Is there any hidden rule for using the words "clearly", "obviously" or similar ones in a technical paper? It can be offensive to the readers in many cases (especially in mathematical proofs), since the reader may not find it "clear" or "obvious". But does that mean that we should completely avoid the use of these words?
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27these words usually preface a lie. its a tell.– nathan hayfieldCommented Jun 27, 2013 at 17:55
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22"proof by intimidation"– NickCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 5:14
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22Clearly, the answer to your question is obvious.– JRNCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 13:49
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14smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2991#comic– JoshCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 23:14
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6Besides providing a popular alternative to actually proving your claims, those words are also useful when something really is "easy to see" (but is nevertheless useful) and you wish to point out that you're aware of that. Referees sometimes seem to feel like they're talked down to when something is "too easy", so that can serve as a way of avoiding their wrath. If something is not too difficult but does not deserve a proof because it's well-known at least by the community I'm aiming at, I usually provide at least a reference (see Exercise x in Smith et al. [y], page p).– Anthony LabarreCommented Jun 29, 2013 at 8:19
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10 Answers
Seconding posdef's appraisal, but being a little more blunt: if one is in a position to get away with bullying or intimidating people by implying that it's their problem if one has not explained well enough ... well, I'd say it's still a jerk-y thing to do. If one is in a lower-status position, such words will often be red flags.
Or, coming to functionality versus rhetoric versus "formal proof": at best these words are functionless filler. That is, saying something is clear is not what makes it clear: if it is clear after these words, it was clear before. Conceivably a thing is clear _once_noted_, and thus deserves "Observe that...". But this, too, can be abused if used outside situations where one is noting that something is "a-fortiori" true, that is, is weaker than what the argument has already demonstrated... but presumably suffices for the issues at hand.
answered Jun 27, 2013 at 16:35
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3But even "Observe that" is redundant. You don't need to announce that you're about to say something. Just say it.– JeffECommented Jun 28, 2013 at 3:45
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5Meh, it is redundant, but I agree with his idea that it is a better way of 'underlining' a point (and is OK to use occasionally) - Similar to VS's (below) 'it follows'.– hunter2Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 3:51
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I prefer "We emphasize that..." to indicate emphasis. Sparingly, of course.– JeffECommented Jun 28, 2013 at 16:19
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5"Saying something is clear is not what makes it clear": Perhaps, but it can certainly help to make something clear. If I read a statement that isn't accompanied by a proof, I might try various ways to convince myself that it's true. If the statement is accompanied by "clearly", that reduces the number of ways I'm inclined to try and suggets looking at the easiest ones first. That "clearly" can save me a lot of time. Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 1:52
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5I think saying something is obvious (if it actually is) can be useful though, it helps the reader do a sanity check and make sure they're following all your arguments correctly. Commented Feb 17, 2015 at 7:46
I don't think there is a very clear rule for using such words. One possible reason for my claim is that some authors don't even use words "clearly" or "obviously", but they simply say "it follows ...". In mathematics the level of details of a mathematical proof mostly depends on the writer's kindness to her/his readers. I have encountered with many not-so-obvious claims in papers written by experts, where needed several pages of explanations and perhaps some proofs, and several years later, I have found the proofs of those claims in newer papers written by other authors.
Unfortunately, there is an adage which says "brevity is a sign of genius" and it seems some people strongly believe in this adage and try to impress others by leaving not-so-obvious gaps in their works.
Personally I apply the following rules for using these words:
If the claim follows from previously mentioned materials by applying well known techniques in 5 minutes or so.
If it can be obtained by a few lines of computations again by applying well known techniques. Then I use the word "straightforward".
If it easily follows from a well known type of mathematical proofs, like induction, Zorn's lemma.
The proof is similar to a previous proof in the paper or in the literature. In this case I mention the resource.
I expect a PhD student in the field can prove it easily.
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5+1 for "it follows that ...". Instead of saying "obvious" or "clear," I just say "it can be seen that ..." or "thus, ..."– JRNCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 0:13
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@hunter2: I think what I mentioned is a Russian adage.– user4511Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 4:23
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9This reminds me of Daniel Oppenheimer's paper “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly” which won the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize for Literature. His one-line acceptance speech: “Conciseness is interpreted as intelligence, so thank you.”– JRNCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 13:44
I don't think there is a clear consensus on how to use these words.
As mentioned in some other answers, some people find them annoying or obnoxious. Others think they are a perfectly acceptable way to mention a fact for which you believe a detailed explanation is not necessary. Certainly they are quite common in published writing.
I think it is a choice that you make as part of developing your own personal writing style, and your feelings may change over time.
My only advice is: when you write that something is "obvious", make absolutely sure it is true! I've been embarrassed this way before.
answered Jun 27, 2013 at 16:46
While often abused for not writing down an argument, these words serve a useful role in mathematical writing. They are not superfluous; they serve a useful function.
Writing "Clearly, every woogaloo is badonk. Consequently,..." suggests to the reader that they should be able to come up with the argument for why every woogaloo is badonk after a moment of thinking. If you just write, "Since every woogaloo is badonk,..." the reader is not alerted to this fact and might think this is a well-known, though possibly very deep, result that is assumed to be known by the reader. In that case, the reader might either not think about it or might even give up continuing to read because they "obviously" don't have sufficient background knowledge.
Generally, outside of fully formalized mathematics, there are always gaps in proofs that are left to the reader. A step might be so obvious that writing "obviously" is superfluous. Writing "obviously" is meant to make the reader take a brief breath and think where this is needed and useful. It is precisely because such terms are useful in guiding the reader's expectation that they cause so much anger when they frustrate the reader's expectation.
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1+1 Normally I don't like to see new answers to old questions since they rarely add much. This one does. Commented May 12 at 1:09
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While I don't strongly disagree with these points, I still avoid using these loaded words in my papers. I'll use them in more colloquial settings like in class for plain facts that the class knows by heart, but I like to give just enough detail in papers that I can avoid these phrases. I have a different approach than most when it comes to mathematics paper writing though. I take the approach that a second year grad student should be able to follow the entire paper without too much difficulty. I also have a very strong narrative throughout as connective tissue. Commented May 21 at 16:05
More broadly then in regards to mathematical proofs, a mark of good writing is to avoid the superfluous. Whether something is clear or obvious comes from the content, not the writer labelling it as such. Trimming unneeded adjectives and adverbs like those you describe should be a regular step in a proof-reading stage. See Strunk and White's Elements of Style for a more detailed treatment.
We touched this particular subject in a "Technical Writing" course; the simple answer is that it's a power-stance. In other words, if you are a big-name professor in your field, you can use it without offending someone. Alternatively if you are a petty PhD candidate, then you are better off avoiding not only these two words but also other forms of bold statements when you are drawing conclusions.
As I said this is rather the short answer, I am sure those who are more into linguistics etc might have more insight into the matter.
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I would add that if it is clear or obvious, explain how it is clear: "X is clearly the case, as shown by Y." (In other words, the words "clearly" or "obvious" are unnecessary fillers and can be omitted.) If it is being used as a power-stance, I would not accept it even from a top-level expert — or my boss. Commented Jun 27, 2013 at 17:18
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5if you are a big-name professor in your field, you can use it without offending someone — [citation needed]– JeffECommented Jun 28, 2013 at 3:46
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1@JeffE it was the lecturer in the course I mentioned, who is a professor in linguistics I believe. So it's not something I made up myself :)– posdefCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 6:20
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@JeffE: I remember that we were studying once in school a text written by "Ibn Khaldoun", an Arabic scholar in the 1300's. We noticed the use of many statements that would be be considered nowadays as "arrogant". The teacher, I remember, said that the author (i.e. Ibn Khaldoun) is allowed to do that given that he is a big-name scholar. I remember the teacher said this technique was followed by other big name scholars of that time. But this could be a cultural matter more than anything.– AJedCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 13:29
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@AJed I would suspect that the field in which the article in question is written in, has a role to play. Many here are from maths or CS-related fields, where the articles are written inductively instead of deductively, which is the case for chemistry, biology and medicine... The difference being that findings need to be interpreted in deductive research, which leaves the door open for clumsy expressions such as "... clearly indicates that ..." (Note that I do not approve these expressions, nor do I try to justify them)– posdefCommented Jun 28, 2013 at 13:42
I was always taught that if you had something to say that was "clear" or "obvious" to your intended readership, then it wasn't really worth saying at all. Made a lot of sense to me, and I've never used those words in any of my technical or academic writing since.
By reading the comments and answers here, the conclusion is, that it is usually not a good idea to use these terms. Keep in mind that it might not always be the case that something is obvious to your reader. That being said, the reason you want to use such words is probably because you want to point out/conclude/summarize your findings to the reader.
The bottom line is not to tell your readers what (you find) is obvious, but to tell them what the obvious thing is (conclude/summarize). This way they will either:
A. Confirm their own observation
or
B. Let them know they haven't fully understood yet (they might re-read your article now)
I might go against most of the answers here and say why not?.
I am going to this right now. I am writing a paper proposing a solution for problem X by adopting well known mathematical model Y. Now Y has clear axioms and definitions (for instance, the set of considered elements has to form a commutative semigroup under combination). I defined X then defined the combination operator. Should I go further and proof it is commutative semigroup? I believe it is clear that X form a commutative semigroup within my framework. Yes It is obvious..
Now whether the author of these words is a student or professor, I believe it doesn't make difference. At the end, there is minimum knowledge required to understand any given paper, if its clear then it's clear and you better utilize the paper limited space in something not clear enough.
answered Jun 28, 2013 at 21:52
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There's nothing wrong in stating that Y being a commutative semigroup implies X being one too (due to none of the possible exceptions occurring, of course). But there's no need to state that this is obvious, just state the fact and instead of "it is obvious" write "because Y is". Also three words, but much more helpful IMHO Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 10:23
I propose never using these words unless your goal is to trick the reader into thoroughly checking your claim, or in an exam's trick question where you set a false premise (though these words are give-aways if not overused). If something is obvious there wouldn't be a need to even state it. And if you need to state something, it is not obvious.
If you think some non-trivial1 steps should be omitted so your 5 page paper doesn't bloat up to a 30 pager, then please have the decency to either briefly state the trickiest tool involved (be that induction or some specific part of Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem) or - even better - put the detail which you should have done anyway into the appendix / online supplement and refer to it.
1Trivial is also one of these words.
