Building understanding across audiences
For people who want to understand the concepts underneath, without becoming an expert.
An illustrative example
Imagine a doctor discussing a planned procedure with a colleague, explaining it to the patient, and later talking through the arrangements with hospital administrators.
To a medical colleague
“We’re planning coronary angiography to assess the narrowing and determine whether an intervention is needed.”
To the patient
“We’ll use a thin tube and dye to look at the arteries supplying your heart. That will help us decide whether you need treatment to improve blood flow.”
Clinical detail: less. Explanatory context: more. Operational detail: less.
Later, with hospital administrators
“For these procedures, we need to coordinate the schedule with specialist staffing and recovery space.”
Clinical detail: some. Explanatory context: some. Operational detail: more.
To a medical colleague
We’re planning coronary angiography to assess the narrowing and determine whether an intervention is needed.
Clinical detail: more. Explanatory context: less. Operational detail: some.
To the patient
We’ll use a thin tube and dye to look at the arteries supplying your heart. That will help us decide whether you need treatment to improve blood flow.
Clinical detail: less. Explanatory context: more. Operational detail: less.
Later, with hospital administrators
For these procedures, we need to coordinate the schedule with specialist staffing and recovery space.
Clinical detail: some. Explanatory context: some. Operational detail: more.
Why I write
I started this site to practice explaining ideas from AI and data in language people outside those fields can use. Writing the posts is part of how I learn, and I’m trying to keep the explanations clear without losing the details you need to understand the idea.
If you work near or with these tools rather than build them, the new words can arrive faster than anyone explains them. I write about one idea at a time, mostly drawing on what I’m seeing and trying myself.
If a post helps something click, or I get something wrong, I’d like to hear about it. Email me.
Another way to think about registers
In singing, chest and head voice are two registers of one range. An untrained singer cracks when switching between them; a trained one crosses without a break you can hear.