Are you working class, middle class or ... what?

think I did at one point probably, probably came up during first year philosophy?

Should probably get rid of all my expensive philosophy book tbh, anyone want the collected works of Marx/Freud/Hume etc?

Ah ok I misunderstood what you were saying! She’s like the opposite of Lilo lil

why do I always use the same word three or more times in every post?

(not every post)

Really can’t be bothered to use my brain anymore.

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Well, not Jack Johnson but in between being at someone’s place (more likely listening to obscure 50s rhythm’n’blues) and passing out in the garden. Or doing something similar to both at different times.

A vague idea. You know, where you know but can’t really explain it to someone else.

Treated with suspicion if you demonstrate knowledge without being able to wave around a degree from a reputable uni tho. I’ve been sneered at for knowing about the Kurds or the history of labour in South America because there’s no academic or career boost in it for me.

Of course, but using inaccessible academic language is pretty elitist

Is coming into contact with words, phrases and ways of looking at things that you are unfamiliar with not a great way to learn? I always get /got really bored reading stuff that’s ‘aimed at my level’. Also don’t think forum posts need to always be aiming for the lowest common denominator, especially on dis where political literacy has improved loads in the past 7 years

Course it is but don’t complain if people don’t engage with you when you’re writing like that. There’s nothing clever about writing stuff that only people with the same vocabulary as you can follow

There’s a world of difference between writing that’s aimed at a lower level and just writing in plain english

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I didn’t complain. I also don’t really see the problem with writing in a way that some people can’t follow sometimes. Things are complicated, and it’s difficult to capture their complexity more precisely when using plain English. I mean, this sort of language did evolve for a reason other than academic elitism imo.

I just don’t think I’ve come across anything that can’t be explained better in plain english. DB managed it with your post in this thread before you posted :man_shrugging: Just feels pretty ironic to be defending inaccessible language in a thread about class

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I don’t think db’s post is much less academic than mine tbh. I’ll accept that I should have said ‘intertwined’ instead of ‘enmeshed’ though.

I’m talking more about plain english making it more accessible rather than how academic it is. It’s just easier to follow

Also something I’ve noticed in work mainly is people explaining things using overly complex language tend to do it to hide that they don’t actually understand what they’re talking about in a well rounded way. I’m not saying that that’s the case for you, just that if you have a full understanding of what you’re (the plural “you”, not >you<, you know, I’m mostly thinking out loud) talking about then you can explain it to people in a straightforward way

I think that some people are so used to using jargon or what is perceived as inaccessible academic language that they sort of forget that not everyone will understand. I’m all in favour of Plain English, though. But I do fear being perceived as talking down to people if I simplify myself in certain situations.

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I do like being forced to look up a word in the dictionary and learn something new.

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Exactly, but I think if you’ve got a thorough understanding of what you’re talking about you’re better able to explain it to someone who doesn’t, so you wouldn’t be talking down to them so much as making the conversation open to more people

True, yes. And sometimes there’s a narrow/grey line between the two. In my mind, at least.

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I like ’enmeshed’

Enmeshed is a good word

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