It seems that in today’s day and age, pieces of any given kind of literature, are often written with the aim of impressing the reader with technicalities and complicated subtleties only left for the truly intellectually capable to grasp. And quite paradoxically, the complexity seems to be embraced by the audience of these texts. There is a common belief that the more advanced the text is technically, the more advanced it is in content and intelligence.

This, quite modern, way of expression is something Medievalist thinkers (but also contemporaries as Einstein) disagreed with. One should be able to present knowledge in a simple and elegant manner, so that it can be grasped by the recipient. When a text is unnecessarily complicated and sprinkled with technical jargon, it is an indicator of the author not actually having understood the subject matter. This is the idea that if something is comprehended, it can be put simply.

I confess to having disguised my own uncertainty and self-consciousness when it comes to discussing philosophical matters behind technicalities and quirky language. So, dear readers, my at times colorful way of writing is not merely because I enjoy writing in that way (although that is most definitely the bigger reason). Maimonides, a household name in the Jewish philosophical tradition, was exquisite for being able to disseminate knowledge to the public by making his ideas and teachings available to all; he adopts a particular, non-condescending tone in these writings, his goal being that the reader can grasp what he is getting at. No need to impress or shock the audience. The simple manner in which he discussed the subjects at hand was impressive in itself, as the subjects are not from the simple end of the spectrum: the nature of God, prophets, sacred texts and how literally they should be taken etc. You know, not necessarily the lightest stuff there is to discuss.

”If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein