“Over time, the line that separates writing from speaking, coding and design gradually fades away. Eventually, you realize that they’re simply different forms of communication.
When you execute any of these four actions, you’re conveying a message. A good writer, speaker, hacker, or designer is measured by how well they’re able to convey this message.”
Brevity in Design by Jared Erondu
People join groups because they want to find like-minded people, but on the other hand, establishing a group also makes it necessary to define how its members are different from the rest of the world, to define who can belong and who cannot.
Typically associating code with left brain functions and design with right brain functions comes to mind. How often do you see people lumping speakers and hackers in the same skill group? For most of them, speaking becomes a soft skill, or a way of distinguishing oneself; a way of becoming more “special” or getting paid more.
Yes, the lightbulb moment that switches on the instant you realize “these people get me!” is precious, and people might interpret distilling the essence of their job as simplifying or trivializing it by people who don’t.
Not to mention all the assumptions and prejudices made towards one-word job descriptions; these days there needs to be at least two words made up of abstract and complex sounding words to maintain an air of sophistication and proficiency.
But brevity is its own beauty, and maybe discovering the ways we’re not that different after all is equally or even more lovely.