Words, Meaning, and Rewording

Exploring Language, Complexity, and Working with the LLM AI Machine - From Simplicity to Pomposity and Obscurity

"The Philosopher's Library" - A dimly lit, overstuffed library with towering shelves of books labeled with obscure phrases, and a scholar in robes surrounded by scrolls, magnifying glasses, and dictionaries, furrowing his brow as he searches for the perfect word. Nearby, a child gleefully points to a simple picture book labeled “Say It Plain.”

Essay Summary:
This chat examines how the same basic idea can be reshaped to fit different audiences and purposes—either simplified for clarity or inflated with jargon to appear complex and intellectual. By recasting a single thought into language suited for a 12-year-old and then transforming it into dense, pretentious philosophical prose, the discussion highlights the flexibility of expression and the choices we make when communicating ideas.

Initial Paragraph - I Start Here

ChatGPT, take the following paragraph and recast it in language suitable for a 12-year-old, in English.

“One of the great mysteries of the world, probably connected with the hard problem of consciousness, is the problem of meaning and understanding, and how we can translate thoughts into words. And the words will vary from expression to expression. That is, we can say the same thing in an enumerable number of ways. This is truly a mystery. In movies, I've heard the expression, be careful how you choose your words. It raises interesting points. How do we actually choose our words?”

Simplified Result from ChatGPT

One of the big mysteries about people—and maybe even connected to how our minds work—is how we understand and create meaning. It's also a mystery how we turn our thoughts into words. What's really strange is that we can say the same thing in so many different ways. It's kind of amazing when you think about it. In movies, you might hear someone say, "Be careful how you choose your words." That makes you wonder—how do we actually decide which words to use?

Asking for Obscurity

Now, recast it into the most obscure, pretentious, jargon-filled language that the most opaque-seeming philosopher could come up with but still retain the same meaning with a close paraphrase. Add no ideas. Remove no ideas.

Obscure Result from ChatGPT

One of the most profound and enigmatic quandaries confronting human cognition—perhaps inextricably intertwined with the metaphysical conundrum of consciousness itself—concerns the ontological foundations of meaning and the hermeneutic mechanisms by which ideational content undergoes transmutation into linguistic form. Equally perplexing is the inexhaustible multiplicity of semiotic configurations through which ostensibly identical propositions may be articulated, suggesting a latent fecundity within the symbolic apparatus of language. This phenomenon evokes the admonition, oft-uttered in cinematic dialogue, to exercise judicious deliberation in the selection of one’s verbiage—an exhortation that provokes deeper inquiry into the epistemological and phenomenological processes underpinning lexical choice.

Summary

This experiment shows that language can either obscure or illuminate meaning, depending on how it is used. A simple idea can be inflated with complex, jargon-filled language to the point of incomprehensibility, or it can be distilled into plain, accessible terms without sacrificing its core meaning. If a large-language model AI can effortlessly shift between these extremes—clarifying or obfuscating at will—it raises an important question: why don’t human writers, especially those prone to opaque prose, make a greater effort to communicate clearly rather than to conceal meaning behind layers of complexity? This inquiry challenges us to consider whether complexity in writing always serves a purpose or whether it sometimes reflects something else: insecurity, pretension, or a lack of genuine understanding?