Language Shapes Knowledge, But Also Limits It
- While language is a powerful tool for sharing and building knowledge , it also has limitations.
- These limitations can create barriers to understanding, leading to miscommunication or misinterpretation.
Language can both enable and restrict our understanding of the world, often at the same time.
Jargon Creates Knowledge Gatekeeping
- When economists talk about "quantitative easing" instead of "printing money," they're using language that signals professional credibility while making economic policy discussions inaccessible to the public who will be affected by those policies.
- This works like an inside joke that only certain people understand.
- If you know what "quantitative easing" means, you're part of the economic policy in-group.
- If you don't, you're excluded from conversations about monetary policy that directly affects your savings, job prospects, and cost of living.
- Professional communities nonetheless choose precision because their work requires fine distinctions that everyday language can't capture. B
Most fields choose precision over accessibility, which concentrates knowledge power among experts and creates clear in-group/out-group boundaries around who gets to participate in important decisions.
Example- Legal documents use "whereas the party of the first part" instead of "the buyer" because in complex contracts, the same person might be buying some things, selling others, and providing services all within the same agreement.
- "The buyer" becomes confusing when someone is simultaneously a buyer and seller in different parts of the contract.
- "Party of the first part" therefore lets lawyers refer consistently to the same entity throughout the document regardless of their changing role.
- This precision helps lawyers track who has which obligations, but makes contracts incomprehensible to the people signing them.
- Simialrly, financial advisors talk about "asset allocation optimization" instead of "how to split up your money."
- The jargon sounds more professional, but it also distinguishes between simple money distribution and complex strategies that consider risk correlation, time horizons, and market conditions.
Ambiguity Reveals Different Knowledge Systems
Aside from poor communication, ambiguity also shows how different groups use the same words with completely different meanings.
