things, being too general and a minute later, too specific. I have had people read my work and then condense it down into something that they think is more understandable for them. People listen to what I have to say and then create a short rule based upon. 'So basically, you are saying...'
The interesting thing is that people think that I am incapable of being to the point and perhaps they are right because, I don't want to be to the point. I want there to be gaps in what I provide, space to roam and think and close to make the information yours, not mine.
To the point, simple, easy to obtain information is also the first information that gets dropped by the wayside. The harder one has to work for something, the more unwilling they are to let it go. Think of a child who gets pocket money every week from parents for doing chores. If the chore is to clean the bathroom for an hour and get 5 dollars, or clean a cowshed for an hour for the same five, the willingness to spend it and what is purchased is likely to change.
As many people know from experience, the value and connection to money changes significantly depending on what one has to do for it. Many lottery winners lose it all within a year or two, many inheritance kids spend like water until there is nothing left. Those that actually do the hard yards to make it, hold on and think before spending. Information is no different and in fact may be even more dependent on the investment level.
When one has to work hard for money, the body remembers the struggle. For information, the mind remembers. When information has to go through a convoluted pathway to get remembered, it creates many connections that will make recall simpler and understanding much, much greater. It forces the mind to take pathways it was not expecting to take, make connections it didn't want to make.
For an example of useless good information, if you are a little over weight and would like to drop a few kilos here is some very good information for nearly everyone one. Eat less sugar, move more. Done. You now have all of the information required to achieve your goals. You can upvote just for that information or send direct donations if you want.
The problem is though, you are saying, well duh, I already knew that. Okay smarty pants, why are you a little over weight then. Seems that knowing and doing are not quite the same still. However, let's say you go and get a book like 'Life without bread' which breaks down how sugar runs through your body at the endocrine level with case studies and how it effects insulin and the connection to a myriad societal diseases. Perhaps you also go and join a gym and make the effort to show up there, maybe even a personal trainer that makes you a programme and shouts at you too.
When you do the work, you will not want to let the results pass you by and are therefore much more likely to close the gap between knowing and doing. You will eat better, move more and the excess kilos will fall. Cheat on your diet a lot, skip the gym frequently and you will not see the results. It won't be because you don't have the information though as I just gave it to you. Simply.
The process of making information difficult to obtain is called cognitive disfluency, and it is well documented. I wrote a piece the other day about the background work of genius, all the failure behind success and I think this process has a big part to do with it.
Clever people don't stay where it is easy, they challenge their mind in places unknown. It is a constant state of cognitive disfluency as none of the information is easy to get as it may not exist in consumable form yet. They have to even create new methods and equipment before they can start to close the gaps. Gaps, gaps, gaps. They keep opening more and more and working to constantly close them again.
The way I write may be very annoying for many and they will turn off, choose not to do the work. This is common. With the abundance of easy to consume information, why go through a lot more work to get the same information? What a waste of time.
Well, it is the same as the eating well and getting into shape. Why isn't everyone walking around with a six pack and can bench 130 kilos (285 pounds)? Because it isn't easy, even when you know what you need to do to get there.
The more people that tune out, turn off, scroll through, the better for those that don't. For those that take the time to build a better understanding will benefit even more greatly when they are part of the 'select few' group. It is possible that this is a large part of the difference between success and average. It isn't what you know, it is how you use it.
I could have had the same information as a billionaire at one point but the difference was that at the time, I wasn't willing to act, invest myself deeper, take the time, do what others weren't. If I could see into the future, and 'know', would I have done differently? Probably. But I couldn't and I did not understand enough to act upon what I knew at the time.
The select few group may read this article and say, I know all of this but it gives me an idea. They could find a seed among the ramble to build upon, take benefit from. And then they will add that seed to all of the other information they have struggled to get understanding in and, perhaps do something great (Again, tips welcome).
Perhaps they will find nothing of benefit here at all but they will still have to consider my information against their own and reference check it. Even with no benefit from my words, they get a better understanding of what they already know and further development of the foundations it rests upon.
So for those who found this TL:DR, you may have saved a few minutes of your time but you didn't get this far anyway, so why bother writing to you? For those that made it this far, perhaps you can take a few of these ideas, think a moment and condense all of this down into something like: KNOWING isn't DOING and if I know and don't do, I don't actually UNDERSTAND.
I have spent too many years of my life knowing what to do, but unable to do it. I haven't understood enough. Since being here on Steemit I am slowly closing the gaps between those two points. I am becoming active with what I know and I hope that this long-winded journey will help some of you too. I can't be the only one clever enough to mostly know what to do, stupid enough not to do it, can I?
So as a person nearing 40, I do have a little bit of a belly because I do not understand enough to turn down the donuts. However, I do understand enough that I can still bench 130kg, not bad for an old guy who rambles at a keyboard. So I guess, I am halfway there but still have many more gaps to close. Mostly mental.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
This is for @kryptik :P
Holy fuck! You bench 130kgs!? Not bad at all, indeed :D
a little more on a very good day but, it has been a few months since I have attempted. I don't care too much about benching as it is essentially useless for anything practical.
Yeah, that's definitely true, not much than a bragging chip among guys. I've never even attempted maximum bench nor have I have even benched than couple of times in my life since I mostly do calisthenics, body weight stuff. Those rare times I get in a gym (for free) I'd rather do something like deadlifting.
Deadlifts are probably the best exercise one can do if one can only choose one exercise.
"Eat less sugar, move more."
At last I will be thin! At last, wait, what was it you said? I forget, let's google it.
I kind of already knew the point you are making, but I never had a term for it. "Cognitive disfluency," I like that. I think having a term for something makes it more real.
It's so true that if all you do to discover something, is google it, that it has no impact, and that you will be googling that same thing again within no time.
I don't take having a "bit" of a belly as a problem. Having a lot of one is an early demise. But having none at all could mean you are turning life into a pleasureless routine of miserable fitness pursuits that will end in death as surely as if you ate a diet of pure donuts.In fact, science suggests that slightly overweight people outlive those who are the ideal weight, I imagine for precisely this reason.
A life of beating yourself into utter perfection also makes you miserable, and misery speeds the exit. :)
Many people experience this when they use navigators to get somewhere unknown. They focus on what they are told instead of absorbing the surrounds so they can find it alone next time.
I am a little bit over where I am comfortable which carries its own misery :)
What exactly are you trying to day here.
I am generally to the point. Sometimes I am not and just make an observation comment. I have received comments that I was to vague. I did not want to give my opinion on the observation just the comment thrown out there. My opinion is mine come up with your own. it might not be the same as mine and that's OK.
every where you turn TV, radio even social media people take the opinion given out instead of coming up with their own. Maybe because its considered mainstream and no one wants to stand alone supporting their opinion.
Maybe it is an issue with laziness or a chance at being wrong. Better to go with the ideas of the group. I have noticed a lot lately (unsure if it is increasing or I am paying more attention - guess is increasing) that there is a lot more telling going on and a lot less room for open thought. It further drives the power of authority as not only is direction taken, the skill to think clearly and objectively is lost. Sheep in the field.
It is getting worse, slowly. The problem well one of them is that the ones holding the opposite view are keeping quiet instead of speaking their mind when asked or worse avoiding the conversation.
If you look at it closely its all about leading the sheep into a political pen.
It is creating another class gap.
I just prefer minimalism. Length doesn’t require a piece to be of any cognitive value. Not saying your writing was or wasn’t of any value. I was just giving you a hard time.
I’ll leave you with this snippet that provides insight on the power of brevity:
We just have a difference in philosophy.
For me it’s not the length or technical perfection but the emotion a piece of writing evokes.
Everyone has their own style.
It always depends on the information being transmitted and its purpose. If giving orders and one holds authority or if urgency is required, brevity is enough. Changing habits carried since childhood might require a different approach.
I work with behavioral problems everyday at my job.(As I have for the past ten years.) We were taught that a behavior has very little chance of being changed unless it is easier or the same difficulty as the behavior you’re trying to eradicate.
That’s one reason you’re not working out everyday.
This is very conflicting with this view of cognitive disfluency you’re portraying. Harder to acquire knowledge is more lasting because you’re building more neural pathways not because it was more difficult to obtain. That’s why things like singing the ABC’s work and that’s not a very difficult thing to learn right?
Repetition is hammering it in your head.
There’s a time and place for every type of writing. Like I said it’s mainly a stylistic choice.
This is a simplification and unfortunately, often the habit looking to be changed is going to be the default option learned so, effort is required.
A simple thing like making the font used harder to read can be enough to dramatically change retention and understanding as it forces the reader (if required to learn) to slow down and absorb more. This makes it more difficult which, like you said, builds more/stronger neural pathways.
Again, it all depends on what the information is aimed to achieve. Remembering what to do isn't necessarily understanding how to do.
Came for TL:DR, didn't find it. The article was too long, so I flag'd it to oblivion.
Also I can bench 2 of my kids, does that count?
I find this is much harder than benching weights because of the 'wriggle factor' combined with the 'disapproving wife' factor.
Oh that eye stare, right?
Wow, this is something that I definitely knew but it's funny to have it hit me in the head with such clarity. I always was in the habit of providing a tldr and then details for those that want to dig but now I'm wondering if that actually is counterproductive.
I've frequently seen at work, and I'm a little guilty of this as well because we all want to save time as much as possible, that someone will assume the content of the rest and not read it, and frequently we would need to set up a meeting to walk through it.
The other thing is even the long form is susceptible to gaps if read too quickly, but if structured with just the right amount of 'repetition'-- rather, saying similar points in different ways-- or maybe sanity check lines.... it can put the reader back on track or prompt a rereading of some sections. Rather thinking out loud in this comment.
It's almost like tricking someone into learning it well. A theme I've thought about in recent times....
This is the way to use rhetorical questions in education as it makes people review what they have learned before moving on. If they don't have an answer, they will be forced to think a little longer.
TThe trick is about compelling the learning, this is why (another post later) the use of stories, analogies, metaphors and parables is so popular in passing information across generations. People forget we think in pictures that provide context like mini movies and instead, provide lists that people are expected to remember. Lists are good for shopping items and to do tasks but aren't great for changing habits.
Well, I do agree with the idea that one should actively seeking information, and the effort put into it will reflect in the way such information is used or retained. But I always believe that information should be relatively concise. Yes, some things need to be explained in detail while some don't. So it's important that whoever is in the position to convey any information should know this.
There is a difference between being told how to do something and learning to do it yourself. Many people look to be told. To actually learn, it takes more thought than what is just said and many are unwilling to think more deeply because they already have the answer to solve their immediate issue. The next issue that arises though they will likely have to ask for help again.
When I was a kid I used to spend money like it grows in our home but as soon I came into the professional life, I have been a lot careful and rarely spends it without the need. I think effort for something gives you an idea of how important that thing is for you.
I think the way we learn in the home often dictates later action as it becomes our world view. Under solid review, much of what we were taught could likely benefit from a lot more thought.
Hi Taraz if we feed everyone what we think is right with an idea or a view there is no room to grow that thought. by leaving gaps you are leaving the door open for input that may change your original view slightly. People have to think for themselves in order to understand what you are trying to convey.
Ah, mental gaps to close!
I've never heard anyone else describe it that way before. I might be too easily amazed but I describe many of my efforts as "building bridges", after the former.. "bridging the gaps".
Well.. I'm glad I got all that out in the open.