“it is unclear whether” can sometimes mean “I am skeptical that” or “I don’t think”. It annoys me when people use it this way. Unclear already has a good and useful meaning. We shouldn’t dilute it.
The proper use of “unclear” is a sentence like this: “it’s still unclear if the intervention worked”. A quick heuristic: if the use of “unclear” is or could be prefixed by “still” without changing the meaning, it is probably ok :). Another way to view it—if more information is likely to come out soon, then it’s probably ok.
Some examples of usages of “unclear” I’d like to see less of:
“How do you think the willingness of key actors such as governments to tackle bio risks will change...? It’s unclear whether we will see the right levels of political competence and focused engagement...” 1
“It’s unclear how significant the extrinsic, welfare-oriented value of biodiversity even is” 2
“it is unclear how OpenPhil are comparing different causes, rather than looking out for giving opportunities across a variety of causes” 3
“it is unclear whether” can sometimes mean “I am skeptical that” or “I don’t think”. It annoys me when people use it this way. Unclear already has a good and useful meaning. We shouldn’t dilute it.
The proper use of “unclear” is a sentence like this: “it’s still unclear if the intervention worked”. A quick heuristic: if the use of “unclear” is or could be prefixed by “still” without changing the meaning, it is probably ok :). Another way to view it—if more information is likely to come out soon, then it’s probably ok.
Some examples of usages of “unclear” I’d like to see less of:
“How do you think the willingness of key actors such as governments to tackle bio risks will change...? It’s unclear whether we will see the right levels of political competence and focused engagement...” 1
“It’s unclear how significant the extrinsic, welfare-oriented value of biodiversity even is” 2
“it is unclear how OpenPhil are comparing different causes, rather than looking out for giving opportunities across a variety of causes” 3