Some words describe those who already possess deep learning. An erudite professor can speak knowledgeably about any era, and a perspicacious investigator notices clues that others have missed. Cogent arguments persuade through logic and clarity, and lucid explanations wipe away confusion. Meticulous accountants double-check every figure. The perspicacious writer goes further, combining keen insight with clear expression. These are the qualities that allow ideas to travel from one mind to another without distortion, and a vindicator who clears an innocent person restores the reputation that mistaken belief had stripped away.
Other words describe the resistance ideas sometimes meet. Abstruse, arcane, esoteric, and recondite ideas are obscure, restricted to specialists, or known only to the deeply initiated. An enigma is a person or thing that resists explanation, and a paradox appears self-contradictory yet may be true. A conundrum is a confusing problem, and a quandary is the uncertainty that requires a choice. Researchers often juxtapose competing theories side by side to clarify their differences. Nebulous proposals remain vague and ill-defined even after many meetings. Insipid soup needs seasoning, and insipid prose lacks any spark. Such words describe what happens when knowledge runs out or reality refuses to fit familiar categories.
Innovation requires its own character traits. An iconoclast attacks the traditions others revere; a maverick thinker pursues unpopular theories; the eclectic borrows from many sources without allegiance to one. By contrast, the dogmatic insists on a single doctrine as if it were undeniable truth, the pedantic obsesses over small rules, and the didactic tone lectures without invitation. Prosaic styles are dull and commonplace, while obtuse thinkers miss the obvious. Ineffable experiences, the joy of holding a newborn daughter, for instance, exceed what words can capture. Nascent fields, just beginning to grow, hold the most promise and the most risk. Quixotic plans, extremely idealistic and unrealistic, impress without convincing. Ingenuous questions reveal how new the asker is to a field. Corroborating witnesses confirm what a detective already suspects. When a poet writes an elegy for a fallen comrade, the genre itself insists on a particular frame of feeling, sorrow without the need to argue for it. Iconoclastic essays that challenge the academic establishment can be either brave or reckless, depending on the reader.