Well in fairness if there was any slight hint of ambiguity as you suggest then I simply wouldn't call their idea stupid or suggest it could never work. I would just ask them more questions. I think that's a good way to operate. It's worked well for me. I just think it's disrespectful and rude to call someone or their idea stupid. Most would agree. Operate outside of basic social mores at your own risk I suppose. As I say, people in physics disproportionately have terrible social skills so you can just really learn into your job title, if that's what you're into. The rest of us in the field who prefer to observe the sort of very very basic things our parents taught us when we were children will just roll our eyes.
We call that "subtext". As a learned professional and recognized expert in your field, saying "simply" and "never" to a student has a chance of being misunderstood as fact instead of a turn of phrase.
Being aware of that and saying it anyway, I would personally use it as a teaching moment. If they seemed to quietly accept my words as a truth handed down from an authority instead of as a challenge to a (potential) peer, I'd point out that as a scientist they should have asked me "why".
It mainly and generally comes down to relationships and communication. Anyone who doesn't understand what I mean when I say a thing, anything, can't be relied on to be my pupil. However, they can usually be taught. That doesn't excuse me from not ensuring I've been understood in the first place, but it's far less taxing to expect others to attempt to become accustomed to your meanings when your brain is needed for other things than it is to twist your view of reality so that RightSpeak is the only acceptable method of communication.
I've never understood why some people seem to hate it when I say this, there's an idiom where I'm from that "some people would rather coat the world in leather than wear moccasins". Communication veganism is such a destructive idea if you've ever actually taken the time to consider it, but it doesn't seem to stop people from trying.
It's not communication veganism to simply not insult people. It's a feature of our societies that has existed since before societies existed. I struggle to think of a single situation where insulting someone is pleasant for the receiver, by definition. That you force or expect people to work around your quirky (at best) communication habits is neither here or there.
> but it's far less taxing to expect others to attempt to become accustomed to your meanings when your brain is needed for other things than it is to twist your view of reality so that RightSpeak is the only acceptable method of communication
What you mean like the stuff your mum and dad taught you when you were 4 years old and requires zero conscious effort because you should be polite to people by default anyway? Good heavens... what a terrible burden! The cross you those RightSpeakers make you bare! Tyranny! Is shitting in a toilet and not in your pants also a great burden for you?
