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TheOtherDave comments on Some rationality tweets - Less Wrong
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There's a certain style distinct to many didactic quotes: they express claims in a wise-sounding but opaque way, so that they automatically appear deep without requiring the reader to actually think about them. This can cloak empty language and doubtful claims in a veneer of impressiveness -- not to mention being uncommunicative if the ideas really are good.
It looks to me like these match that style. The ideas here could be both true and interesting, but making them into aphorisms (to fit Twitter) removes the explanation and examples that would convince me they're true and interesting. As it is, they sound meaningless to me -- the medium totally obscures the message.
I'd be interested in a post exploring some of these ideas, but tweets seem to me to be a format utterly unsuited to the topic.
[Also, I really think that this should not be on the front page. If even commenters have to puzzle over many of these, it's not a good choice for the general audience.]
Mostly, I think of pithy quotes as the conversational equivalent of icons in GUIs. If you don't already have a pretty good clue what an icon does, the icon by itself isn't very helpful... but once you become familiar with it, it can be very helpful.
Similarly, the nice thing about pithy quotes is that once you've understood the associated thought, they provide an easier way to bring that thought to mind on demand.
They can also provide a hook. That is, tossing a pithy quote into a conversation and providing additional explanation if there seems to be interest in it can be more comfortable than trying to toss a large chunk of exposition into conversation. (Well, for me, anyway. Some people seem more comfortable with tossing large chunks of exposition into conversations.)
All of which is to say, I'm fond of them.
I agree with you. My dispute is that 'pithy' means not 'short' but 'concisely meaningful.' If a line is short but confusing, it's not pithy.