Readability

   No matter how esoteric, any topic can be written about at a high school level, and can be explained to teenagers -- assuming they listen. For that matter, don't even use the term "esoteric." It's too esoteric.
   Instead, use obscure, or unclear. The word esoteric is from Greek roots meaning "inner world" and suggests that the subject will only be understood by a small group -- the "in crowd." The term is also used in a spiritual sense, to refer to an Otherworld. A related word is "exoteric," the outer world, meant to be understood by the general public.
   But in writing, remember that the goal is communication. If your readers don't understand at first run-through and have to read the piece again, you have not communicated. Granted, they can read it a second or third time, but don't make them.
   Postings on this blog tend to be at the ninth or tenth grade level, according to the Fleisch Readability Quotient. And that's deliberate. Or as Einstein is reputed to have said, "If you can't explain it to a ten-year-old, you don't understand it yourself."