I couldn't agree with CMcLeod more.
Who is to say that attention span directly correlates with intelligence? And who is to say that unabbreviated language does either?
This may be too minute of an example to prove my point, but does Milton's excessive vowel usage enhance his writing? Not at all.
I realize that the topic under investigation is more concerned with sentence structure. Perhaps what we perceive to be admirable long-windedness only seems to be "more intelligent" because that is the writing style associated with intelligent writers. The structure as a standalone isn't necessarily more capable of conveying intelligent ideas.
Although terseness could be due to shorter attention spans alone, one must also consider that perhaps our society is more concerned with efficiency than past cultures. If one can describe that which they aim to describe in one word rather than four, whose to say that they aren't more intelligent than their verbose predecessors?
Just sayin'. :)
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