Terms of art
May 9th, 2025
A term of art is defined as “a word or phrase that has a precise, specialized meaning within a particular field or profession.” I’ve found these phrases to be incredibly useful tools not just for social discourse, but independent thought. Social technology (sociology) and The Bitter Lesson (AI) are two examples that quickly come to mind.
An effective term of art streamlines communication by compressing a concept, idea, or perspective into a simple word or phrase. It allows us to communicate by passing the reference (the term of art) instead of the value (the underlying idea that the term represents) which can save compute (brain power).
Terms of art can also carry effective mental models or world views. Learning the phrase “social technology” allowed me to think about societal structures in a novel way and opened new avenues to reason about the world. They are effective because they are succinct — I can’t imagine the idea on it’s own would stick as effectively as it does with with a name.
Terms of art can also function as signaling mechanisms within a group or community. One’s knowledge of The Bitter Lesson may portray them as knowledgeable to those within the AI community, while unfamiliarity may signal the opposite. This has pros and cons, as do many social technologies. Any mechanism for judging others will be lossy, but familiarity with commonly used industry terms feels more effective than relying on something more surface-level like academic credentials.
If you’re investing in a specific field or industry, it would behoove you to become familiar with its terms of art. Stay within the bounds of intellectual honesty, though. Feigned understanding of a phrase will inevitably lead to incorrect usage, which will sow more negative signal than unfamiliarity would.