An admirably pithy formulation. "Perspicuity is not perspicacity." - from Keith Burgess-Jackson, lamenting the tendency to take verbal mastery in itself as evidence for high intelligence. At first glance I thought the apothegm clever and probably right; after some thought I believe it is true. However, it is probably not in my interest for it to be widely known and its truth acknowledged. As someone who has generally received good marks from my fellows for verbal fluency and clarity, it is greatly to my advantage for perspicuity to continue to be lazily accepted as evidence of perspicacity, in lieu of any more solid indicators of intelligence.

Posted by Moira Breen at June 10, 2004 08:40 AM