Writing

Harvard professor and author Steven Pinker writes about language, cognition, and how the mind works. He argues for writing that is clear, direct, and intellectually honest - especially in academic and professional settings. In a recent interview with David Perell, he explores why writing often becomes needlessly complex - and how that complexity can obscure meaning and lose the reader. One common pitfall in writing is the curse of knowledge - the unconscious tendency to assume others know what you know. When you forget that your readers may not share your background, context, or terminology, your explanations can become confusing, alienating, and difficult to follow. You lose the reader without realising it. The curse of knowledge is a silent killer of clarity and connection, especially in corporate and institutional settings where insider jargon often goes unchecked. ...

Tyler Cowen is one of those great minds that whenever an interview is released, I’ll take a listen. An Economics professor at George Mason University, Tyler could be better described as a polymath, and he is most prolific as a writer on his blog Marginal Revolution. The world I’ve lived in has not changed that much since I was born but that’s about to change. You could say its changed already but it’s not fully instantiated in most of the things we do ...

Paul Graham’s Essays Start with How to do great work

Communication through writing, often in the form of reports, is a critical skill to master as a risk professional. Effective report writing ensures that findings and recommendations are clearly communicated to stakeholders, facilitating informed decision-making and promoting transparency within the organization. Further reading A guide to Report-writing for Internal Auditors (PDF)