"Every clarification breeds new questions"
About this Quote
“Every clarification breeds new questions” is the kind of neat, deadpan truth Bloch specialized in: a one-line demolition of the fantasy that communication ends with certainty. Coming from the writer behind Murphy’s Law collections, the intent isn’t inspirational; it’s diagnostic. He’s pointing at the bureaucratic and technical reality that explanations don’t close a file, they open a new one.
The line works because it flips the usual promise of clarification. We’re trained to treat “clearer” as “closer to done.” Bloch treats clarity as a solvent: it dissolves vague comfort and exposes seams. Once you define a term, you reveal edge cases. Once you spell out a process, you invite “what if” scenarios. Once you answer a question precisely, you make the previously unaskable questions legible. Clarity doesn’t simplify the world; it increases the resolution, and higher resolution always shows more noise.
Subtextually, it’s also about power and accountability. In offices, politics, and policy, ambiguity is a shield; clarification is a demand for commitments. That’s why it “breeds” questions: people sense consequences. They ask not because they’re confused, but because they’re negotiating risk, responsibility, and loopholes.
Context matters: Bloch wrote in an era when systems were getting more complex (management culture, sprawling institutions, computing). His aphorism anticipates today’s product documentation rabbit holes and HR policy labyrinths: the more a system tries to explain itself, the more you realize how much it can’t. The joke lands because it’s not really a joke. It’s a law of living in organized complexity.
The line works because it flips the usual promise of clarification. We’re trained to treat “clearer” as “closer to done.” Bloch treats clarity as a solvent: it dissolves vague comfort and exposes seams. Once you define a term, you reveal edge cases. Once you spell out a process, you invite “what if” scenarios. Once you answer a question precisely, you make the previously unaskable questions legible. Clarity doesn’t simplify the world; it increases the resolution, and higher resolution always shows more noise.
Subtextually, it’s also about power and accountability. In offices, politics, and policy, ambiguity is a shield; clarification is a demand for commitments. That’s why it “breeds” questions: people sense consequences. They ask not because they’re confused, but because they’re negotiating risk, responsibility, and loopholes.
Context matters: Bloch wrote in an era when systems were getting more complex (management culture, sprawling institutions, computing). His aphorism anticipates today’s product documentation rabbit holes and HR policy labyrinths: the more a system tries to explain itself, the more you realize how much it can’t. The joke lands because it’s not really a joke. It’s a law of living in organized complexity.
Quote Details
| Topic | Knowledge |
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