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"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
a) Why is the criteria for using "unclear" - whether or not new information can easily resolve the lack of clarity?
b) Your examples seem to be ones where new information can resolve things.
c) You can prefix "still" in the same examples and they'll make sense.
"it's (still) unclear if the intervention worked" -> Somebody goes and checks after some time, and it becomes clear
"It's (still) unclear whether we will see the right levels of political competence and focused engagement..." -> If political reaction happens to be good, then you have new information, and it becomes clear. If political reaction happens to be not good, then you also havs new information, and it becomes clear.
"It's (still) unclear how significant the extrinsic, welfare-oriented value of biodiversity even is" -> Someone comes up with a good mental model or ethical theory, and it becomes clear.
I wrote up my nutrition notes here, from my first year of being vegan: http://www.lincolnquirk.com/2023/06/02/vegan_nutrition.html
"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:
I don't understand.
a) Why is the criteria for using "unclear" - whether or not new information can easily resolve the lack of clarity?
b) Your examples seem to be ones where new information can resolve things.
c) You can prefix "still" in the same examples and they'll make sense.
"it's (still) unclear if the intervention worked" -> Somebody goes and checks after some time, and it becomes clear
"It's (still) unclear whether we will see the right levels of political competence and focused engagement..." -> If political reaction happens to be good, then you have new information, and it becomes clear. If political reaction happens to be not good, then you also havs new information, and it becomes clear.
"It's (still) unclear how significant the extrinsic, welfare-oriented value of biodiversity even is" -> Someone comes up with a good mental model or ethical theory, and it becomes clear.