Let me just jump in with one last minute extra for the year on the ongoing topic in my blog about the editing and publishing professional community.
It seems abundantly clear that I need to explain myself when I observe that people who use jargon about "craft" are not any different than any other professional group in doing so as a crutch. What I mean by this is not that I do not understand it, and when their reaction is emotional abuse in response to being told, it only confirms that they are using it from a place of insecurity.
First I think I need to clarify the context of my perspective on this, as a knowledgable educated individual in a few different fields where I see the same behaviour from those populations. Clearly it's important for you to understand that my observations come from a place of knowledge, so everyone in the conversation can avoid the logical fallacy of trying to attack me personally as someone who doesn't know the terms and therefore look "ignorant." Calling me "ignorant" for telling someone that their use of a jargon term reflects their lack of understanding of the principles they may be trying to express is also another indicator that they are operating from a place of insecurity.
Therefore, the context of my longstanding position on this comes from my high level of knowledge in both religious and medical circles. I have a degree in science, have edited a peer review journal in the medical field, and worked in a variety of ways in the medical sector. I am not a doctor, and what I have seen is that frequently doctors who are trying to look smart and sound like they know what they are talking about rely far too heavily on what they think are the appropriate medical jargon terms.
I find in my work and studies in religious studies, everyone can see it now, that religious leaders who throw around the "special" language of the evangelical community bubble, cannot explain the underlying principles behind their theology. Definitely not without reverting back to more use of more jargon terms. Once I overheard this conversation in a church in Tennessee talking to a member of their community who had gone to Los Angeles to start a church. The people from Tennessee gasped in shock, unironically, surrounding the conversation that these poor heathens in Los Angeles didn't know what the term "the blood of the lamb" meant. As if that was a requirement for faith.
Let me say this clearly: throwing around jargon words versus terms and understanding principles and concepts are completely different things. I guarantee that the people who would be shocked you don't know what "the blood of the lamb" means can also not sit down an explain to you what it means without spiralling out in a bubble world that relies on interconnected usage of meaningless terms.
In Conclusion, when I meet an editor that demonstrates to me that they need to throw around jargon terms they do not understand, it is a clear sign to me that they are not going to be able to have a knowledgable conversation about how to apply the principles to my writing, because they do not understand them.
Happy New Year! May we all have less publishing and editing bullshit ahead!
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