Systems, Man & Cybernetics - April 2016 - 12

Any Google search on "buzz words gone bad" yields page after
Any Google search
page of links to articles about
on "buzzwords gone
buzzwords in fashion design,
government labs, resume writing,
bad" yields page
politics, Internet marketing, and on,
after page of links
and on, and on. Here's part of an
article published in Marketing
Buzzwords Are One
to articles about
Today about the pervasive and deCoin of the Realm
buzzwords in fashion
structive nature of buzzwords in
Why has the term CI, and disbusiness
and industry:
cussions about its presumptive
design, government
Companies claiming to cremea n ing, become so popu la r
labs, resume writing,
ate "synergies" in an effort
and per vasive? Well, first and
politics, Internet
to develop a "value-added"
foremost perhaps, it's a turf war
"paradigm" that leads to
of sorts between (people who
marketing, and on,
new "solutions" may want
say they are "in") CI a nd A I.
and on, and on.
to be strategic in another
Looking back, you might wonway: not going overboard
der, for example, why the song
with cliché phrases and
"White Christmas" is a monster
industry jargon...Buzzwords
hit that ha s been covered by
and industry jargon are a form of shorthand used
hundreds of performers and continues to sell millions
by people within a particular company or profesof records (including buyers and listeners who have
sion, but they can be confusing or even seem exclunever even seen snow), while "Jingle Bell Rock" is relesionary to individuals outside of that field...When
gated to a bit of airtime on oldies stations ever y
these words are overused, they can lose their
December? Everyone has his or her own theory about
impact altogether. Part of the motivation to use
stuff like this, so here's mine.
buzzwords can be attributed to a desire to demonThe introductory paragraphs of the first issue of the
strate your expertise, but this can often backfire...
Canadian journal IJCI [24] contain a sentence that I think
As society and pop culture evolve, old catchphrasis extremely relevant. Explaining their choice for the title
es die out, while new jargon is born. [32]
of the journal, Cercone and McCalla wrote, "The name
Note the final sentence: "As society and pop culture
also seems short enough to be catchy." This sentence
evolve, old catchphrases die out, while new jargon is
concentrates on the importance of choosing a good
born." Sound familiar? Do you think this is a bit harsh?
buzzword. Before you dismiss this as cynicism or scorn,
The implication in this quote is that buzzwords are bad.
let me reassure you that I mean absolutely no disrespect
On the other hand, an editorial written by Mark
to Nick Cercone and Gordon McCalla or to the publishers
Radford in October 2004, about the use of buzzwords in
of that journal. On the contrary, I admire their gumption
the softwa re development industr y includes the
and their foresight for admitting to their readers that
following excerpt.
catchy is important. It's important for all of us too.
Here's a different sort of example of what I mean. There
is an IOS Press journal Intelligent Data Analysis. What
Buzzwords Are Useful
kind of articles do you expect to find in it? Can you
Perhaps we should learn from experience with
imagine doing, publishing, or reading about unintelligent
TDD [Test-Driven Development] and take stock of
data a nalysis? (Okay, we are all guilty of doing
practices that we would like to see adopted more
unintelligent data analysis from time to time. Correlate
widely, and then sharpen our skills in coming up
this with Richard Feynman's remark that "Perhaps the
with buzzwords and/or buzz-phrases that are sufunintelligent machines can do even better than the
ficiently catchy for the majority of developers
intelligent ones.") This is an example of how (buzz)words
and/or managers. Then, as what happened to TDD
like intelligent are easily abused.
happens to other useful practices, maybe the
A quick Internet search on the query "buzzwords gone
"Buzzword Adoption Pattern" will start to
bad" yields a link to a note from Jonathan Chizik dated 9
emerge. [25]
August 2011 that says, "keynote speaker here just said one
There are two interesting points about this quote.
of his company's tactics to succeed is to 'think
First, Radford uses the word catchy (which I have made
intelligently'...as opposed to what, thinking stupidly?" To
italic for emphasis) as a desirable quality for good
which, David McBride replied the next day: "They should
buzzwords, just as the founding editors of IJCI did. And
proactively leverage their synergies by trying harder to
second, Radford does not dismiss the buzzword as an
think intelligently." [36]. Now do you see what I mean?
annoying artifact of bad speaking and writing. Instead,
bears the title "Quantum Com puting." Chapter 15 in [23] is titled
"Memetic Algorithms." These topics
are at once fields, but they are also
fully formed buzzwords. Let's turn
to that idea now.

IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE A pri l 2016

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