Good advice when writing about complex matters, except possibly the Anthropocene

Jedediah Purdy.

Former America President, William Taft, had some good advice for anyone writing anything for anyone.

The 27th President of the U.S., who served from 1909 to 1913 said: “Don’t write so that you can be understood, write so that you can’t be misunderstood.”

Such advice cannot be denied, but as with everything, there are always some ifs and buts, particularly when it comes to terms or words that are either scientific and context specific.

One of those is “externalities” that arises frequently in economic discussions or on climate change conversations.

Another is “Anthropocene”, common enough some circles, usually quite specific and remote from populist conversations, but broadly and generally understood by anthropologists and others who concern themselves with Earth’s history and geological matters.

The idea of the Anthropocene is important to those interested in climate change and it is in this Aeon essay that Jedediah Purdy discusses “Anthropocene fever.”