All posts by Jonathon Deakin

Jonathon Deakin (@jonathondeakin) is editor and contributor of Novel Stance, lives in Paris and works in product management.
Culture, Politics

What do Burma, Jordan and Peru have in common?

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Burma, Jordan and Peru are all quite different countries: they are in completely different parts of the world; are composed of a varying number of different ethnicities; and all have different population sizes. What they do have in common, amongst other things, is that they are all regions that have experienced conflict and violence.

The question was drawn to my attention in conjunction with the upcoming 30th anniversary of the UN’s International Day of Peace, occurring the 21st of September 2014, a day committed to “strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.” Conflict Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant in London serving food from solely from regions who have experienced conflict and violence, has the goal of sparking dialogue revolving around the countries themselves, their histories and prospects of peace. Originating from the United States, it provides food whilst subtly encouraging conversation around these sometimes-sensitive topics. People are not always current with goings-on around the world and these opportunities can be used as an educational tool. After all, it is not unheard of of a conflict being resolved over a somewhat casual bite to eat…

War seems about to break out

Alexander Feklisov (AKA Aleksandr Fomin)

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Scali met Soviet infiltrator Alexander Feklisov (alias Aleksandr Fomin) for lunch. Their conversations revolved around weapons and the very real threat of an impending war. The topic of conversation ultimately leaned towards a diplomatic solution to end the crisis. This secret meeting is generally attributed to the start of the resolution of the crisis—a powerful allegory, albeit a little anecdotal for this article. Food can encourage dialogue between different cultures and in this situation peaceful dialogue resulted in agreement between conflicting sides.

Dialogue and conflict resolution

Set your sights on the resolve can be fruitless; aiming towards discussion rather than resolution can result in a deeper understanding of the other side. Padraig O’Malley, an Irish peacemaker, applied this idea when mediating Iraqi talks in 2008. His goal was not to bash out a resolution overnight, but rather to get all participants talking, introducing a human proximity and comprehension of why the conflict exists.

Intercultural dialogue [is] crucial in preventing and ending conflicts

Ban Ki-moon

Dialogue and discussion are by no means fix-all tricks, but the role of dialogue can be pivotal in conflict resolution. Out with the political epicentres of conflict, discussion can at least help raise awareness. Why are there conflicts in Burma, Jordan and Peru? When did they start? Discuss.

Culture

Quality Writing: Do Flesch-Kincaid Tests Matter?

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A point of contention sometimes makes itself known when writing an article: do you write content honed towards manipulating the SEO over-bearers, increasing the chances that it will be discovered; or do you write well written content that risks being buried, never to be seen? The two choices unfortunately rarely coincide. With the popularity of Buzzfeed and its clones, it’s not too surprising either.

SEO-friendly content consists of short, stubby sentences that will be picked up by search engine behemoths trawling the web. The content is then given a readability score by a variety of tests, such as the Flesch-Kincaid tests. The easier the readability, the higher the score (and the higher the content appears in search results).

What are the Flesch-Kincaid tests?

The Flesch-Kincaid tests are two examples of readability tests. Their aim is to define the readability of a piece of text based on its sentence length, word length and number of syllables. It determines just how complicated and difficult a piece of text is to read. Generally, you do not want to write content that is too sophisticated for your readers.

Raise the readability score

Using the different formulas it can be relatively clear using shorter sentences composed of shorter words will attain a higher readability score.

“Utterly famished, he contemplated the possibilities of concocting an excellent potage”
— Score: 11.1

“Hungry, he thought about making soup”
— Score: 73.8

These sentences use completely different language but convey the same meaning. The important highlight is that writing style will change the readability score but not necessarily the quality of writing.

Should I use Flesch-Kincaid to judge my writing?

The reality is that writing for a high readability score was never really a point of contention. You may be ushered towards a more SEO-friendly writing style in more professional (read:hierarchical) situations but it is not necessarily a measure of how coherent, intelligent, correct, etc. your writing is.

The Flesch-Kincaid tests deliver a readability score that corresponds to age or school level, the important ages to take into account are 15 and younger along with their corresponding schooling level for the majority of people. Put simply, you do not need to adhere to a readability score to have writing of higher quality, different writing styles simply serve different purposes.

Simply write what you would love to read. That’s it.

Mark Rubinstein