I've noticed a trend among the rationalist movement of favoring long and convoluted articles referencing other long and convoluted articles--the more inaccessible to the general public, the better.
I don't want to contend that there's anything inherently wrong with such articles, I contend precisely the opposite: there's nothing inherently wrong with short and direct articles.
One example of significant simplicity is Einstein's famous E=mc2 paper (Does the inertia of a body depend upon its energy-content?), which is merely three pages long.
Can anyone contend that Einstein's paper is either not significant or not straightforward?
It is also generally understood among writers that it's difficult to explain complex concepts in a simple way. And programmers do favor simpler code, and often transform complex code into simpler versions that achieve the same functionality in a process called code refactoring. Guess what... refactoring takes substantial effort.
The art of compressing complex ideas into succinct phrases is valued by the general population, and proof of that are quotes and memes.
“One should use common words to say uncommon things” ― Arthur Schopenhauer
There is power in simplicity.
One example of simple ideas with extreme potential is Karl Popper's notion of falsifiability: don't try to prove your beliefs, try to disprove them. That simple principle solves important problems in epistemology, such as the problem of induction and the problem of demarcation. And you don't need to understand all the philosophy behind this notion, only that many white swans don't prove the proposition that all swans are white, but a single black swan does disprove it. So it's more profitable to look for black swans.
And we can use simple concepts to defend the power of simplicity.
We can use falsifiability to explain that many simple ideas being unconsequential doesn't prove the claim that all simple ideas are inconsequential, but a single consequential idea that is simple does disprove it.
Therefore I've proved that simple notions can be important.
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Notes -
Communicating with high information density is a hard-won art. I've spent years curating it for myself in the technical realm and coaching others to improve their own ability.
Many rat text walls contain too much fluff and strive for length. Some of this is correct and by design as others have mentioned. We don't need to limit ourselves to pithy 140-character hot takes, and most complex topics deserve more nuanced or detailed analysis.
One element you're missing here, though, is the value of flavor. We're here, at least partly, to be entertained (not just to communicate). Posts that include an element of ironic humor, to me, are the best ones - even if they're not strictly as concise as they can be.
Side note: I found myself trying to cut down this comment as much as possible, and have watched employees shift gears into speaking more slowly and succinctly during reviews where we've given them feedback on communication. Just an interesting phenomenon.
Except jokes contain information too. When two seemingly unrelated ideas are connected by the author, we find that funny. Jokes make ideas more accessible, and also more memorable, which makes them more likely to be remembered, and shared. That's why many quotes are funny, and so are memes.
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