By Mike Johnson
A columnist I enjoy, says many of the things I say, but does so more gently.
This requires more words.
Thousands more words.
With each additional word, he loses another reader.
People – especially the people he is trying to reach – have short attention spans.
Because I value concise, I use fewer words, which is less gentle.
So I lose readers by being so direct.
But being concise forces clear thinking.
Which definitely helps me.
And helps the readers who are aware and courageous enough to think clearly, even if it ruffles established norms.
This favored columnist also describes all his sources.
This too, adds hundreds of additional words.
The effort to “prove” what he says is true, because someone else said it somewhere else, is catering to an academic audience I don’t respect.
Much of academics is bullshit, pomposity, lies and musty, confused thinking.
Taking a course, to get a credential, to gain credibility, is a failed and ridiculous journey that wastes years of time and buckets of money.
The knowledge gained is only as good as the teacher and the material.
Garbage in, garbage out.
So a credential does not guarantee competency, accuracy, clarity or usability.
The people who are impressed by credentials are people who do not impress ME.
They are delegating the contents of their minds to others who often do not deserve such reverence.
This leads us to opinion vs fact.
Sometimes opinion IS fact and sometimes opinion is based on lies.
In this realm, run by devils, “facts” are often lies.
Only God’s discernment and critical thinking can sort the two.
If you can’t properly sort, you’re doomed to embrace lies that are disguised as “facts.”
You then make life decisions based on lies, which lead you to places you’d never choose.
Gentle writing may offend fewer people, but I think its length and lack of clarity converts fewer people too.
Sharp, disciplined minds want concise, clear thoughts.
Using fewer words reduces nuance and feeling and gentleness.
But it adds clarity.
To me, it’s well worth it.
I want the refined bottle of syrup, not the entire barrel of sap.
Less is more.
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