Thread

Plunging test scores are a slow-moving catastrophe

207 points · 414 comments · vinni2

vincent-uden · 1790436359 · focus · HN ↗
This very much echoes the region of critical slowing down present in a dynamical system after its equilibrium states have disappeared due to a change in the system (a bifurcation).
1. misterchocolat · 1790437324 · focus · HN ↗
  Holy sentence... George Orwell must be turning in his grave right now.
  1. lelanthran · 1790438542 · focus · HN ↗
    What do you think Orwellian language means?
    peri-cl · 1790438940 · focus · HN ↗
    I think GP's was a reference to Politics and the English Language (1946)—not "1984". An essay against convoluted writing styles.
    <a href="https://www.fadedpage.com/link.php?file=20180223.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.fadedpage.com/link.php?file=20180223.html
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Langu...
    misterchocolat · 1790439112 · focus · HN ↗
    Orwell's 6 rules for good writing:
    1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
    2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
    3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
    4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
    5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
    6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
    Now you tell me
    lelanthran · 1790498930 · focus · HN ↗
    > Now you tell me
    That's not what is understood when we use the term "Orwellian":
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian
    <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Orwellian" rel="nofollow">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Orwellian
    <a href="https://www.oed.com/dictionary/orwellian_adj?tl=true" rel="nofollow">https://www.oed.com/dictionary/orwellian_adj?tl=true
    <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/orwellian" rel="nofollow">https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/orwellia...
    If both the wikipedia definitions and all the dictionary definitions differ from your definition, it's probably not the dictionaries and wikipedia getting it wrong.
    misterchocolat · 1790517030 · focus · HN ↗
    Did I ever use the term "Orwellian" in my comment?

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.