This post by Robin Hanson Taboo Gradations got me thinking about communication styles again. Here he is defending himself against accusations of being pro-slavery (!) after having posted some objectively-true statements such as:

Slave owners did many bad things, but each owner didn’t do every single one.

Once upon a time, I would have been baffled by this reaction. This statement is trivially true, so the people who immediately assume Hanson is pro-slavery for saying it are crazy.

But after many decades on this planet, I’ve gradually come to realize that most people do not think and talk the same way I do. And that their style of thinking and talking isn’t necessarily wrong, just different. They would be wrong in assuming Hanson is pro-slavery, but it’s a natural mistake on their part, not a sign of mental illness.

Most people don’t speak simply. They speak subtly.

Subtle speech is multi-layered. The goal is to convey group affiliation and to say possibly-damaging things in a way that allows you to deny responsibility. Ambiguity and emotion are important, truth is secondary. It works something like this:

layer zero: bare literal meaning, truth is optional.

layer one: political and cultural affiliations of the speaker, implied by their choice of vocabulary and subject — more important than layer zero!

layer two: an indirect but risky admission that is true but deniable if necessary — the main purpose of the conversation.

Contrast this with simple speech, the kind used by autistic people, and by engineers when talking about technical subjects:

layer zero: bare literal meaning, must be exactly true and not exaggerated.

social and political implications are ignored.

The goal of simple speech is to minimize ambiguity and deniability. Ignoring social implications is critical to allow communicating difficult truths.

Example one: blaming your late work on a co-worker. Subtle is better.

(simple) “My report is late because Bob hasn’t turned in the sales summary. I think he’s lazy.”

(subtle) “Sorry, I know you need that report — I’ll have it for you an hour after Bob gets the sales summary to me. Millennials struggle with deadlines sometimes, you know how it is…”

Example two: the space shuttle’s launch should be delayed. Simple is better.

(simple) “There is a high risk of a fuel leak and explosion if we launch this morning. The O-rings sealing the fuel tanks tend to fail at 30 degrees F.”

(subtle) “I know this launch has been delayed already, and that there’s a lot of political pressure to launch today. But I’m a little concerned about the O-rings. They are technically out of spec for launches below 40 degrees F. What do you think?”

Hanson, and economists in general, get a lot of grief because they are applying engineering culture and speech styles to social issues. Most people use only subtle speech when talking about these, and assume the same of everyone.