Essentials on writing and the future of academic communication
I noticed that when I listen to academics, they speak in a much simpler language that is completely different than the way they write. In academia, there has been an ongoing debate on the ways to write more effectively. And I have always been on the side that pushes for simplicity.
Well, let’s think about the purpose of academic articles. They are communication tools in the form of papers. This communication can be among academics, but also can lead authors’ ideas to the public. The same authors, when they debate among each other or participate in a panel, speak in a much simpler language, and their efficiency is generally greater than their performance in academic papers.
However complex an experiment or a research can be, if it is not explainable in simple terms, that signals to me that the authors themselves have not fully understood it yet. Feynman’s 4 techniques on learning are also applicable to explaining.
More about this topic on this essay: https://www.ardakukul.com/calis-100-al-my-technique-to-learn-anything-fast-and-its-relation-to-feynman-technique/
Arda Kukul
The essence of writing is this: Write simple, and write as if you are speaking.
That essence, however counter-productive it may seem to some academics, will increase the quality and efficiency of academic communication.
If we accept those academic articles as communicative tools connecting academics about the latest developments in their fields, we can also expect a technological revolution.
The communication should not be limited to paper, in my opinion. It can be conceived as a holographic tool, packaging data not only on the paper but in a three dimensional atmosphere where the experiment about a paper can be “recreated” by other academics. More convenient than that will be the utilization of AR platforms to provide interactive opportunities to recreate the experiments and evaluate the analyses of the experimenters.
The importance of AR in academia kept reminding me of my experience in the Apple Visitor Center in Cupertino. A model of Apple Park was located in a large room where visitors were able to take tablets and interact with Apple Park while creating different weather conditions. It felt like I was a scientist observing the area as I was able to lift the roofs to check what “Apple employees” were doing inside, how wind flows in the Apple Park and how the whole campus looks during the day and night. It was a really beautiful experience, and I think that such a transformation will be deeply useful for academia.
I am reading about CRISPR technology with the book “A Crack in Creation” by Jennifer A. Doudna. Today, I really wanted to interact with the experiments that she explained in the book.
The AR transformation in academia, and science in general, will be a transformative revolution on how we package our data and knowledge for the future generations.
