exclusionary jargon

Bonnie Blackwell, (BONN@NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA)
Mon, 28 Mar 1994 12:12:46 -0500

There is no question that all sciences, humanitites, and most
human acitivites have jargon associated with them. Theoretically,
that jargon, whether necessary or not, is meant to speed communication.
But what usually happens is that at some point the jargon becomes
more important than the message. Moreover, the jargon serves to
separate the group (be it an academic discipline, the people who
all practice one religion, or the users of the net) from those
who do not belong. Only those who understand and use the jargon
fluently can weild any power in the group. Much of our current
education system is devoted to instructing the uninitiated in the
proper jargon for their chosen subject areas.