dumbify

Dumbify

People don't churn because content is too simple. They churn because following it is too much work. Every bit of mental effort — a fancy word, a nested sentence, undefined jargon — is a reason to swipe away. This skill cuts that effort.

Target: ~8th-grade reading level for the body, ~6th for hooks. Easy to follow = low strain = high retention.

Simple language, not simple ideas

You are lowering the reading level, not dumbing down the thinking. The idea can be sophisticated; the words shouldn't be. Simple ≠ simplistic. A sharp 13-year-old should be able to follow it — that doesn't mean the insight is for 13-year-olds.

Where it earns its keep

• High value: explainers, educational/teaching content, how-to, anything on a technical, financial, or abstract topic. This is where dense writing kills retention.
• Low value: already-conversational captions, short hooks, casual personal stories — these come out simple naturally. Don't force this skill where there's nothing to simplify.

The moves

1. Cut jargon — or swap it for the word you'd use telling a friend who isn't in the field. (Jargon the audience shares is fine — it's only friction when they don't have it. If you have an audience profile, respect the jargon they already know; a technical audience keeps its technical words.)
2. One idea per sentence — break nested clauses into separate sentences.
3. Common words over fancy ones — use not utilize, help not facilitate, show not demonstrate, enough not sufficient, about not approximately.
4. Concrete over abstract — "the export button" not "the relevant control"; "you'll save 2 hours" not "efficiency gains."
5. Active voice — "the model picks the next word," not "the next word is selected by the model."
6. Cut filler that adds no meaning — "basically," "in order to," "the fact that."
7. Teach by example — one concrete example lowers load more than a precise definition. Show it happening.