No but I edit for readability for ADHD, and also I limit the wordcount.
Not often. Certainly not when I'm shouting into the void.
When I'm answering a question or responding to a statement, I'll generally match the level of the existing discussion. I still try to say what I mean, but I'll try to avoid concepts with a lot of missing prerequisites. Target audience matters too, if you ask me how orbital rendezvous works, you'll get a different answer depending on where you ask the question. For example, I'd probably skip explaining how orbits themselves work if you asked in a community dedicated to kerbal space program or children of a dead earth, focusing instead on what the person asking is probably trying to do. Similarly, a comment in a community dedicated to real life space exploration is getting a more detailed answer than the same question in a community for the general public. Basically different assumptions about what the person already knows, and what the person wants to find out.
Yes and no.
I think that there is a fine line between dumbing something down and sounding condescending. In time, I found that not treating people like morons is the best approach, i.e. accessible language and simple explanations must be used to aid in the speed and understanding of the information you are disseminating.
Because nobody wants to sit there and brainstorm something they don't understand, they'll just move on. But if you treat them like babies, people will just be annoyed and stop paying attention.
So its quite the nuanced subject, communication is an art-form.
We've all seen the "I'm very smart" people who come to social media, use random vocabulary vomit because they want to sound smart, and it happens here a lot. I agree with you, that's great if you can, and I won't say you "have to dumb yourself down", but often they do it to sound smart and want to feel superior because they think most people understand.
Actually a lot of people do understand them, they're just eye rolling at how pretentious they're being.
There's a balance. After all why use many word when some word do trick?
I try to be as simple as I can be without compromising the integrity of the points I make.
"Dumbing down" has tended to only cause problems for me, since if I'm too laconic and straightforward about a point, people will let their own biases color how they interpret my words, and their interpretations tend not to be as charitable as I'd like. It really is best nine times out of ten to just say what you're thinking in as few or as many words as comes naturally, with whichever words feel natural.
Not really but I do know my audience and I will alter the presentation of information
if anything i smarten up. text allows me to organize my thoughts and analyze my word choices. i can say much more and provide more detail over text. when i talk i feel stupid lol.
I relate. I sound like a genius in writing, relatively speaking. I guess it's not uncommon.
You want real-ass harry potter magic? ADHD/Sperg/Autist is the gateway. I think that this is missing from the alternative. Like you have an itty bitty piece of 3d matter embedded in your 2d, flatland-living, flatland-society self.
Not really dumbing it down so much as framing in accessible language.
