SIMPLE WRITING, SIMPLE PAPERS, AND SIMPLE THINKING

By

Bradley E. Alger, Ph.D.
Departments of Physiology and Psychiatry and Program in Neuroscience
School of Medicine
University of Maryland Baltimore

Simple Writing

Omit needless words.
How do we know if a word is "needless"?
It is needless if its omission does not change the meaning of the sentence.

It has been reported that each neuron in the brain is an individual cell (Cajal, 1895).

Each neuron in the brain is an individual cell (Cajal, 1895).

The phrase 'It has been reported that' is appropriate only when the statement that follows is of uncertain validity or must be qualified in some way.  It should not be used when making a statement of probably validity or at least one you do not intend to dispute.

Examples of needless words

*it has been reported that
*are thought to (omit)
*in trems of (omit)
*that point in time (then, when)
*it changed over time (it changed)
*because of the fact that (because)
*in order to show (to show)
*we come to the conclusion (we conclude)
*(had no) measurable effect (no effect)
*acts to (do something) does
*give me a call back (call me)

To be avoided at all costs

* one of the only

     (one of the few)

• double-check

     (check)

If you don’t really know what a particular phrase means, look it up or don’t use it.

Example— "begs the question…"

*It does NOT mean "raises the question..."

• A statement that begs the question, actually assumes as true something that must still be proven.

Joe says "Dogs' ears are much more sensitive than humans’ ears because dogs can hear higher frequencies."
But Joe’s answer begs the question, because it assumes that the ability to hear higher frequencies means that their ears are more sensitive.  (The dogs’ ability to hear higher frequencies really just means that dogs hear different sounds than humans do. Human ears are as sensitive as dog ears when the sound is within the human range of hearing.)

SIMPLE PAPERS

Titles of the form
'The effects of X on Y'
are always bad.

They are boring.
They suggest the work is boring.
They are uninformative.

Nobody will read the paper, except possibly those people already working on X or, maybe, Y.

The effects of Ovasutin on embryos

(boring vague, uninformative)

Ovasutin grows hair on chicken’s eggs

(catchy, clear, informative)

SIMPLE THINKING

Occam’s Razor—
The law of parsimony

The simplest hypothesis that can explain all of the data is preferred.

Explanations should be as simple as they can be—but not simpler. (A Einstein)

The law does NOT imply that the world is simple.  It is a just recipe for proceeding in a way that minimizes meaningless complications.

Observation:  You walk into a room. A VCR is on, but there is no picture on the TV. Why? Two (or many) possibilities: TV is off.   2. Electrical outlet in the wall is not working.

            Hypothesis 1:  TV is off.  Test—TV “on” button.  Nothing happens.

             Hypothesis 2:  TV is unplugged.  Test—plug.  Nothing happens.

             Hytothesis 3:   TV is broken. Test—move TV and plug into different outlet.  TV comes on.

             Conclude:  Electrical outlet is not working.

Effective Academic Writing

• Read
• Write
• Rewrite (put it away for a while).
• Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite
• Have others read your work.
• Rewrite
• Send it in.

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