atw: Re: Steep learning curve

  • From: "LIVERANI Petra" <Petra_LIVERANI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 11:38:17 +1100


-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Daryl Colquhoun
Sent: Sunday, 6 February 2005 17:13 PM
To: austechwriter list
Subject: atw: Re: Steep learning curve


Brian is right. The psychologists used it first, so we ought to follow th=
eir
usage. Stuart's redefinition of the term 'learning curve' really won't do=

because it violates the convention that the dependent variable usually go=
es
on the vertical and the independent one usually goes on the horizontal.
(This convention is admittedly not always observed, but it ought to be,
especially by us professionals.)

The point is that the expression 'steep learning curve' has become a clic=
h=E9
and therefore we should avoid it like the plague, or at least we should b=
e
wary.

(Or maybe ... if we're writing for an audience of psychologists we'd use =
it
correctly, but for anyone else we'd just go with the clich=E9 usage?)

Stuart's remark about quantum leaps is on the ball. Consider 'we have mad=
e a
quantum leap in our productivity / technology / service standard', and no=
w
substitute the correct physical meaning: 'We have made the minimum possib=
le
increase in our productivity / technology / service standard'. It doesn't=

sound so good after all.

While we're on the subject of borrowing established phrases and making th=
em
into useless clich=E9s, one that annoys me is 'feedback'. You will hear p=
eople
saying that they received 'positive feedback' concerning something.
Engineering was using these terms nearly a century ago, and this isn't th=
e
right usage. Nor is positive feedback always a good thing -- consider a
squealing PA system -- nor negative feedback bad -- it's what makes a cru=
ise
control work.


Emails direct to this address are deleted unread as an anti-spam measure.=


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