56. Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?

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  We love our work very much.

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  We're work lovers.

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  Just say it.

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  I'm Angela Duckworth.

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  I'm Stephen Dubner.

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  And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

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  Today on the show, why is academic writing so bad?

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  Why don't we turn it into a mad libs?

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  All you have to do is drop down menus and fill in the blank.

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  Also, what does your perfect day look like and what's preventing you from having more of them?

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  It's sunny and 77 degrees today, going up from a high of 76 yesterday.

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  Angela, we have a listener question from one David Bowling.

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  Here is my question, David writes.

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  Why is academic writing so bad?

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  Part of the answer, he writes, must be that the incentives make it bad.

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  That is, to gain tenure and to get published in academic journals,

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  one is rewarded for the denseness of one's writing, not whether it can be easily understood.

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  Also, conciseness and clarity are not rewarded, rather they are penalized.

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  Is conciseness a word?

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  I think conciseness is a word, but it's not the most concisive words, is it?

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