Weighing and Deciding

Eight words for the work of judgment: what to combine, what to keep, and what to cut.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 synthesis noun
2. 2 doctrine noun
3. 3 delegate verb
4. 4 consolidate verb
5. 5 aesthetic adjective
6. 6 superfluous adjective
7. 7 concurrently adverb
8. 8 fundamentally adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Synthesis. A noun, and one I file with real respect. It names the combining of separate parts into a single unified whole, not a pile of ideas set side by side, but a genuine binding of them into one. A scientist reads a dozen studies and produces a synthesis, one account that honors all of them at once. Note the family: to synthesize is the act, and a synthesis is the result you can hold. I keep it in the same drawer as combination and integration, though synthesis is the sharpest of the three. When you can name the whole you built from many parts, you have earned the word. State it precisely: a synthesis is many, made one.

Her final essay was a synthesis of three arguments the class had debated all week.

Nelson's word

noun

Doctrine. A noun, and a heavy one, so I file it carefully. A doctrine is a set of principles that a group teaches and holds together, the body of beliefs that tells its members what is true and what to do. A political party has a doctrine, a school of thought has a doctrine, a faith has a doctrine. Look at the root and you will never lose the word: doctrine shares its bones with doctor and document, all of them built on the idea of teaching. A doctor is a learned teacher, a document teaches or informs, and a doctrine is the body of teaching itself. File the word beside its family, and it stays put.

The society's doctrine required every member to record each decision in writing.

Vinny's word

verb

Delegate! To take a task that is yours, and trust it, hand it, ENTRUST it to another person who can carry it! When the manager delegates the scheduling, she does not lose her authority; she extends it through someone she trusts. That is the verb, and it is a hero's move, because no hero saves the day entirely alone. But beware, this word leads a double life. Say it one way and it is my verb, the act of entrusting; say it another way, a delegate, and it becomes Nelson's noun, a person sent to represent a group at a summit. Same letters, different job, different owner. We sort those hats in Practice.

The manager delegates the scheduling to her most reliable assistant.

Vinny's word

verb

Consolidate! To take several separate things, scattered and weaker apart, and combine them into ONE whole that is stronger than any piece alone! When the librarians consolidate three collections, they do not merely stack them; they build a single greater thing. That is the verb, and it is mine, and it is pure heroism, strength gathered into one place. Hear the solid sitting right in the middle of it: con-solid-ate, to make solid together. A general consolidates his forces, a company consolidates its debts, a writer consolidates her notes. Every time, many become one, and one becomes mighty.

The librarians consolidate three small collections into one grand reading room.

Jake's word

adjective

Aesthetic. Ah, this one is close to my heart, and it is mine. As an adjective, aesthetic describes anything concerned with beauty or the appreciation of it: an aesthetic choice, an aesthetic judgment, an aesthetic sense that tells you a thing is lovely. It comes from an old word for perception, for the feeling of a thing through the senses. Its Frown is practical, the choice made for use alone with no thought for beauty. Could we be more specific than saying a design was pretty? We could call the decision aesthetic, and tell the reader that beauty itself was the reason. Magnifique.

The architect made an aesthetic choice, keeping the old brick for its beauty alone.

Jake's word

adjective

Superfluous. A grand word for a simple idea, and it is mine. As an adjective, superfluous describes whatever is more than is needed, the extra that serves no purpose, the excess you could remove and lose nothing. A superfluous comma, a superfluous apology, a superfluous coat on a warm day. Hear the super at its head, which means over or above; superfluous is what overflows past what is required. Its Frown is necessary, the thing you cannot do without. Could we be more specific than saying a detail was extra? We could call it superfluous, and let the reader feel that it overflowed past the point of use.

The editor cut every superfluous word until only the necessary ones remained.

Benny's word

adverb

Concurrently. Now here is a precise one, and I coach you to reach for it. It is an adverb, and it tells you that two things happen at the same time, running alongside each other rather than one after the other. The trials run concurrently, the courses meet concurrently, the projects advance concurrently. You could just say at the same time, and that is fine, but concurrently is sharper, and it fits the sentence more cleanly. See the current running through the middle of it, two streams flowing together. When you want the reader to know that events shared a moment, this is the word. Make it precise, and concurrently is how.

The two committees meet concurrently, so no member can attend both at once.

Benny's word

adverb

Fundamentally. This is a word for getting to the bottom of things, and I want it in your toolkit. It is an adverb, and it means at the most basic and essential level, at the foundation, at the root of the matter. When two ideas differ fundamentally, they do not disagree about small details; they disagree at their very core. Hear the fundament, the foundation, sitting inside it. A plan can be fundamentally sound or fundamentally flawed, and either way you are talking about its base, not its surface. When you want the reader to know you are reaching past the surface to the essential thing, reach for fundamentally. That is the level a strong writer works at.

The two plans differ fundamentally, not in their details but at their very core.