Not good when you have to explain too much to the judge.

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"If you explain too much, people will focus on your explanation and forget your original position, " says Hal Shorey, psychologist and assistant professor at the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University, in Chester, Pa.

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At the same time, Gladwell is sometimes criticized by academics on the ground that in his zeal to explain, he simplifies too much.

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Dr. SQUYRES: We found an enormous quantity of sulfur in this rock, too much to explain by any other mechanism, we believe, than this rock being full of sulfate salts.

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If Mr Nacchio has indeed lost his faith that you can never have too much capacity, that would also explain the urgency of his desire to parlay Qwest's high-flying paper into solid revenues.

ECONOMIST: Qwandary